Ozblues66
6 posts
Sep 22, 2015
11:54 PM
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I need some advise on custom combs for my marine band ms harps. I love the tone of the old wooden combs but the taste of the pearwood makes me wanna heave, I have replaced them with combs from big river ms just so I can put them to my mouth.Can someone tell me about the `darkwood´composite combs?. Are they worth trying? Do they sound as good or better than pearwood? If they're any good i'd even consider changing my sp20s and lee oskars as well. And if there are any aussies on this forum can you tell me if anything similar is available here.
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SuperBee
2831 posts
Sep 23, 2015
12:54 AM
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i think you are talking about the combs Andrew Zajac sells?
if so...i have used plenty of them, though not an MS model...i have used a bunch of his marine band and Sp20 combs. i don't detect any taste or odour from them. i'd use them without hesitation.
whether they sound as good or better than pearwood...i can't detect any difference there either.
i hesitate to recommend things because people have their own sensitivities...but i think you'd have to be a dead-set whinger to find something to complain about with Andrew's dark combs.
i have never seen a MS marine band. didnt realise they had pearwood combs.
dont know of any similiar australian product. there are a couple fellers here make combs but not of composite materials. bloke in melbourne sells Jarrah combs...i have no idea of the quality or price. I do know his contact details if you want them.
and Neil Graham makes customs using mapingo wood combs but i dont know if he sells the combs. just sells custom harps i think.
i use Andrew's combs because they are good. i'd probably share the love but while the Aussie$ still holds up against the CAD pretty well, its quite an expensive exercise to buy from USA now
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Ozblues66
7 posts
Sep 23, 2015
1:23 AM
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Thanks superbee, they are the Andrew Zajac combs i'm enquiring about. I have heard of the jarrah and other various wood combs in oz, but I will wait for the aus$ to lift and order some from USA. Definitely wanna try composite material. As I said love the tone of wood but it may well be what they're varnished with that gives em a horrid taste. Also you cant give wood combs a good flush out with hot water without ruining them.
Last Edited by Ozblues66 on Sep 23, 2015 1:25 AM
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Rubes
961 posts
Sep 23, 2015
5:41 AM
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I've tried a few mate and I reckon I'd be going one of Andrews next.......
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Old Man Rubes at Reverbnation
Dads in Space at Reverbnation
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groyster1
2810 posts
Sep 23, 2015
7:03 AM
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Andrew has done fundamental service on many old marine bands and some golden melodys..he has put his combs on them and there is no doubt whatsoever that his combs are far superior to the hohner factory combs
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shakeylee
386 posts
Sep 23, 2015
12:10 PM
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"they are the Andrew Zajac combs i'm enquiring about. I have heard of the jarrah and other various wood combs in oz, but I will wait for the aus$ to lift and order some from USA" - Ozblues66
hi!! just want you to know,you can order them from the US or from canada, whichever exchange rate is better at the time :)
for the US,you can order from the fantastic rockin' ron's
from canada you can order straight from Andrew Zajac
at http://harp.andrewzajac.ca/Combs
i can tell you,he makes a fantastic,precise,flat ,great sounding comb,plus,he is a big help to this community.
the site is also a great place for screws and tools
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www.shakeylee.com
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nacoran
8712 posts
Sep 23, 2015
12:44 PM
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Andrew makes great combs. My go to harp is a C pre-MS Blues Harp on one of his combs. Durable, smooth, and super airtight.
Over the years I've gotten combs from Andrew, from Tom at Blue Moon Harmonicas, from David Payne and from Chris Reynolds. They were all a big step up from stock combs. The only one that I had any smell issues with was the one from David Payne (he used poly to seal it), and that went away after it had cured for a while.
Combs shouldn't affect tone perceptibly, except perhaps by virtue of being particularly airtight. They can have a big impact on performance though, since an airtight harp responds with less force. They can also absolutely make a huge difference on the comfort front. Personally, I like rounded tines, ever so slightly protruding, and rounded corners (I wish a manufacturer would offer rounded corner reed plate models- not just a little rounded- you can make the end of the harp almost circular.)
