About a year and a half ago a gentleman named JD Taylor ordered a couple of Special 20 combs from me. I didn’t know JD from a hole in the ground and then he posted a video of himself playing a couple of Special 20s he built using my combs. I was blown away and have been a huge fan ever since. JD is a member of Little Boys Blue. They are currently in the Top 25 of the Living Blues Radio Chart and went to the finals of the International Blues Competition earlier this year. Please check the out and support their music. JD has been wanting to try a Blue Moon Double Reed Plate Special 20 so I recently built one for him in the Key of G, with a Brass Comb and Gloss Black Powder Coated Covers. Here’s a little demo by the man.
---------- Tom Halchak www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
Last Edited by florida-trader on Aug 03, 2016 3:25 PM
I can't believe it! There are so many great harp players out there. How does anyone get that great and fluent with all the overblows and overdraws. Kinda makes it hard to keep practicing when it's the only way to get better. One day I'll get an overdraw to sound :-( I hope!
Ridge - that is an interesting comment. I know that traditionally speaking, it is generally accepted that it ieasier to blow out reeds in a double reed plate harp. However, I think that the historical data comes from harps that were built by removing the reeds out of one plate and using that to build the double plated harp. This creates reed plates that are literally twice as thick as the standard reed plate - which, if you are interested is .95mm, so a double thick plate would be 1.90mm.
The components I use are specifically made to build double reed plate harps. They are not old reed plates with the reeds removed. The components are not as thick as reed plates. They weigh in at 0.40mm thick making the combined thickness of the plates 1.35mm.
I've been making and offering double reed plate harps for about a year and a half and so far, I have not had one customer report that they have blown out a reed. I'm not saying that the premise of double reed plated harps being easier to blow out reeds is without merit. But I am saying that the tendency might be mitigated with slightly thinner plates. Only time will tell. ---------- Tom Halchak www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
Thanks for clarifying. I do remember playing one of your double thick plate harmonicas a few years ago at the Harmonica Collective and could feel and hear an appreciable difference. I definitely didn't recall the finer points about their construction though.
I also just generally found it interesting that JD is saying he plays hard, but seems to have a good deal of finesse from the short clip he posted. ---------- Ridge's YouTube
