Ive always bought new harps but now I'm thinking of buying a few vintage ones if I can manage to clean them up and sanitise them properly (don't want TB!).
So if any of you can give me any tips what what to look out for, and also what models to avoid...I'd be very grateful.
...also the best way to sanitise old harps.
I'll only be buying on Ebay U.K and other British selling sites and stores.
I'm thinking that I'd particularly like tor try and buy some vintage Marine Bands and Seydel's, but doesn't wood store germs much more easily than plastic?
Don't germs get INGRAINED in wood?
The thought of eating someone elses old bits of "lip" and saliva makes my stomache churn.
I recorded myself restoring a few Ebay Marine Bands and am uploading them right now. I will post the link later today. I hope it's helpful to someone and can maybe save someone some time.
As for wood versus plastic, wood can be sanded so the microorganisms can be effectively removed. Plastic will always have very small scratches in it that a chemical disinfectant will not be able to reach. Heat is not an option on plastic and gas sterilization is beyond most people's resources, not to mention being harmful to the environment.
I reckon that once the wood is sanded and then coated with a mater-based varnish, there are no microorganisms (from the original owner) left on the surface.
Richard Sleigh offers a document on assessing vintage Marine Bands. You need to join his mailing list to get to download it. I highly recommend it since putting a lot of time on restoring something that will never play well is discouraging.
@arzajac I understand richard says some models depending on the manufacture date are not worth bothering with-the absolute worst harp I ever bought was a mb 1896 commemorative 100th year-sent it to harveyharp who turned it into what an mb should play like
Chris, if you are in the market for vintage marine bands in the UK ebay you won't find many before late 70s as before this date Hohner did not make marine bands for europe and the UK. Instead they offered the super vamper which is a marine band with different cover plates. You can read about them here..
http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q11.html
I have quite a few of these harps which I've bought on ebay and you can pick them up in around the £5 to £15 mark. You might pay a bit more for an older one with the star of david on the bottom cover plate (pre-war) and these are usually better quality reeds than the post war ones. The only tips I'd give you is try and get one with a box as you know it's probably been stored correctly and not in some old dusty drawer. You can sometimes pick up New Old Stock ones which are a bargain if you can get them. You can also pick up the Echo Vamper which is the 12 hole version (same as a marine band 364). These go for around the same price. If you can pick up a low C you'll have lots of fun chordal vamping and tongue slapping. Just go onto ebay and enter "vamper" in the search box. There's usually a few for sale each week.
As I've never tried a Sydel harp I can't give you any info apart from most of the ones which you'll see on ebay where made in the old East Germany, although you do see some of the old pre-war ones on there too.
As for the germ thing...I wouldn't worry too much about picking up leprosy or anything from them. Most germs don't survive very long outside the body and a quick wipe with Isopropol alcohol will get rid of most things. Always a good idea to strip the harp down before blowing and sucking on it in case you have dead insect hiding inside one of the holes and to clean any gunk off that sometimes accumulates on the tines of the comb.
---------- Oisin
Last Edited by on Sep 04, 2011 2:18 PM
I was wondering what the "Echo Vamper" thing was all about?!
Have you bought any harps from the states?...ebay.com?
Ive bought a few.
Ive just bought a new Seydel Blues Solo recently to add to my 30 odd harps, and I have to say that I am VERY impressed by it.
I would highly recommend it if you feel like splashing out on a new harp.
It has the airtightness, and ease of play, of something like a Special 20 or Suzuki Harpmaster, and yet has a wood comb, so its got that great wood tone like a Marine Band.
Its the only harp Ive had yet that can play the Old Grey Whistle Test theme tune perfectly cleanly!
Yes Chris I have bought a few harps from the States and I've also bought some mics as well. As long as the postage costs aren't too much you can get some terrific bargains from US ebay. You should also check out the german ebay site as you get some nice harps from time to time there too. When I next have some dosh I intend to try a Sydel harp as I've heard nothing but good things about them.
The Echo Vamper (the 12 hole version) is one of my favorite harps (especially in low C) and although it requires a different technique for playing (you've got to be a lot more gentle and have the lungs of an elephant) it has the most beautiful sound. It's what Sonnyboy is playing in the clip below...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePLp2tNLoEc
And no....Oisin is not an anglised version of Ian, it's an Irish name meaning "man with huge penis"
Groyster: Some of the harps from that period are fine, some have the potential to be great, but most are shit. But I take your point - I ended up doing four harps at a time in the video and one was from the 80s (only two nail holes between the tines on the draw side). I not only fixed it up, but lowered it from a G to Low-F and tuned it to Powerbender. It is a very very nice harp to play and I have been playing it every day.
That's actually the harp from which a tine broke off the comb in the video. I used SuperGlue and fixed it up better than new...
Those are great vids arzajac....I think you should post them in a seperate thread otherwise they'll get lost in this one. The whole forum deserves to have a look at these. Thanks for putting the effort into this.
Last Edited by on Sep 04, 2011 12:27 PM