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Nate
Facebook
Thread Organizer (A list of all sorts of useful threads)
First Post- May 8, 2009
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SuperBee
2833 posts
Sep 23, 2015
1:57 PM
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I'd love to try some of Tom's Blue Moon combs...but exchange the way it is...costs an Aussie about $43 to buy a $US29 Blue Moon comb at the moment. Add postage and its $63...except the postage is US$ too, so works out closer to $75. That will get worse before it gets better, and it's unlikely to get better in foreseeable future.
For an Australian, dealing with Andrew in Canada, a comb costs about half that. The currency is almost at parity, and the combs are just over $20 iirc..
Of course it's not the range of colours and just the one material, and only sandwiches, but the combs work very well. It's a satisfactory arrangement.
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MP
3314 posts
Sep 23, 2015
2:44 PM
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From what I've read here on MBH the MS Marine Band was pretty much a Big River w/ a wood comb. It was never released in the US. In other words, Andrew Zajacs combs should work fine.
As an aside, another MS harp that wasn't marketed in the US was the MS Special 20. I have no idea what brainiac came up w/ the MS SP/20. The original screwed together model just begged for replaceable reed plates.
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I'm out of the Biz for a while till I get over my burnout. You can try HarveyHarp or arzajac, or just look the page nacoran put together under Forum Search.
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Ozblues66
8 posts
Sep 23, 2015
3:37 PM
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Will definitely look into ordering from Canada. Better top up the debit card. Thanks for the info fellas. Good on ya superbee.
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Ozblues66
10 posts
Sep 24, 2015
1:39 AM
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BTW, can one of you blokes that make custom combs tell me, are the acrylic ones made on a laser printer or are they shaped by hand from a block or is a laser cutter involved?
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florida-trader
789 posts
Sep 24, 2015
4:45 AM
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Oz. All my Blue Moon combs are CNC milled from blocks of material - acrylic, aluminum, etc. I used to laser cut combs from sheets of acrylic, but not anymore. Brendan Power is using a 3D Printer to make combs for chromatics. Nobody does it by hand.
MP. When Hohner introduced the MS-Series, which was when they started to replace human labor with technology, they (foolishly) put the Marine Band in to that family. They mistakenly believed that players would be impressed by the precision that technology brings to the table. But alas, the people revolted. They wanted their beloved handmade Marine Bands. Kinda like when Coca-Cola changed their formula and everyone cried foul!
I don’t know whether or not the MS-Marine Band was introduced in the U.S., but here are some pictures that tell the story.
The MS-Marine Band became the Big River. You can see that the shape of the cover plates is identical. The back cover is identical. The box is identical.
The only real difference is that the Marine Band used a Doussie Wood comb – exactly what is found on the MS Blues Harp – and the Big River uses an injection molded ABS comb. The Doussie wood combs are actually pretty nice. They can be improved by flat sanding and sealing. Doussie wood is an African hardwood that is naturally more moisture resistant than the pear wood used in Marine Bands. It is also much harder than pear wood. I am convinced that one of the reasons Hohner uses pear wood to make combs is because it is soft. It is much more receptive to the little nails Hohner uses to fasten the reed plates to the comb. I believe if you tried to use nails with a hardwood like Doussie the wood would split. Once they started drilling holes and using screws, they could go to a hardwood that is more waterproof. Just my theory. Also notice how, in spite of the fact that all MS-Series reed plates have five screw holes, Hohner only uses two of them. They only use two screws in the Blues Harp, three in the Big River. They do use all five in the Meisterklasse which is the premium member of the MS-Series. They only use 6 of 8 available screw holes in Special 20’s and on and on. That has always puzzled me. Whey skimp on the screws? Cost? I guess so.
So after all the hoopla created by making the Marine Band a member of the MS-Series, Hohner went back to the traditional method of making them and to reassure their customers, they stamped “HANDMADE” on the box for a while. Not sure how long – maybe a year or two.
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Tom Halchak
www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
Last Edited by florida-trader on Sep 24, 2015 4:47 AM
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Ozblues66
14 posts
Sep 24, 2015
5:52 AM
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Thanks tom, bit of a bummer to find out that my marine bands I paid $40 for years ago are cheapo big rivers with wood combs. Very interesting.
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shakeylee
387 posts
Sep 24, 2015
8:59 AM
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in a way it's a bummer ,BUT ,if you like them.....
that means you could build a similar ,or better harp with ,say. a blue midnight and a custom comb.or a big river.
i am not a hohner user,usually,but the blue midnight is a decent harp for the money.one of the best MS harps,i think.
