Icemaster
29 posts
Apr 05, 2011
6:10 PM
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A few weeks ago, HarpNinja posted a link to one of his friends who makes and sells custom GM combs. Just wanted to say that I have since bought 2 from him. 1 Acrylic and 1 Maple. They look great, fit perfect, and they are only about $18. And he's a really nice guy. If you're interested and don't feel like going back to HarpNinja's post here's the link again:
http://shop.ebay.com/florida-trader/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686
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"A harmonica is not just a souped up kazoo" -Mo Rocca
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ridge
228 posts
Apr 06, 2011
6:08 AM
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Just want to second Icemaster on this one. I went and bought 5 wood GM combs from Tom right after I read HarpNinja's post two weeks ago. I got 3 cherry and 2 maple. I will take some pictures and post them up.
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Matzen
146 posts
Apr 06, 2011
5:29 PM
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Do you find the harps to be more airtight after replacing the combs?
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ridge
229 posts
Apr 06, 2011
6:38 PM
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@Matzen
These are the first after-market combs I've ever purchased for any harp. My GMs already played very well even on their crappy, chipping combs.
Each harp that I've transitioned over to the wood comb has played slightly more responsive/slightly louder than it did on it's stock comb. In one case, I actually need to take the harp apart and open the gaps a bit because I think the seal is TOO good.
My only issue is that I have one comb that seems like the tines are just ever so slightly longer (1mm) so that they protrude past the reed plate in front. I've only tried one set of reed plates on this comb.
Tom was great to deal with and I don't think you can beat the price. I'm looking to get some SP20 combs from him in the future.
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Matzen
148 posts
Apr 06, 2011
7:36 PM
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@ridge: Maybe you could slightly over drill your reed plate holes, enabling you to slide the plates further forward on the comb?
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Rick Shanks
32 posts
Apr 07, 2011
1:39 AM
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I just recieved an acrylic one today - excellent :)
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KiwiRick
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Sausagescoffer
43 posts
Apr 07, 2011
12:28 PM
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I got a cherry one a month or so ago which is great!
Now got two acrylic combs on order and I agree wholeheartedly, Tom is a great guy to do business with. And I am in the UK.
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RT123
143 posts
Apr 07, 2011
5:19 PM
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If you know anything about me you know I only play Suzukis. The more I look at golden melodies the more I want one. They may be the nicest looking harp out there, and with a custom comb I think they are by a big margin. They are equal tuned correct?
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ridge
235 posts
Apr 08, 2011
6:19 AM
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You are correct, sir! Suffice it to say I am re-re-re falling in love with Golden Melodies.
If you do decide to buy some in person, make sure the case doesn't have the words "Hand Made" stamped in gold on the front edge... I'm almost positive it means it has NAILS instead of SCREWS holding the reedplates together.
For many years, every Golden Melody I bought had nails in it. I can only assume they were old, old stock and I was just the only sucker buying them. Why on earth Hohner decided to use NAILS in a PLASTIC comb is beyond my comprehension. The other half of this equation is that the ones with nails seemed to have really bad quality control -- I'm talking reeds riveted slightly left or right of the center of their respective slot.
It's probably been about 7 or 8 years since I've seen one like that. They are all safe now and have screws.
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harpdude61
809 posts
Apr 08, 2011
6:25 AM
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I would not buy a new GM unless it is in the blister pack. I have found these to better quality than the older GMs that are not...and screws all the way.
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RT123
144 posts
Apr 08, 2011
6:46 AM
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thanks for the tips guys, much appreciated. I will be buying online, probably from rockin ron, so it might be a crap shoot for me. I might call him and ask before i order. what key do you like them in? I could always use another G.
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