chromaticblues
289 posts
Nov 15, 2010
10:49 AM
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The Blue light special is will be coming to a close soon.
I can no longer offer this service for $20. I'm raising the rate to $25 fo the rest of November. Then after that I will only provide this service for SP 20's at $35. That will include cleaning, reed work and tuning. I have alot of SP 20 parts. So I can take care of anything SP 20 related! I will be able to do anything from making your harp work better for $35 to a fully reworked new SP 20 with new MB coverplates for $75! So I can help you with any Sp 20 situation you may have! I will be selling new finnished Marine Bands, Marine Band Deluxes and Marine Band Crossovers for $100. I'd like to Thank Everyone that has given me a chance to work on there harps!!
Hoo Doo Harps
Putting the MoJo back in the Blues one harp at a time!
Last Edited by on Nov 16, 2010 12:12 PM
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Swezey8
27 posts
Nov 15, 2010
11:34 AM
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@chromaticblues- Hey, been playing the harps you set up for me since Saturday and lovin em! Going to post a review after I play them a few more days. Had to open up the Sp20 as the 1 blow wouldn't sound, but after gapping the reed just slightly it was fine. The rest of the harp played great- only heard about overblows 2 months ago off the forum and finally got them to sound on something other than the 6! And I open up the backs of the covers usually, but love the MB covers on there even more. Was planning on shipping you two more Sp20's this week- does that mean I need to send $50 and not $40? Let me know and thanks for the work.
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chromaticblues
290 posts
Nov 15, 2010
11:47 AM
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@ Swezey8 Yeah with shipping cost and padded envelopes I have to raise it to $25 apiece. And your welcome!
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Rift
18 posts
Nov 15, 2010
11:53 AM
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@chromaticblues - I havent put the Manji down since I go it from you Friday. Thanks again. I love what you sent me. I will definitley come back to you again. Who knows, I might even try your Special 20's if they are as good as you say they are. Ever do any work on Bluesmasters? I was wondering if you can get them louder by opening up the backs. I have one in key of G that I play all the time but since you sent me that screamer of a Manji its just not loud enough for me anymore.
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nacoran
3239 posts
Nov 15, 2010
12:26 PM
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Chromatic, great to see things are taking off for you!
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chromaticblues
291 posts
Nov 15, 2010
2:03 PM
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Thanks Nacorn! Also thank you and Adam for letting me advertise hear. I wasn't sure how far I could go with this? I don't want to overstep any boundries.
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chromaticblues
292 posts
Nov 15, 2010
2:07 PM
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Yeah Rift send it down. I'll see what I can do to make it louder! Oh and a check for $25!
Last Edited by on Nov 16, 2010 12:13 PM
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chromaticblues
312 posts
Nov 19, 2010
11:00 AM
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I have changed my mind about a couple things (learning as I go). As of december 1st I will continue taking in harps that need adjusting, but only under certain circumstances.
First: Only Specail 20's, Crossovers and Manji's.
Second: This only applies to new harps. Except for Special 20's. Email me about that. There is no Sp 20 that I can't make it a good harp. I have many parts! Something you have bought recently and it just doesn't work right. I'm doing this because I want to work on something we both will be happy with.
I originaly was going to just make custom harps for people after the blues light special, but I think this is good service to provide. People are always going to buy harps that don't work very well and for $35 more you'll get a harp better any off-the-shelf harp.
Any thouhgts or ideas from anyone are more than welcome!
The fee will be $35 which will include everything I can do to make it as good as possible!
Last Edited by on Nov 19, 2010 11:59 AM
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Rift
28 posts
Nov 19, 2010
11:54 AM
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@chromaticblues do you have any Manjis you are selling? I am still looking for one in key of A.
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chromaticblues
314 posts
Nov 19, 2010
12:16 PM
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Rift I'm in the process of becoming a harmonica dealer. I have found a distributer that is willing to work with me on a small scale. So I will be able to get anything soon! What this means is I'll be able to build a crossover faster than you can buy one (there seems to be a crossover shortage)! Manji's a pretty available, but it will save people like you from having to buying one and mail to me. I'm just trying to cater to everyones needs.
