blueswannabe
76 posts
Dec 27, 2010
7:52 AM
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Sorry to re-edit this topic. I should have been more specific.
I am looking for LIFETIME number of blown out harps for the number of years played regardless of reasons.
For me
2 years - 7 harps.
Thanks. Mike
Last Edited by on Dec 27, 2010 9:03 AM
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kudzurunner
2161 posts
Dec 27, 2010
7:58 AM
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I've probably purchased 300-400 harmonicas in the past 20 years and I've worn (blown) them all out--except for the two dozen I've currently got in my harp case.
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Cristal Lecter
26 posts
Dec 27, 2010
8:00 AM
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I've 2 sets of Manjis for a year now, just one has been blown (a Bb)
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Never try to be as good as someone else, succeed to be the best player you can be!
Last Edited by on Dec 27, 2010 8:00 AM
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blueswannabe
77 posts
Dec 27, 2010
8:06 AM
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@Cristal, but how many have you blown out since you started playing?
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mOOnerken
3 posts
Dec 27, 2010
8:07 AM
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Adam,
As a newbie here, I can safely say that it is probably your technique. You can get lessons here at MBH!
(hahahahaha-- just being funny!)
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Cristal Lecter
27 posts
Dec 27, 2010
8:12 AM
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@ Blueswannabe: I've no clue about it, I just remember that I was breaking a lot of them the the first 2 years, but now they just going slightly out of tune (mainly the C that I'm using everyday)
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Never try to be as good as someone else, succeed to be the best player you can be!
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blueswannabe
78 posts
Dec 27, 2010
8:16 AM
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@Cristal, okay. I'm just looking for some conservative estimates of blown out harps lifetime.
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hvyj
956 posts
Dec 27, 2010
8:24 AM
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Since I started playing Suzuki Hammonds about 3 years ago I haven't blown out any and I play out 2-3 nights most weeks
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toddlgreene
2314 posts
Dec 27, 2010
8:53 AM
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A lot...been playing for 21 years. I blast thru mine when I play live, though-never in practice. ('I'm so excited, I just can't hide it!') This past year, I think I blew out 2 5 draws, and 1 4 draw. If I had to guess, probably in the neighborhood of 25-30 harps total.
EDIT:I never really kept count, but it HAS to be more than the 15-20 I originally listed!
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Todd L. Greene, Codger-in-training
Last Edited by on Dec 27, 2010 10:55 AM
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groyster1
622 posts
Dec 27, 2010
8:54 AM
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never blown out a suzuki or lee oskar tho I dont own many of them only 1 sp20 but many mb1896s and blues harps but they have been a long time ago still have some mb1896s and blues harps 30 years old
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6SN7
129 posts
Dec 27, 2010
8:57 AM
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A special 20 lasts me two years.
While I don't play as much as Adam, I average 2 gigs a month over the last ten years, more often in the summer. I practice @ home 3x a week and once a week w/ the band.
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Miles Dewar
571 posts
Dec 27, 2010
9:30 AM
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Blown out about 50 harps.
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---Go Chicago Bears!!!---
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Barry C.
100 posts
Dec 27, 2010
10:37 AM
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I am so happy to hear that Adam (and Todd Greene)blows out many a harp! Now I have something (ok one thing) in common with a great player!
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~Banned in Boston!
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Tin Lizzie
179 posts
Dec 27, 2010
10:54 AM
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When I was learning to bend, I was REALLY hard on harps. I lost at least one a month. And I once lost 2 D's in one week.
For me custom harps are much better. They last forever.
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Tin Lizzie
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Joe_L
944 posts
Dec 27, 2010
10:57 AM
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Lots! I've got about 40 or so. I only started keeping them about seven or eight years ago. I used to just throw them out.
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The Blues Photo Gallery
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toddlgreene
2316 posts
Dec 27, 2010
11:02 AM
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Like Tin Lizzie says, customs do typically last longer, and probably for a few reasons:machining marks sanded down to avoid cracking, and much more responsiveness, which means a lot less breath force is required.
BUT...I'm a very emotional player, and when I'm rockin', with heavy vibrato swinging those reeds up and down, the 4-5 double stops I employ often, the occasional high speed run or solo and plenty bending that this humble instrument was never even designed to withstand, something's gonna give-and it's usually a reed or two! I make no apologies for this, and I'm sure BBQ Bob will share his wisdom soon. I DO moderate my breath force, but stuff breaks...
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Todd L. Greene, Codger-in-training
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earlounge
246 posts
Dec 27, 2010
11:24 AM
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I've been playing one year next month, and I've only blown out 1 harp. It was a cheap Blues Bender (got as a gift) and I was at a very loud open mic. I practice at least an hour a day (if not way more). I mainly play GMs and SP20s.
