Harpengr
16 posts
Jul 24, 2011
9:35 AM
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Today I took apart an old marine band I'd bought somewhere. It has genuine marine band cover plates and the comb is red. When I began to clean it up the reed plates had more rust than the covers.
After cleanup some of the brass came off and steel?? is underneath. There are no grooves for the cover plates along the front edge.
What do I have?
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jim
938 posts
Jul 24, 2011
9:37 AM
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it is most likely ZINK separating and "leaking" from the alloy.
I have a 1937 piccolo with this effect.
I don't recommend to play it.
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Last Edited by on Jul 24, 2011 9:38 AM
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Harpengr
17 posts
Jul 24, 2011
9:40 AM
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Jim,
I don' think this harp is very old. What about the missing cover plate grooves?
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jim
939 posts
Jul 24, 2011
9:58 AM
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sometimes they used to forget to add grooves, I have a 1938 MB with a missing groove.
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arzajac
585 posts
Jul 24, 2011
11:11 AM
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No. That's wrong.
I own three harps like that.
I think the story goes that Hohner was in the habit of buying out their competitors. They would then use their competitors to make low-end harps under the Hohner brand.
I have an "American Ace" harp by F.R. Hotz that fits your description: Red painted comb perimeter, brass plated plates that reveal shiny metal when you sand them down, no groove. It's identical to the low-end brand "Hoosier Boy" harp that was made by Hohner in the early 50s. It sold for $1.99. The deluxe version sold for $2.49 and was a real Marine Band with a different coverplate. Adam plays one in an early video about tongue blocking.
The American Ace harmonica (later) made by Hohner is also identical to this. The only difference is that out of the three I have, the FR Hotz plays the best, the Hoosier boy plays almost as well and the Hohner American Ace (Made in Ireland) is unplayable. Presumably they used outdated tooling to make them. Probably as a ploy to make Marine Bands look better?
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Last Edited by on Jul 24, 2011 11:13 AM
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arzajac
586 posts
Jul 24, 2011
11:12 AM
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Also, are you sure that those were the original coverplates for that harp? I know Hohner has made other harps using Marine band reedplates and combs, but never the other way around...
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Harpengr
18 posts
Jul 24, 2011
2:33 PM
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No, I'm not sure that the cover plates are original. I may have gotten it in a flea market. I don't remember. The cover plates came off easily but the reed plates were pretty secure. 7 nails in each plate.
I just tested the plates with a magnet. They stick!
Last Edited by on Jul 24, 2011 3:34 PM
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