I'm really interested in my harps being the best harp for the style I play.
We have had many discussions on this forum about playing relaxed, big open mouth, throat, etc..etc..but...
My question is about the size and shape of the holes in the harmonica, as well as the thickness of the partitions between the holes. Are they optimal for a certain style of play?..certain size or shape mouth cavity? embrochure? reed size? low harp? high harp? tone? bending? overbending?
What made me curious it that some Golden Melody custom harps have thinner combs than the standard 1/4" of the stock GM. Personally, I did not like the thinner comb. I actually have some combs on order from Blue Moon that are thicker than the standard to test and see how they work for me.
The stock GM combs are 1/4" which make the vertical hole size 1/4". The hole width appears to be close to 3/16" which is really quite smaller. The width of the partition (what do ya call it)is around an 1/8".
I thought I was on track to find what is optimal until I saw this video by Howard Levy. At 53 seconds in you get a good look at his harp.
It appears to me that the holes are as wide or wider than they are thick...and the partitions are very thin..maybe less than 1/16".
What gives? What is this harp? I'm very interested in trying a comb like this. Is it metal since it is so thin? I would love to hear some thoughts on this.
I've heard a lot of people say that thicker combs are needed for lower harps,thinner combs will work better for higher harps. That's bollocks. It's all about how it matches to your embouchure. What really, really matters is how flat the comb is. ---------- David Elk River Harmonicas
What I'm really curious about is the holes are much wider than standard and the partition looks VERY thin. Basically he is playing into a bigger hole but the hole spacing is the same.
My speculation is that it might be easier to feel the bigger holes and the narrow partitions with the tongue.
I'm not really interested in reedplates or covers, but I would LOVE to try a comb to those specs on my GMs.
Last Edited by on Mar 29, 2012 8:42 AM
chromaticblues...I'm not sure that brittle plastic could stand to be thinned out as much as it appears Howard's are. Sounds like hours of work to me.
WHy are the standard combs the specs they are? Did someone decide these were optimal? Evidently not for Howard. Isn't anyone else curious about how hole size and ratio plus thickness of partitions would affect your playing?
Interesting--the hole width on a MB is 11/64"--and the tines end up just being whatever there is left when you center the slot over the reeds. These slots could be cut wider--but it would be very painstaking work on my mill because the tines would get thinner--therefore more delicate and flexible--I just never thought of trying this kind of modification before--I might just see what happens if I use a .25" bit.
I make most of my own combs thicker than the standard .23" (give or take--they're not all that standard) of a MB. Some of mine are .28"--I have tried thin combs too, and there is good reason to like them, especially for higher harps--but I mostly just like the tone when they're thicker--and I don't play a very technical or fast kind of music. . . ----------
i believe standard GM comb thickness is approx. .25". I have several custom GM combs that are .27" thick which I have been using for a while and i think they produce superior depth of tone. I like them a lot.
Hole width is a different issue. I had a couple of combs from Buddha with wider holes and I did not like them. Tone was okay, but response was not good.
Sjoeberg combs have "compression ridges" in the holes that do effect tone in a way that's hard to describe but they definitely have a positive effect on response. I like them.
Of course flatness of a comb is the paramount consideration.
Last Edited by on Mar 29, 2012 9:26 AM
It won't have the same sound as a diatonic, but if you want to try thin walled combs just for feel, take a look at a tremolo. Most tremolos seem to have very thin walls (maybe to keep the overall size down with more reed holes- both vertically and horizontally.)
I prefer to beleive that it is the camera making the harp look that way-for instance,here is a picture where the holes and partitions look normal-Howard rarely tongue blocks,so speculating the size and dimensions of the holes and partitions in relation to "feeling" them with tongue is null and void. All Howards harmonicas are made to the same specifications in regard to hole and partition size-they have to be-it would be nearly impossible for someone at Howards level to switch back and forth between harmonicas with differing specifications as far as the above mentioned.
I would tend to agree with tmf714, having seen Howard's harps up close and in person at SPAH 2010.
I doubt that such small differences would make a difference in tone anyway, but even if it does, it's probably not gonna be a night and day difference. I'm sure it may feel different though.
I sound about the same on any harmonica, regardless of hole spacing, comb thickness, etc., but I just prefer Golden Melodies.
I wouldn't stress about it too much, Catfish. You are already a great player. Practice will do more for you than hole spacing. Just my opinion.
