Boris Plotnikov put up this excellent video playing and demonstrating his own customised Seydel version of the Switch-Harp: two diatonics in A and Bb configured to work as a mini chromatic but retaining all the normal blues harp bending expression.
As many here know, Boris is not just a great player, he's also an expert harp customiser. If you want a harmonica just like this, Boris will make one for you!
Boris is the Seydel Recommended Customiser for my TwinDiatonics, of which the Switch-Harp is one type. You can also get Hohner versions made by Joel Andersson and Easttop/Suzuki versions by Sergey Zhernosek. Here are the details (cut and paste):
http://www.brendan-power.com/harmonicas-twin-diatonic.php#twin-harps-diatonic-minichrom
Last Edited by BeePee on Oct 26, 2017 11:14 PM
Looks awesome. Boris is a monster player and this device looks really useful. When can we get one of these things? Brendan's Web page shows they will be available around end of September, so I guessing very soon. Can we put in our own harmonicas?
Boris rocks, and is a pleasure to work with :-) The Switch-Harp is now back up for ordering and will have some extra harp models soon (eg. Suzuki lipped combs). All the brands and models have subtly different dimensions, so it takes a while to tweak the design to fit them all.
Yesterday I designed a Lucky 13 version, keen to test that today and see if it works!
Last Edited by BeePee on Oct 26, 2017 11:14 PM
I ordered mine yesterday and got the tacking info this morning. I'm really looking forward to the possibilities this is going to open up for some of the numbers we do. I also got the valve kit so that will also be a first for me. Never had a valved diatonic. Cheers JG
Last Edited by John M G on Oct 27, 2017 3:45 PM
A few questions. I've got a bunch of harps laying around and i am trying to figure out which front piece would allow me to use these harps i already have. Does the hohner front piece version work with stock special 20 combs? Does the easttop version work with the stock combs? How about the suzuki with the manji stock combs?
@Harp Study: Yes to Manji and Easttop questions, 'not yet' to Special 20. I've had a fe other queries on it so will make an S20 version.
Remember with the Switch-Harp half-valving is strongly recommended, so with all these stock combs you'd want to add valves. That can be tricky on some if them (eg. S20) as the chambers are quite short.
Thanks Brendan. I have half valved almost all of my harps so that shouldn't be an issue. Sp 20s are a little harder but it can be done with some patience. Sounds like I would be good with either the eastop or the suzuki version. Thanks alot for your help and all you do for the harmonica community.
