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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Rolmonica
Rolmonica
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Cotton
6 posts
Jan 31, 2014
8:13 AM
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One of my other hobbies is collecting Antique automated Musical instruments. Think- Phonographs, Victor talking Machines, Roller Organ, Reproducing Piano. In the last year or so I have acquired two Rolmonicas. Made in US , but have pre WWII German harmonicas. Wooded comb, 12 hole, I believe they are 12 notes, blow and draw should be the same?? All holes have valves (windsavers)but in really bad shape. I would like to get them working again. One plays OK. The other not so much. None of the reeds are broken or missing. I understand the gasket between the harmonica and the device needs to be air tight. I believer I have a source for a new gasket, however it is a organ rebuild company, they do not know much about harmonicas. I know that the whole restored device in not worth a great deal of money. I am just looking to have a fun antique to show and educate people on what used to be. Any of you repair guys ever worked on a Rolmonica?? Advice?
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nacoran
7520 posts
Jan 31, 2014
5:31 PM
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Interesting! I'm not sure who works on them.
You might try forum member Jim's Facebook page Harp Repair- (https://www.facebook.com/groups/harprepair/)
I'll give this a bump here too. You might try a forum search with the term Rolmonica in it. It seems someone may have mentioned having some recently, was it Michael Rubin? I'm not sure. He might have a lead for you. As for the pre-war harps, if you post some pictures someone might have more specific information.
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Nate
Facebook
Thread Organizer (A list of all sorts of useful threads)
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GMaj7
343 posts
Jan 31, 2014
6:34 PM
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There's actually another FB group called Harmonica Collectors. There are a few guys on there that really know their stuff. Canadian Doug Dawson was recently featured on A&E Extreme Collectors. He knows all about stuff in that era and is one of the key members.
Winslow does, too. Hoping he chimes in here...
Thanks for an interesting post Cotton!
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Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
1623customharmonicas.com
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OldGeezer
9 posts
Feb 01, 2014
8:37 AM
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While I don't repair these, perhaps I can provide some helpful information.
There are two types of Rolmonicas: diatonic and chromatic. The diatonic harps were made in Germany by Gebrueder Ludwig, while the chromatics were made by Hohner.
Any good repair technician should be able to install new windsavers, but they will require some cutting and fitting. The gasket is a different story, however. Contact www.buttonbox.com and speak with Bob Snope, the head technician. They rebuild old button accordions and may be willing to make something for you. It will probably be of suede rather than the original sheet cork. They do good work, but aren't cheap.
Finally, do a search for the 'John Whiteman Anthology' And scroll down to Rolmonicas. There are a number of different models there. It's a large file, 580 pages, but there are a lot of interesting and unusual things there.
I hope that this helps some.
Paul N.
Tonawanda, NY
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Cotton
11 posts
Feb 04, 2014
8:10 AM
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Guys,
Thanks for the replies,
I have found a piano guy that makes the cork gasket at a fair price $20.00
Piano World www.thepianoworld.com
All I need now is for a harmonica tech to take on the job of converting the nails to screws, tune and install windsavers.
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