This should be finalized next week, Finnished Manji's will be $80. If you want one just send me a check. It would be about two to three weeks after I recieve a check. I do have a "C" that is finnished?
Last Edited by on Nov 23, 2010 7:15 PM
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oldwailer
1415 posts
Nov 20, 2010
8:21 AM
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@chromaticblues: I can't find your email address anymore--could you give me a hint here?
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Sarge
47 posts
Nov 20, 2010
4:08 PM
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I had Kevin work on a seydel soloist pro and he did an outstanding job on it. Plays nice and easy and has good volume. I highly recommend his work.
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Wisdom does not always come with old age. Sometimes old age arrives alone.
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chromaticblues
316 posts
Nov 20, 2010
4:27 PM
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@ oldwailer: sbaker60@cox.net
@ Sarge Yeah I was impressed with your harp. That was the first Blues soloist pro I worked on and it came out sweet! It has a really nice tone and plays well. Glad you like it.
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eharp
947 posts
Nov 20, 2010
5:29 PM
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is that enough of a hint, oldwailer?
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catfish row
8 posts
Nov 20, 2010
7:49 PM
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I have a Special 20 I purchased new in the 80s that had a terrible sound. The tone was actually grating from being so far off. It has remained unplayed ever since.
I'm not a harp tinkerer and I play my hsrps until they die and then I toss them, but I kept this one as a reminder to not buy another Special 20. I have gone back to the Special 20 since they are much improved over what you would get 20 years ago.
Kevin has turned this into a very good harp. I thorougly enjoy this instrument. I'm not sure how he did it (again, I don't tinker with harps), but I can play a tune the harp that I have never successfully played on any harp to my satisfaction. Come On in My Kitchen by RJ. I could never hit the three draw the way I wanted. For some reaon it was the first thing I tried and I hit it perfectly for the first time ever.
Thanks, Kevin. I believe I would enjoy purchasing a Hoo Doo or several.
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chromaticblues
318 posts
Nov 22, 2010
5:26 PM
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Thats good to hear Catfish! That is a cool old harp. Harpwrench and Bbqbob have talked about how Hohner has changed the grade of brass they use. I have bought a few old Marine Bands and have noticed I can't get them to play as loud as new harps, but they have a very smooth tone(less raspy, less complex)type tone. I have to admit it's fun for me working on so many different harps.
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barbequebob
1436 posts
Nov 23, 2010
7:50 AM
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Hohner has used a number of different grades over the years, and there some 500 different grades of brass and half of them haven't been in production since prior to WWII and the pre-WWII Hohners used to use bell metal brass and that was one of the grades that, unfortunately has been out of production since prior to WWII.
No harmonica manufacturer to my knowledge has ever owned their own brass factories, which would have been better for them so that they keep tight control over what goes into their product and so they buy them in sheets, but the amount even the biggest company in the world uses is FAR less than what the average door knob manuacturer uses and so they basicaly have to deal with what's available.
The Hohners from the 80's to the mid 90's used a much harder brass with reeds cut much thinner and all short slot reeds, but the machines cutting the reeds got really old and the slot tolerances got ridiculously wide and any of those harps really needed to have the slots embossed very tightly right off the bat because of that.
Hohners from the 70's were far better than the stuff from the 80's-mid 90's, and their covers were much more wide open than in those years and even now.
Another problem with Hohner during the bad quality years from the 80's to mid 90's was the fact that many of the people working at the factory doing the tuning were generations of families with perfect pitch hearing, once they changed the way they paid their workers from hourly to piece work (AKA slave wages, sweatshop wages where you get paid by the number or pieces of product you put out and quality be damned), these family members no longer wanted to do this job, which is very tedious, especially if you're gonna be locked up 8 hours a day in a soundproof booth with an air compresser, reference reed plate, tuning table and NO strobe tuner and do this all by ear, and quality suffers when you are rushing out product by quantity and often times, these new workers, who've never played harmonica at all, were often very poorly trained (as Rick Epping, former product manager had once told me in '95), and they used do a lot of filing diagnolly across the reed, often leaving HUGE gouges in the reeds, and tho it tunes reeds very quickly, the BIG drawback is that it structurally weakens the reed and reed blowout can happen pretty fast and in worst case scenerio, reeds breaking apart wasn't uncommon and this all got made worse when in the hands of a player who uses far too much breath force.
