I would appreciete some guidence. I have always avoided wooden comb harmonicas. The feel in my mouth is the same as that foil you get around chocolate catching a filling, i hate it.
However, i ordered a marine band low Eb which arrived yesterday. Played a couple of hours last night trying to stay dry and gentle.
The comb now looks my grandmothers teeth. The divide between 4 and 5 now sticks out about 3 mm and has set off at an allarming angle towards hole 3. 5/6 and6/7 have equally gone into freak out mode as if they are trying to escape the harmonica.
3/4 divide seems happy but 1/2 and 2/3 also seem to be getting excited.
hole 3 and 4 are now smaller by around 25% due to the new angle the divides have set themselves at and hole 5 50%larger.
Simpley, after a few hours gentle playing it now looks ugly as sin and hurts like hell.
Is this normal?, does it stay like that? is there anything i can do?
I am so disappointed. I only bought it for one song i really wanted to play, i really enjoyed myself last night and now the ineviteble disapointment in the morning.
It sounds as if you play with a very wet mouth to make a harp swell that much in so little time.
I would let it dry out for a day or so and then trim back the tines flush with the comb. Then take the harp apart and seal the comb with beeswax or mineral oil. There is plenty of advice on how to do this on YouTube and in the forum archives.
Then reassemble the harp and it shouldn't swell up again. Whilst it's apart you could gap it if needed and you could emboss it as well if you wanted too.
I have a Marine Band in low Eb that has been sealed, gapped, embossed, screw assembled and the cover plates opened up. It plays superbly.
You could alternatively order a sealed comb for it from Chris Reynolds, Mark Lavoie or Chris Michalek.
Last Edited by on May 22, 2010 1:30 AM
@Yogi I also hate that feeling of foil on my teeth so I started unwrapping my chocolate before I eat it. ---------- The Art Teacher Formally Known As scstrickland
There's also another factor when you buy any harmonica with a wood comb that isn't fully sealed, and that problem is if the comb was cut too close to the knot of the tree, and when this happens, even the slightest amount of moisture can make them swell. If you live in a dry climate or high altitude, this can make things worse.
A lot of players who play with a very wet mouth often play quite a lot harder than they think and that's also something to take into consideration as well.
The Marine Band Deluxe is partially sealed (just on the outer edges) and the Marine Band Crossover is fully sealed and personally, as far as an out of the box wood comb Low Eb goes, I'd recommend getting the Seydel 1847 Classic, which is fully sealed and the botoom cover plate has a little "bump" placed over the 1 draw to avoid the rattling of the reed against the cover plate, which is common with anything lower than a G.
The stock classic Marine Band is NOT sealed at all and if you want one, get a sealed comb from those guys Kingley mentioned or learn to do that yourself, or better yet, invest in a custom MB in Low Eb. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
I've got a Seydel Blues Favorite in LLF. It's got a composite aluminum comb and it plays like a dream. Dave Payne threw in a great sealed chestnut comb with it. That plays great too. Unfortunately, I have a sensitivity to the smell of the sealer he used. I've got it airing out, but that's me, I was always really sensitive to certain smells as a kid, rooms painted a couple weeks before, linseed oiled furniture, etc. Unless you have that particular proboscis peculiarity I'd highly recommend sealed wood combs. If not, the Seydel Blues Favorites aluminum combs are great and the harp sounds great. There are several guys who make other composite combs.
edit- spelling.
---------- Nate Facebook
Last Edited by on Feb 29, 2012 8:31 AM
JDH, unfortunately, there's noway to tell right off the bat until you play it. If the comb is fully sealed, the comb won't swell no matter what. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
thank you all for the advice, makes me wonder why after producing the marine band and this, from reading posts, being a common problem, why they havent thought to solve it at the point of manufacture.
is it to do with building in failure to ensure repeat sales.
I cannot for the life of me understand why Hohner can't produce a classic marine band (which is of course very very popular) that is sealed and gapped properly. It seem to me that these two things are by far the biggest issues that everyone complains about.
MB Deluxe swells exactly like the MB classic. Just need to play it a bit longer. And MB crossover ... costs like Seydel 1847 or Suzuki Manji (while definitely NOT being the top-class instrument). ---------- www.truechromatic.com
Hohner addressed this over thirty years ago(?), it's called the Special 20 Marine Band. Some players don't want them screwing with the 1896, they consider them perfect just like they are.
The reason why the Special 20's also have Marine Band on the cover was because they were originally going to replace the MB with the Sp20, but too many players weren't too keen on that, so they kept both. The original Sp20's had the reed plates nailed to the comb, first using aluminum nails, later brass escutcheon pins and finally screw tapped. The ones that were nailed, if they weren't nailed properly, would leak just as bad as any wood comb harp would and they were a bitch to take apart unless you got as lucky as I did, getting a special tool made by an old chromatic player/retired tool and die maker that worked like a charm, and that was by Dave Doucette, who also originally made a reed removal tool called the 3RT, that Bill Romel later kept making once Dave passed away.
The MB Deluxe swels because is is only PARTIALLY sealed, maenaing just around the outer edges, and ditto with the Hering 1923 Vintage Harp, Hering Delta Blues, and Hering Master Blues as well.
The MB Crossover and Seydel 1847 Classic are FULLY sealed, and those won't swell at all. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Yes 1847classic has a completely different comb. It's like the wood on the front panel of an expensive Jaguar compared to MB's barn wood. ---------- www.truechromatic.com
Personally I think the MB 1986 now are better built, the combs have improved! Part of the fun is doing the work on them to bring out the potential of these great harmonicas,
get mineral oil. get a very small makeup brush thats angle bent. cut a long strip of plastic from a water jug, #2 plastic the exact width of the hole channel. insert the strip ends into the hole. apply the oil to each side of the wood hole and the back. pull the plastic out. clean it in a bowl of dish soap and water wipe and do the next hole. let the whole thing cure about a week. then go in each hole gently with the same brush using rubbing alcohol on the metal and reed in case any oil got there. tap the alcohol out.
And we pay good money for all this aggravation. I hear that the suggested retail price for a Marine band will soon be $57.00. This is getting beyond the absurd. I can remember in the forties and early fifties when a Marine Band was 50 cents to $1.50 and early 60's $2.50. This model is over mythologized. Sure chords sound great on them but with a little work other models can be made to sound great and play great. I have some MS harps that I've worked on and they play with very little effort and sound great and I especially like the Low tuned MS harps. I have replaced many combs and this helps alot.
Last Edited by on Feb 29, 2012 6:52 PM
