Rarko
65 posts
Nov 11, 2013
1:04 PM
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In this video Dan said:"I dont play other peoples harmonicas"
So, do you guys play other peoples harmonicas, or buy used harmonicas...?
I saw at some jams that some players use same harmonica... Dunno why Dan said that, Dan, if you see this please explain why you said that! :)
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Gnarly
772 posts
Nov 11, 2013
1:14 PM
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Mono--that's what he told me!
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florida-trader
391 posts
Nov 11, 2013
1:23 PM
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Rarko. This is a subject that has been discussed on this forum many times in the past. Here’s the bottom line - unless it is a brand new, never been played before harmonica – all harmonicas are used harmonicas. You might find it repulsive that a harp has been in someone else's mouth. A beautiful girl - not so bad. Another dude - yuck.
Harps can be cleaned and sanitized. Think about how many times you have eaten restaurants where you were ate and drank with fork, knives, spoons, glasses, coffee cups, etc. that have been in hundreds of other people’s mouths. You never give it a second thought. So the notion of only buying new harps and never buying used harps is naïve. Literally everybody who works on harps – customizers, those who do repairs - test the harp by playing it before they ship it out. If you restrict yourself to only buying or playing harps that have never been played by someone else, by definition, you will never own a custom harp unless you customize it yourself.
When you go to harmonica conventions such as SPAH it is a harmonica swap-fest – a literal harmonica orgy. Everyone plays everyone else’s harp. To be sure there are plenty of alcohol wipes available but most don’t even bother. A little wipe of the conspicuous saliva on your sleeve and away you go. Look at it this way, would you buy a car before you test drove it? At SPAH you can test drive all the new toys from the manufacturers before buying one or you can talk shop with your fellow harp enthusiasts and try out their new Joe Spiers of Filisko custom if you are lucky.
In Dan’s defense, this video was posted in Dec. 2011. He may feel differently now. I dunno. I can tell you that 4-5 years ago, I would have been reluctant to play someone else’s harp. But now I see the light.
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Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
Last Edited by florida-trader on Nov 11, 2013 1:25 PM
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mattfolk327
33 posts
Nov 11, 2013
1:56 PM
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If it was one of my buddies and I knew he didn't have herpes or a bad cold I would share it. Its like sharing a cigarette. I wouldn't buy used off of craigslist or something though.
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2chops
186 posts
Nov 11, 2013
1:59 PM
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I have and do. A few years ago my brother in law gave me a box full of harps that were his dads. I played them with out so much as a sleeve wipe. But those ones had been sitting unplayed for about 10 years. So even if they had nasty bugs on them when he played them last, those bugs had long since gone the way of the Dodo. Germs need a warm moist environment in order to survive for any length of time. Recently I bought a few used ones from Greg Jones. In this case I know he had sanitized them before shipping.
Would I play one that had just been in someone else's mouth and handed to me? Well, most likely yes. Unless the person just looked like "a carrier". You have to use your own judgement. But then again, I'm not as queezy about such things as some folks.
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You Tube = goshinjk
I'm workin on it. I'm workin on it.
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Gnarly
773 posts
Nov 11, 2013
1:59 PM
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Dan still feels this way--if you know him, you know it takes a lot to change his mind.
I play every harmonica that I work on, and in my opinion that is the only way to do it--how can you know what the harp is like if you don't play it?
The better the repair guy plays, the better job he can do (think Chris Michalek).
Certainly repair tech is not a job for a germophobe. That being said, I try to make sure I am not acquiring a disease when I do my job.
PS Alcohol is not a good disinfectant, although it is a great solvent--and lubricant LOL
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Gnarly
774 posts
Nov 11, 2013
2:01 PM
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@2chops I was at SPAH 2012 and Brendan (who was working for Suzuki at the time) offered to let me try his personal SUB30--you bet I tried it!
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2chops
188 posts
Nov 11, 2013
2:12 PM
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@Gnarly...I would have too. In fact, Adam had mentioned in an earlier thread about this very thing. How at times it can be considered bad etiquette if you don't play one offered you. I hope to make it to SPAH sometime, or some other such event. I would be trying out lots of cool goodies.