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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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chromaticblues
319 posts
Nov 23, 2010
4:01 PM
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I have wondered why tuners file reeds at an angle instead of in the direction of the reed. They still do it that way. Every company does it that way. It isn't even easier. That just doesn't make sense!
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barbequebob
1439 posts
Nov 24, 2010
7:54 AM
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I agree with Harpwrench that not all of them do it that way. The reason companies had done it at angle was because it tunes reeds much faster than doing it length wise, but it damages the reed in the long run because it severly comprimises the reed structure and when done so hard that gouges appear, in the hands of a player with bad playing technique, using FAR too much breath force as well as playing even harder when bending notes all the way to the floor of the bend, reeds blow out faster and can also easily break where the filing was done.
If you're working in a factory on an assembly line and you're getting paid by the piece, and with Hohner for a number of years, the people tuning them were only allowed 5 minutes per ENTIRE harmonica to be tuned, meaning tuning is also done as piece work, so as a factory worker, you are FAR less incentivized to do it slower for better quality control and so filing across does the job CONSIDERABLY faster, and when you're [aid by piece work, the more product you push thru, the more money you make. If they were being paid a decent hourly wage with less pressure and no quotas, you'd see far less of that, but until that happens, that's what you're gonna get because everything is all about the bottom line with just about ALL harmonica manufacturers regardless of the company.
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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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MP
1025 posts
Nov 24, 2010
10:09 AM
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so....if you want to lower the pitch of a reed to get it in tune, filing diagonaly at the back is a very bad idea?-or just not the best idea?
i don't think it would hurt when raising pitch unless you are fumble-fingers.
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MP
hibachi cook for the yakuza
doctor of semiotics
superhero emeritus
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chromaticblues
320 posts
Nov 24, 2010
1:55 PM
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@MP Right correct! It is avery bad idea. About 20 to 40% of the lenth reed from the rivet is where most it of it bends. This also happens to be where those ugly tuning gouges are sometimes. It affects how the reed bends. That part of the reed will react differently because if the marks are deep enough it will funnel the vibrations to the side of the reed where the file marks end closest to the rivet. This can cause a reed to not play smoothly and/or fail! I've had harps that had a fluttering type sound because of this. You can remove these, but then that is the thinnest part of the reed where it bends most. Thats not graet either. The best thing I can say is be aware of this and try to remove these with very fine sand paper or a very fine nail file and go back and forth with the reed. Then see if that reed fais any faster than the others!
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MP
1026 posts
Nov 24, 2010
2:46 PM
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hey chro!
i used to use a sanding wand to raise or lower the pitch of a reed if needed. maybe i'll go back to it.
i am currently useing files because they are fast and easy . with a wand you have to be careful in a different way, but it makes for neat,even tuning marks.
i haven't bought new harps in years, so my harps are really pretty old. i don't blow out reeds anymore but sometimes after years of playing a reed will sound dull and lifeless so i'll change it.
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MP
hibachi cook for the yakuza
doctor of semiotics
superhero emeritus
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chromaticblues
321 posts
Nov 24, 2010
4:09 PM
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Yeah MP I have a "C" harp thats starting to do the same thing on the two draw. It just doen't have that crisp attack anymore. It seems to have lost a little volume also. Oh well! They don't last forever!!
My problem is I'm working so many harps for other people I don't have time to make another one for myself and I had to pick the most difficult harp to work on to be my favorite (Marine Bands)!
About the tuning I did a sydel with a dremel and a flap wheel. It worked perfect! I usualy use a very fine nail file. The abrasive comes off, but it does a nice clean job. I use a pocket knife sometimes. If it is real sharp it works well.
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MP
1029 posts
Nov 25, 2010
11:16 AM
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chro,
yeah, that 'two draw' probably lost its nice over-tones too-even though it stays in tune?
when they get like that (i'm too ignorant to see if it's just a minor adjustment)i go digging in my harp junk box for a reed.
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MP
hibachi cook for the yakuza
doctor of semiotics
superhero emeritus
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