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www.shakeylee.com
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barbequebob
3030 posts
Sep 24, 2015
10:36 AM
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I was one of the players who participated in the test model of the MS Marine Band back in 1991, along with about a good 50 or more players and to a man, everyone who played them HATED IT. Florida trader describes exactly what the MS MB was, and just about every player didn't care for its tone too much and they were originally going to have it tuned ET, and those who were blues players, especially in a more traditional approach, hated that even more. I knew of several players who were endorsees that told Hohner in some really nasty letters that they'd give up their endorsement deals publicly if they put that out in the US, and so that version was never sold here in the US because of the extremely strong negative reaction to it.
They were also using short slot reeds in the MS series at the time, which also made the harps sound extremely shrill and on many lower pitched harps, it felt like you had to fight the damned thing to get a decent bend out of them.
If they had used the reed plates that were being made after Hohner retooled and the used long slot for some lower pitched keys, as well as medium slot and short slot for higher pitched harps, and used the reed plates used in the MS Cross Harps (which used a thicker reed plate), and at least used the compromise tunings that the present day MB/MBD/Sp20's use since 1992, it might have possibly caught on.
I understand that many pro players in Europe shunned the MS MB's and often ordered the hand mades from online US retail specialist stores.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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arzajac
1677 posts
Sep 24, 2015
1:47 PM
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Thanks for all the kind words about my combs! I put a lot of effort into flattening and checking each one by hand before I ship.
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Ozblues66, I've worked on all the types and vintages of MS harps including the Marine Band MS harps and they all do really well with a better comb.
And some of the MS harps have been marketed as "cheapo" but the MS line has lots of potential. They are great harps to upgrade if you are a DIY person and are looking for lots of potential value.
_____
Tom, I had someone willing to sell me one or two MS Marine Bands at one point. I really wanted them but I lost touch. Hold on to that harp! It's a keeper...
Best,
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Custom overblow harps. Harmonica Combs and Tools.
Last Edited by arzajac on Sep 24, 2015 1:49 PM
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Ozblues66
15 posts
Sep 24, 2015
2:15 PM
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I got three pieces of history then, A,Bb and C. Bought back in early nineties. All in good condition. They have be sitting in a draw for a decade,I've only just recently changed the combs to big river ones. But will mod them soon with custom combs, ha soon.one day.
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Ozblues66
17 posts
Sep 24, 2015
6:16 PM
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Mr Zajac, may ask a dumb question? Ha ha I know I can coz I do it a lot. With the Lee Oskars being recessed,do you have to somehow modify the covers to sit properly when converting to sandwich type harps? ??
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arzajac
1678 posts
Sep 25, 2015
5:46 AM
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Ozblues: I have some information about that here:
Sandwich-type harmonica
That being said, I have one Lee Oskar in my case. I did a little extra work on it. It's an F into which I cut slots in the front of the reed plate. The cover plates fit in the slot just like a Marine Band.
It's a heck of a lot of work. I like the harp a lot but I wouldn't do it again; it would be much easier to start with another kind of harp. You can convert a LO to become sandwich-type, but they were not designed for that. That makes it an uphill battle. I've always expressed that opinion.
Despite that, my Lee Oskar combs are a good seller... I figure that those who like Lee Oskar harps **really** like them and will stick with them. They have their own sound and they are very tough!
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Custom overblow harps. Harmonica Combs and Tools.
Last Edited by arzajac on Sep 25, 2015 5:48 AM
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Ozblues66
19 posts
Sep 25, 2015
4:39 PM
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Thanx arzajac, very informative. It gives me a lot to think about.
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blueswannabe
578 posts
Sep 26, 2015
6:37 PM
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Just got an acrylic comb from blues moon haronica for my blues harp ms, and the fit is perfect, looks great and sounds great.
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Harmonicatunes
108 posts
Sep 27, 2015
4:50 AM
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I have a set of Neil Graham custom instruments, they have been the basis of my sound for the last 13 years. They all have his custom made Australian hardwood comb, which only come with his instruments.
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Tony Eyers
Australia
www.HarmonicaAcademy.com
everyone plays...
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