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MP
1183 posts
Dec 27, 2010
11:26 AM
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-a few hundred.
but,iv'e improved my technique haven't blown one out in years.---------
MP
hibachi cook for the yakuza
doctor of semiotics
superhero emeritus
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HarpNinja
901 posts
Dec 27, 2010
11:42 AM
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8 years, 100 harps or so - Hohners mostly, a set of Bluesmasters, a set of LO's...
I have blown four harps out. One was my first harp, one was technically used, and the other two were D harps where I wore out the 4 draw. The D harps didn't have cracked reeds though.
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Mike
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eharp
1035 posts
Dec 27, 2010
11:57 AM
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15 years and 0 blown out.
but i probably play out waaay less than you folks.
the only harp i had a problem with was one i keep in the work truck. a reed stopped on me. instead of waiting to deal with it, i started to monkey in it with a screwdriver. ooops.
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nacoran
3498 posts
Dec 27, 2010
12:08 PM
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I've only blown-out one harp. I had a couple others that needed to be realigned. Every time I've had problems it was when I was playing un-amplified with other instruments. I've been playing about 2-3 years now I think.
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Nate
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kudzurunner
2164 posts
Dec 27, 2010
12:49 PM
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My technique is fine. That's not why I blow out harps. I blow out harps because I play them very, very hard. I rip the stuffing out of them. I stomp their guts out. I come from the Nat Riddles School of Applied Harp-Stomping. I come from the Jazz Gillum School of Make-it-Moan-and-Groan. I hail from the James Cotton School of Suck-'em-Down-Your-Throat Reed Abuse.
Of course I treat my one custom harp, a Joe Spiers Stage One, with loving kindness and never play it super-hard. And in all my YouTube tutorials and the great majority of my MBH tutorials, I tone it down. But on a gig, with passions flowing and an audience to be ravished, things.....happen.
I do NOT recommend that other harp players follow my example. I want to keep the extra edge, the audible dash of He's-a-Bad-Bad-Man, that accrues to he who would fearlessly abuse his harps.
[Note to the overly literal: I'm engaging in a flight of fancy above. Sort of.]
edited to add: I blew out the majority of those harps when I was playing five hours a day, three or four days a week, on the streets with Mr. Devil's Spawn. I am an outlier.
Last Edited by on Dec 27, 2010 12:50 PM
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kudzurunner
2165 posts
Dec 27, 2010
12:55 PM
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The notes I most commonly blow out are the 4 blow, followed by the 6 blow and 5 blow. I rarely "blow out" a draw reed--which is to say, when a draw reed goes flat, I'm almost always able to save it by filing it back up to spec, at least for the first couple of times it needs TLC. But I play the 4 blow, lip pursed, quite a bit, as part of some aggressive runs, and eventually all of them give in. If I were a full-time tongue blocker and never overblew the 4 blow, my harps would last longer.
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MP
1187 posts
Dec 27, 2010
12:57 PM
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-i still play loud as shit. :)---------
MP
hibachi cook for the yakuza
doctor of semiotics
superhero emeritus
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Mojokane
212 posts
Dec 27, 2010
5:09 PM
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I can't recall how many I have blown out since I started. maybe 50. What say you MP? You would recall better than I...and usually the 4 draw or 5 blow.
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oldwailer
1462 posts
Dec 27, 2010
5:32 PM
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I've blown out 3 harps--all of them in my first year of playing. I don't think I play that much louder or softer now--I just play more wisely than I did at first--like, I don't go for the 5 bend as hard ;)
I play on all customized harps--I think that makes a difference in how long they last too--the harps I blew out were all OOTB.
I've been playing pretty seriously for about 3 years--but I started in 1965--just took a few breaks along the way to learn guitar and a couple of other things--like making a living. . .
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Always be yourself--unless you suck. . .
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bonedog569
174 posts
Dec 27, 2010
5:44 PM
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Too many to count. A few hundred I reckon. Been playing nearly 40 years and until very recently I've been of Adam's harp abuse psersuasion. I am not playing out very often anymore and with my newer harps; manji's , hammonds, 1847s, and my one Buddha, - I've been taking it much easier. We'll see how it goes.
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The Gloth
544 posts
Dec 27, 2010
11:49 PM
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In 20 years or so of playing, I blew out something like 30-40 harps. It was almost always draw reeds, 4, 5 or 6... but recently I tend to blow higher reeds out, probably because I play those more than in the past.
I blow them out mostly in live performance, but also in rehearsal, which is really dumb... It happens when I don't hear well what I'm playing, I blow harder to pass through, noy the best thing to do, I guess. Eventually it will change when I'll buy an amp and a bullet, so I won't have to play harder ; just turn the volume button up...
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