rbeetsme
787 posts
Jul 13, 2012
11:02 AM
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Interesting idea. i wonder if there is enough room on the ends to get a tight seal with your mouth. Try it, let us know.
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Noodles
99 posts
Jul 13, 2012
11:14 AM
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EDIT:WHAT HAPPENED? I don’t know what happened to my original post at the top of this thread. I may have deleted it accidentally. I had posted a response TWICE and was trying to delete one of them.
REPOST OF ORIGINAL PICTURE THAT SHOULD BE AT THE TOP OF THIS THREAD
A chopped SP20 (cutting the ears off completely) will be about ¾ inch shorter than a standard SP20, and a about 7/8 inch shorter than a GM. You would have to move the screws and they need to be longer, perhaps all the way through and bolted. There may even be a bit of room for rounding the front and rear corners.
Would this harp work?
I'd like to see pictures of one done well. Maybe by one of the MBH customizers. They can also tell us what the impact on 1 and 10 holes might be and how they would play.
Last Edited by on Jul 13, 2012 1:44 PM
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isaacullah
2072 posts
Jul 13, 2012
11:47 AM
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Yes, but not with a stock Spec 20. You would loose the structural integrety of the comb because it's one of those injection molded deals, and not a solid piece. You can do it easily on a stock marine band, or any harp that has been retrofitted with a solid comb. I do it to most of my harps. I use a small benchtop belt sander, and carefuly remove material. Firs with the covers off to get the basic shape, and then with the covers on to bring them into line with that shape. Then I use high-grit sandpaper to smooth it all out (the reedplate edges will be sharp), and finish with a super high grit sanding sponge for a fine finish. It makes the harps WAY more comfortable to hole. Round off the front corners too (less than the back), and it makes playing the 1 draw and 10 blow A LOT easier and more comfortable on your mouth.
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isaacullah
2073 posts
Jul 13, 2012
11:48 AM
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Oh wait, I see that you REALLY want to chop the thing down... I don't know if that extreme of a chop would work. I don't know how much space you would have left for the coverplate screw...
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Noodles
101 posts
Jul 13, 2012
12:03 PM
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Yes it would be tight for the screws. I used the SP20 as an example. It's the only photo I could find the showed the front view. Barring the comb issues in plastic-injected combs, it's an interesting idea.
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MP
2344 posts
Jul 13, 2012
12:29 PM
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you'd have to use Golden Melody screws for the height increase. they will juuuust barely clear the reeds.
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MP
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Last Edited by on Jul 13, 2012 12:47 PM
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florida-trader
160 posts
Jul 13, 2012
1:05 PM
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Noodles:
If you want me to build one for you I will. Let me know. I'll figure out the logistics of making it work. I'm drilling holes in reed plates and combs all the time anyway. I'll do it at cost. How does $20 sound?
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Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
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Noodles
105 posts
Jul 13, 2012
2:08 PM
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I resized the GM so that the holes line up with the SP20 to get the right visual perspective and scale (close enough).
A chopped SP20 (the center picture)would be like a smaller version of a GM.It's quite a size difference when cupping a mic or just playing acoustically.
Last Edited by on Jul 13, 2012 2:28 PM
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nacoran
5966 posts
Jul 13, 2012
3:52 PM
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I've wondered about doing something similar... add a couple more holes! (I know the SBS does that, but it does it by making the harp longer.)
It seems if you had a way to make a custom cover there would be a couple other potential ways to do this. You could mount the covers on rails, kind of like the Hohner Puck does, but the Puck doesn't have a traditional back- it has top vents. You could do the traditional back by turning the rails 90 degrees and having the covers slide on front to back (or back to front, just not end to end). You could also maybe make a single piece cover that wrapped around the front of the harmonica. You could cut blow holes, and bend the cover enough so that it had a spring action pushing down- that way it would clamp onto the comb.
Another possibility, using short screws, you could bend the tabs on the end down so that the screws went into the end of the harp instead of the top/bottom. If you folded them right you could probably use one screw through two covers on the end. If you really wanted to get crazy you could combine the rail and the bent tabs to make it more airtight. At that point I think you'd want a metal comb.
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Last Edited by on Jul 13, 2012 3:52 PM
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Todd Parrott
972 posts
Jul 13, 2012
3:59 PM
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I think you would find that chopping this much off of each end would make it more difficult to play the 1 blow/draw note, at least from a lip pursing standpoint. This is also a problem on models like the Hohner Puck. The extra length on each end helps give your lips a place to rest on the left side. The same would be true for right side of hole 10.
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SuperBee
409 posts
Jul 13, 2012
4:59 PM
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But why?
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Noodles
106 posts
Jul 13, 2012
5:40 PM
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It's just an idea I had. It may me much easier to cup your hands around it. I don't know. Maybe I'll just take an old harp and buzz it.
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Jehosaphat
265 posts
Jul 13, 2012
11:10 PM
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I have a load of chopped harps.
I used to cut the comb off at the 7 hole add a little of the spare wood to the tine and then hacksaw the plates to fit(by cutting outa strip from the middle)
Made a much smaller (relatively)harp.
Like a lot of players, on many songs i never really ever go above the 6 hole anyway but leaving the 7 was good for third position.
They didn't look very pretty but man did they deliver on that cupped compression sound.
These days it is relatively easy to make a shorter Harp by using Seydel Big Six cover plates.If you are careful you can make 'em cover a seven hole comb and you end up with a real nice looking professional harp.
But if you need ,want the full 10 holes this aint much use to you,personally i like to have 1 7 holer and 1 10 holer in all the most common keys.
Its great to experiment..youknow how F harps can be 'shrill' well in my experience if you use a 'cut down one the absolute tight cup can really take away some of it.
All good fun..chop some Harps!
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nacoran
5970 posts
Jul 13, 2012
11:45 PM
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It would be a pain in the butt for the cover, but you could cut the end off at an angle. That's kind of what the Golden Melody jellybean shape accomplishes. It leaves the front wide enough so your mouth doesn't go off the end, but narrows the back where the noise comes out, possibly with the result of making it easier to cup.
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nacoran
5975 posts
Jul 14, 2012
11:56 AM
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GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAL!
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Nate
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isaacullah
2076 posts
Jul 14, 2012
12:24 PM
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@noodles: If your goal is just to have a smaller harp, that is easier to cup, why not try a Seydel Big 6? It's now available in all keys, and I hear really really good things about it...
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Noodles
110 posts
Jul 14, 2012
12:47 PM
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I think Big Six’s have their place, but not as your regular harps. I wouldn’t want to lop off the top 4 holes and sacrifice that top octave and the 8 octave splits that go with it.
Besides, I'm not entirely sure that the 1 and 10 holes would necessarily be a problem to play an a chopped harp. At this point, it's an assumption. That's one of things that I have to actually attempt before knowing the answer.
Last Edited by on Jul 14, 2012 12:55 PM
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