HarveyHarp
488 posts
Aug 26, 2013
9:23 PM
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I received a full set of 13 Marine Bands 1896s that a customer sent me from Rockin Ron's to Optimize a couple of days ago, and while checking them out to see what dates they were made, 6 of them do not have date stamps on them.
Some please tell me that Hohner has not stopped putting date stamps on their Classic MBs and Golden Melodies. I know they never did put them on Special 20s for some reason, and since I specialize in refurbished harps, that creates a problem because I never am real sure how one will turn out until I waste my time working on it. Now with the standard Marine Bands not having date stamps, they look just like 1995 harps. Once they get filthy you will not be able to tell the difference in couple of years. At least with the Golden Melodies you can tell the newer ones by the silver screws.
So, whats up with this??
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HarveyHarp
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jimbo-G
178 posts
Aug 27, 2013
12:15 AM
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Same here I got one last week, no date stamp and no A440 stamp on the cover either.
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ridge
456 posts
Aug 27, 2013
5:32 AM
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Sounds like they've optimized their manufacturing process and are passing the savings on to yooouuuuu!
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HarveyHarp
489 posts
Aug 27, 2013
6:32 AM
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You are right about the A440, but since they are never at 440, and we really do not want them to be, that is not important, at least to me.
I wonder if the GMs have had their date stamps removed too?
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HarveyHarp
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jimbo-G
179 posts
Aug 27, 2013
10:17 AM
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Nah the A440 is not important just an observation. Sounds like you've got a good excuse to buy yourself some nice new harps.
Last Edited by jimbo-G on Aug 27, 2013 4:45 PM
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MP
2901 posts
Aug 27, 2013
4:06 PM
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well that screws things up for me too. i worked on an SP/20 not long ago w/ that dating problem. other harps of his looked the same vintage and were fine. after i finished that SP i hated it. i tossed out everything except for the comb and screws. i just basically gave the customer a newer harp that played really well rather than sending him back his sows ear.
it's a fact we fixers have to deal with.
if someone isn't satified w/ your work ...it'll get back to you no matter how many hours you've spent on improvements.
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MP
affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name [MP] for info-
repair videos on YouTube.
you can reach me via Facebook. Mark Prados
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Miles Dewar
1492 posts
Aug 27, 2013
4:51 PM
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I have never seen a Marine Band 1896 with a date stamped on it! Do these things really exist?!
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---Go Chicago Bears!!!---
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MP
2903 posts
Aug 27, 2013
5:19 PM
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should have small four digit stamp. example 0608 is June 2008. upper right on top plate and lower right on bottom plate. Seen this way they are upside down but that's where they are.
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MP
affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name [MP] for info-
repair videos on YouTube.
you can reach me via Facebook. Mark Prados
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nacoran
7065 posts
Aug 27, 2013
6:51 PM
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Taking date stamping or serial numbers off an item is a recipe for quality control nightmares. It's not about your customers being able to identify them, it's about being able to track batches for quality control.
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Nate
Facebook
Thread Organizer (A list of all sorts of useful threads)
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HarveyHarp
491 posts
Aug 27, 2013
8:18 PM
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MP, that crappy Spec 20 happens to me all the time. As you know, you cannot tell if it has potential unless you work on it. Then its too late. Luckily, I have a bunch of them that I have very little in, but time is a customizers biggest asset, and it is always limited. I think that is why so many customizers will only work on new harps, and repair only their own products. I have not gotten there yet, but it is in consideration.
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HarveyHarp
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arzajac
1134 posts
Aug 28, 2013
5:17 PM
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So are these new MB's of lesser quality?
The MBs from the past 12 months have been very very good. I hope it's not become hit-and-miss.
I'll ask the Canadian Hohner distributor what he knows and see if I can get one of these new MBs to work on.
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Custom overblow harps. Harmonica service and repair.
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PropMan
5 posts
Aug 28, 2013
8:28 PM
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I just picked up a brand new Marine Band in D at Guitar Center on Sunset on Monday afternoon. It doesn't have the A440 stamp and I haven't opened it up to look for a date stamp, but its a really really good harp right out of the box. The OB 6 is effortless, its super responsive and consistent from end to end. I feel no need to do anything but play it.
Then again, I bought it because a Marine Band I bought in May ir so wasn't great and I fractured the 6 blow trying to make it do things it really didn't want to do.
Last Edited by PropMan on Aug 28, 2013 9:38 PM
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Todd Parrott
1135 posts
Aug 29, 2013
12:47 AM
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Harvey,
I got a Bb Golden Melody from Hohner at SPAH, new and in the new fancy packaging, with a 2004 date on the blow plate, and no date on the draw plate.
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HarveyHarp
494 posts
Aug 29, 2013
7:32 AM
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Todd, I think that means that the GMs have had their date stamps removed too, and also that your draw plate and the blow plate were made about 8 years or so apart. The small problem I see here is that the 2004 plates are the older profile, and the draw plate is either a very old left over 1995, or a brand new one with the newer profile. Did it play OK? I would suggest asking Joe Spiers what he thinks.
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HarveyHarp
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florida-trader
352 posts
Aug 29, 2013
11:51 AM
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MP wrote:
"i just basically gave the customer a newer harp that played really well rather than sending him back his sows ear. "
That just about says everything you need to know about doing business with him. This guy gets it!
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Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
Last Edited by florida-trader on Aug 30, 2013 9:03 AM
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MP
2908 posts
Aug 30, 2013
12:04 PM
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(Blush)
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MP
affordable reed replacement and repairs.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
click user name [MP] for info-
repair videos on YouTube.
you can reach me via Facebook. Mark Prados
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arzajac
1137 posts
Aug 30, 2013
7:23 PM
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First off, if it wasn't for MP's ability to infuse a harp with mojo, I wouldn't be working on harps.
Secondly, I got one of these new Marine Bands in Bb from Jeff Wilson in Newmarket Ontario. He had not noticed the new stock had differences when I spoke with him yesterday. The only difference on the coverplates are the missing A440. Got the harp the next day - pretty fast!
It played well out of the box. In the same ballpark as MBs from the current year - pretty good. The gapping was pretty consistent and the tuning was good - only one reed noticeably off. All the bends were there with no squeals. Overblows were barely there as passing notes and no overdraws were present. Still consistent though with what they have been making in the past year.
The nails are in the same position as since the late 90s on both blow and draw. There is no date, though. But that's the only difference. To tell the difference between these plates and older plates, really old draw plates will have four nails between the tines. From the 50s(?) to the 80s, there were three but they were further back. From the mid 80s to the 90s, there were only two. From the late 90s to 2013, there were three but the nails in the middle and on the high end are further forward than the earlier ones and there was a date stamp on the reed plate. Today's have the same nail position but no date stamp.
This is the blow plate. My photo of the draw plate is of poor quality.
The reed profiles were consistent with what they have been in the past year - pretty good.
I worked on each reed to get them to custom-level profile and it was no different than it has been in the past year - it's still easier to work on them than it had been in the past.
I flat-sanded the draw plate and it was fairly consistent with no severe low spots.
So, it looks to me that the only change is that they stopped stamping the date on the reed plates as well as gotten rid of A 440 on the top cover plate. My fear was that this would have been associated with a drop in quality but it doesn't seem to be the case.
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Custom overblow harps. Harmonica service and repair.
Last Edited by arzajac on Aug 30, 2013 7:26 PM
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HarveyHarp
497 posts
Aug 30, 2013
8:03 PM
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It might be my imagination, but the nails seemed to be in tighter on the 1896. Other than that, I did not notice any difference. Yet!
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HarveyHarp
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