didjcripey
276 posts
Jun 08, 2012
9:53 PM
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Nah, just that they swell and shrink, cut your lips and leak ---------- Lucky Lester
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billy_shines
522 posts
Jun 08, 2012
10:47 PM
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if you slobber they will swell. if you dont lip purse shouldnt cut too bad. ive only had a leaky one if the top plates come loose
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didjcripey
277 posts
Jun 08, 2012
11:00 PM
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I'm a slobberer. I live in the wet tropics. Light usage and the local humidity is enough to make them unplayable before long, though it varies from harp to harp ---------- Lucky Lester
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nacoran
5814 posts
Jun 08, 2012
11:31 PM
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Billy, swelling can make the top plates come loose. My first harmonica was a cheap wood combed Blessing tremolo. I got it as a gift from my grandmother when she came back from a trip to China. Never really played it. My second harp was a Blue Harp. It cut my lips so much I never really learned to play it. It wasn't until I picked up a Sp20 and some cheap Piedmonts that I really got into harp. By my calculations I wasted 15 years or so not playing harp because of lousy combs. Harp wasn't important enough for me to want cut up lips until I got good enough to entertain myself. And combs are reusable, so it's not like you have to buy a custom comb every time you buy a new harp. And it's not just smoother on the lips, they are more airtight too. Plus, if you are a crafty sort it's just like any other art project.
The way I look at it, you can kiss a girl that will give you sores on your mouth, or you can kiss a girl that won't. :)
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Bluedawgbluesacrat
6 posts
Jun 09, 2012
3:59 AM
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@nacoran...so what your saying is your better off kissing a girl after she takes her dentures out?......:)
I play mainly my own custom sp20 and gm now......90% harps in my case i have changed to corion.....from what I can tell the tone doesn't change much but the volume of the harp does.....it's handy on acoustic gigs to have the added volume....but I also have some woods that are just as loud......stock plastic for me is boring to say the least
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIHgnS9C2iE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Last Edited by on Jun 09, 2012 4:20 AM
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billy_shines
524 posts
Jun 09, 2012
7:56 AM
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my first harp in 1977 was a c marine band then a A and a Bb in by 1979 i was playing in bars not in open mic but as a special guest drunk from the audience. the record stores sold harps then and had little to offer. i finally found a music store i could walk to in 81 i got all 12 keys Ab Db Eb F# all had to be special 20 they didnt come in marine band then. i still have them they are absolutely useless for blues i played one once with ernie goldsmith. i never cried or complained about harps or swelling as i never play them long enough for that to happen. when they ragged out i tossed them like a bic lighter. i also picked up a 364 C and G around this time i felt the big G was much higher than the small marine band and i liked it for first. i had a 10 hole chromonica couldnt do much with it didnt like it. in 84 i actually made a lucite comb at work instead of throwing a harp out one tine started bowing towards a reed i made it airtight with silicone. by the early 90s i switched to pro harp because i was obcessed with the color black i wish i kept all the cover plates. minor harps came out by this time i tried a lee oskar i hated it i still hate them. early 2000s i bought a pro harp they changed the design i didnt like it. now at a jam i carry 4 harps G A Bb C all marine bands exactly what i started with at 15-16. IF IT AINT BROKE DONT FIX IT!
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tmf714
1118 posts
Jun 09, 2012
8:10 AM
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"so why dont harmonica makers have dupont make the combs?"
Here is why from Richard Sleigh-
Once we got a big sheet of “Black Magic”, the next steps were: turn the design into computer code for CNC milling and find the right place to get the combs made. We took a chance on a machine shop near where Joe lives. The same machine shop that uses state of the art CNC milling equipment to make parts for the Kawasaki factory nearby. They turned out to be salt of the earth good people to work with. They are just plain great at doing things right the first time and on schedule. The Joe Richard mentions above is non other than Joe Spiers.
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billy_shines
526 posts
Jun 09, 2012
9:00 AM
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ok so sonny boy little walter and sonny terry blew dogs for nickles because they used leaky wooden combs i dont get it. if honher is making a shit product why dont they fix it? if marine bands are unplayable why are they still made? yeah corian and plastic is safe to put in your mouth the industry said that about pvc baby toys which are now illegal in the eu.
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Greg Heumann
1641 posts
Jun 09, 2012
9:34 AM
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I sometimes fart when I make microphones. There, I admitted it. I know it is not great that this is getting out, but it will be discovered sooner or later. I am a greenhouse gas emitter and I'm messing with the ozone layer. Boycott BlowsMeAway Microphones! ---------- /Greg
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
1130 posts
Jun 09, 2012
11:17 AM
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Greg, does this improve the tone? ---------- David Elk River Harmonicas
Elk River Harmonicas on Facebook

"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." - Lewis Grizzard
"Also, drinking homemade beer." - David Payne
Last Edited by on Jun 09, 2012 11:17 AM
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nacoran
5817 posts
Jun 09, 2012
12:08 PM
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Elk, (in regards to Greg's comment) to clarify, the tone of the microphone or the tone of the fart?
I've found tight underwear filters out some of the treble. The fly acts kind of like a side vent, only on the front. You want a good elastic seal for airtightness.
Hmm... I think I'm going to quit this joke before it gets out of hand.
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billy_shines
529 posts
Jun 09, 2012
2:56 PM
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i never thought id live to see the day where playing harmonica was more expensive than playing guitar. honher makes shit products unless you get non OEM accessories. i worked with corian and lucite for 20 years with no saftey equipment and im poisoned from head to toe from it. no way am i putting that shit in my mouth i dont care how safe you say it is. the dust causes cancer but the shiny end product is safe enough to eat pfttttt.
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