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You Tube = goshinjk
I'm workin on it. I'm workin on it.
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arzajac
1197 posts
Nov 11, 2013
3:18 PM
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I'm a germophobe.
Harps I work on get cleaned twice. Once so that I can play, adjust and tune them and a second time before they get shipped back to the customer.
If I get a harp with an unsealed wood comb, it gets replaced with one that can go into an ultrasonic cleaner.
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Custom overblow harps. Harmonica service and repair.
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Zadozica
279 posts
Nov 11, 2013
4:31 PM
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Geez, I sometimes get grossed out playing my own haps, with all that dried skin and saliva clinging on the insides of the comb.. Sometimes a bunch will come loose and I inhale the crud. I think I would vomit if it belonged to someone else..
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groyster1
2460 posts
Nov 11, 2013
6:59 PM
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never worry about my own harps......you cannot be infected with your own harps......I have played used harps....how long do you think germs survive?that being said....I do not swap out harps in the short term.............if someone wants my A harp Ill sell it to you but not loan
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JInx
631 posts
Nov 11, 2013
9:18 PM
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Didn't I hear somewhere that Woodie Guthrie caught TB from a harmonica?
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Sun, sun, sun
Burn, burn, burn
Soon, soon, soon
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jbone
1408 posts
Nov 12, 2013
4:36 AM
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I keep mine fairly clear of sludge. Inhaling crud is not good if all it does is make me pause a sec or cough in the middle of a harp part. I have in fact been given harps by friends and of course I clean them. alcohol and warm slightly soapy water and a thorough drying. By the way to really clean a harp it needs disassembly imho. So all parts are cleaned and dried whether they are mine or someone else's.
My harps stay in my case when not in use. I never carry one in a pocket or the glove box etc on the chance of lint and other crap finding it's way inside and me then breathing it in.
Back in the day, who didn't pass a doob around? or a bottle?
If a stranger wants to play my harps it's a flat no. But if I know you pretty well it's not a problem.
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http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000386839482
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa7La7yYYeE
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groyster1
2461 posts
Nov 12, 2013
6:29 AM
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woodie died of huntingtons disease
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JInx
634 posts
Nov 12, 2013
10:32 AM
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maybe it was Jimmie Rogers?
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Sun, sun, sun
Burn, burn, burn
Soon, soon, soon
Moon, moon, moon
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12gagedan
285 posts
Nov 14, 2013
10:24 AM
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Dear list,
Short answer: It was Mono
Long answer: I was 19, just back to college after winter break and my pal Willie (Brian Williams) invited me over to his dorm room to check out the cool harmonica his granddad gave him. It was an 8-hole Chrometta. I thought nothing of it when we swapped the harp back and forth; trying to reconcile its note layout vs. the diatonics I was learning how to play.
A week or two later I got this terrible cold, but I fought through it, and continued on the semester. Let’s see: Organic Chem II + lab, Physics II + lab, Genetics, Organic Biochemistry, and I think there was a fluff class too. It was basically my toughest semester. I went through it like a zombie. I was so tired the whole time, just dragging myself to class and then back to sleep. I got mostly C’s, 1 credit of F (organic biochem) and was generally miserable. At the end of the semester they diagnosed me with mono and told me I should have taken the semester off. Willie had mono too that spring. I’m no epidemiologist, but it stands to reason that the harmonica was the vector for that virus. I swore then and there that I would never play another person’s harmonica, nor would I ever let someone play one of mine.
I’ve broken the rule twice since (almost 20yrs later). I don’t mind when my wife picks up one of my harmonicas, yet it happens very rarely. I succumbed to hero worship when Rod called me up to sit in and I wasn’t prepared (link below). I never expected to be called up, so I had no harps. He handed me one of his crappy Herring Sp.20-like harps and I just did it. I have a few custom harps, so that’s a grey area. I guess I hope they were clean.
I don’t care if others swap harps. It’s just not for me. So, there you go. You asked.
I embedded one of Willie’s videos and the Rod sit-in I mentioned. (I play after 5:00)
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12gagedan's YouTube Channel
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