Whatever you buy, be prepared to modify it. RocknRons has some good racks by k&m. I gave up on bending mine and use two bands to hold my harps in place for a better angle.
You could try a cheap hohner rack first to see the problems inherent in a rack to help you choose or modify a new one (or that one).
There are adjustable ones, I'm just not willing to fork out that kind of cash. If I had ready access to some welding tools, I would crank out an ultimate rack. As it is, my mod works for me for now.
I have been playing the basic bob dylan/jimmy reed type rack for 40 years. I love it. I will say that I spent a lot of years trying to modify it to fit me better but it never did. I also spend a lot of $ trying many different racks hoping they would make playing on a rack easier. I realize now that playing on a rack is like learning a new instrument. Most harp players that are decent on the guitar think it will be an easy thing to do. It isn't. Not only is the harp not in your hands but the brain has to work in different ways. Much like you will often read here about spend your time on developing acoustic tone and not dumping an endless sea of cash and hope into finding an amplified set up that will give you it instantly, the same goes for the harp rack.
It will take many years before you really get good. Like any instrument, you can sound ok in a realitively short time, but to really get to the cream, it takes a lifetime. Enjoy the journey because once you master it all, it is no longer any fun! Walter
KingoBad: I just bought 4 of the cheapo racks from rockin rons. They are pretty bad IMO. They are the all black ones. The harp holder plate is not fitted right and there is no tension on it from the springs. I only opened 1 so far. I will try 1 more and grind the hole a bit bigger to let it move freely so the springs can hold the harp in place. I prefer the chrome style ones and figured these were the same only painted black. They aren't(probably all made in china now anyway). I am going to have search for the chrome ones. I do put bigger wing nuts on them to keep them tight. That is the only mod I do. ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
Gary Lehmann came up with a very cool idea in which he modified 2 K&M racks to make a "poor man's" ergonomic harp rack (after Vern Smith's killer but expensive original). I've always appreciated the robust nature of the K&M racks, especially their positive locking adjustment knobs and the nice foam padding on the neck piece. But, mine never really fit me, so it gathered dust. Then I saw this:
So I got a 2nd rack and modified it per Gary's video. Bingo! The modified rack is highly adjustable, sporting two of those great locking knobs. Now my rack fits very comfortably, holding my harp in a steady position exactly where I want it. The foam padding around the neck piece is also far more comfortable on my neck than the old Hohner style racks. The only downside is that the new rack takes up more space in my kit than the original (which I couldn't use anyway).
Bottom line: I heartily endorse Gary's mod's to the K&M rack. I works great.
Walter, there is something going on similar to when you pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time too. In drumming you have to learn limb independence so your feet can be doing something different than your hands. I think the same issue comes up when you have to learn the rack and play something else too. (For me I was just trying to type on the forum while playing, since I don't play guitar, but I couldn't get it down.) The learning the rack really is like learning another instrument. I'm always blown away by the guys (you included) who can do it well enough to make it sound good enough to be a 'featured' instrument instead of just something adding a little chordal support.
nacoran: Thanks! I started with the one man band thing all at once pretty much starting out. I never had a harp that worked near right, the guitars I had were so high actioned that it was painful to make a sound with them. The drums were probably my most normaly working piece of gear I had. I had no keys. I would play the pianos onstages that my band would be at (in between sets, before and afterwards). I had no interest in getting girls and such. ALl I wanted was the make the sounds I heard in my heart. Whatever frustrations I encountered were superceeded by the pure joy of the journey. I seperate each instrument in my mind. I literally hear a real drummer on my feet, a real bassist with my thumb on the bass strings of the guitar, a real guitarist on the mid and upper strings with my index and middle fingers, and a real keyboard player with my hands. It is just like I have real band behind me. Then I get to sing and blow harp on top of that. At this point in my playing, playing all these instruments at once is pretty much as easy as breathing. I have been at it longer than a lot of people here have been on the earth. Time is the great teacher. I also think most people get frustrated a lot easier than I do? Walter
---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
bushman music has a good rack. i think the price includes shipping. http://www.bushmanmusic.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=1&zenid=51a3udialh1t6f5105uk4kpoo0
and bottle o blues has a strap to secures all racks to the body. http://www.bottle-o-blues.com/Rack-It.html
Hey Michelle-- Glad that mod worked out for you. I find the only drawback is that it positions the harp so thoroughly in front of you that it makes it hard to see anything, or sing on a mike! So I mostly use a stock one-- But I use the modded one with a headset mike vecroed to the side, with a MiniVox battery powered amp, for busking and walkabout situations.
The blues tool is nice in that it positions the harp up and away with a nice nice angle. The bad part is the foam rubber neck wrap....got to cover it or it will tear your neck up and leave a rash. I haven't seen any for sale in long time.
I say buy the entry level rack and use it for a month. If you are still inspired buy another if that one is not comfortable. If you find it is not your thing, you are out $10. A used high end harp rack has very little resale value ...... kind of like buy a basic harp when beginning instead of a couple hundred dollar custom job. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " life is a daring adventure or nothing at all" - helen keller
I bought the Dunlop earlier this year, after talking to a performer who used it and loved it. I don't love it. It's difficult to get it tight enough, and changing the harps is a two handed affair. That said, the guitarist I spoke to used it very effectively. I think individual body dimensions of the musician play a big role in which one will work best. I have a Lee Oskar that works ok, but the harp is at the wrong height for me and if I turn my upper body the whole rack tends to rotate away from me so the harp is off to the side, and very difficult or impossible to play.
@easyreeder--I guess I was wrong about the Sonnenschein rack--I found this page where they are available--I love mine, and I was going through all the same stuff you are--I've been through many racks. These are expensive--but it sure works for me:
Vern Smith, thebuilderofstuff who comes on this forum sometimes used to make a rack that looks great--I just happened to get a Sonnenschein before I knew about his.
@oldwailer, thanks. I have seen that rack before. It looked ingenious but the price nearly stopped my heart!
I heard Spider John Koerner live in a very intimate setting in my small town some years ago. He had designed his own rack that he could raise up easily when he needed the harp. It had some sort of sliding leg, and worked really well. I spoke to him, and he showed me how it worked, but later I couldn't remember how he'd done it. Wish I'd had a camera.
@Gnarly: Here's another one, similar idea. Bulkier, but not dependent on the microphone itself. They've got one that will hold a second mic for vocals, and one that mounts on a fiddle!
Without wishing to poop on anyone's parade, that's ok if you happen to have a spare mic-stand lying around, but I bet a mic-stand costs a lot more than a harp rack. No, they're about the same - that's interesting! ----------
Andrew. ----------------------------------------- Those who are tardy do not get fruit cup.
Last Edited by on Nov 11, 2011 7:27 AM
I'm gonna definitely try one of those harplock ones--only $20 and no need for a rack--I already have an SM58 and a couple of mic stands. It would be great if that idea could get coupled with some way to get a cupped sound--I'll have to work on that some more. . . ----------
