[Harp-L] MS slot lenghths
Mox Gowland
I borrowed an 8 hole 'E' draw reed from a '93 built A harp.
Much to my surprise, I discovered it to be too short !
Can somebody please explain...............
Mox
Vern
Hohner has standardized on a finite set of slot lengths and two reed widths. Any Hohner reed will have one of these standard dimensions.
I refer you to http://www.patmissin.com/tunings/tunings.html where you should download Pat Missin's "Altered States" and open the SLOTS.TXT file. All harmonica technicians should be grateful for Pat's information.
He lists the pitches and slot dimensions of many harmonicas.
Not only pitch but also slot length and width are necessary to determine reed interchangeability. IF you have that information, model and key are irrelevant. I prefer to use the internal jaws of an electronic caliper (about $35) to measure the slot (not the reed) dimensions.
Vern
Robert Coble
<quote>
Hopeing to rebuild a '98 G Hohner MS into a Powerbender,
I borrowed an 8 hole 'E' draw reed from a '93 built A harp.
Much to my surprise, I discovered it to be too short !
Can somebody please explain...............
Mox
Here's a link to Richard Sleigh's excellent Web site.
On it, you will find a reference (on the left side of the page) to "The Marine Band
Field Spotter's Guide." As part of it (toward the end), you will find "The
Marine
Band Reed Replacement chart and instructions - all of the
interchangeable reeds
in 18 keys from low D to High G." I think these documents are oriented toward
the Classic series rather than the MS series. I'm not sure if there are differences
for the MS series harps. Contact Richard and I'm sure he can and will help you.
This document, in addition to Pat Missin's outstanding measurements of slots in
the Alltered States documents that Vern referenced, should make it relatively easy
to determine which reeds are interchangeable.
I'm building a Lee Oskar Circular tuned harp from a regular Richter Tuned "E" harp
and an extra set of "A" reedplates. I went to Lee Oskar to find out which keys were
long-slot reeds and which ones were short-slot reeds. That information is NOT in
Pat Missin's documents but is in Richard's. Please note that (according to Richard's
document), there is a width difference on holes 8-9-10 of the short-slot reeds.
Many, many thanks to Pat, Richard and Vern (and all the rest) for great information
and a willingness to share with the newbies like me!
Crazy Bob
Winslow Yerxa
discovered. The MS series was changed to new slot lengths in about 1995, so his
1993 A-harp will not match a later model.
I haven't looked at Altered States in some time, and I don't know how recently
it has been updated. The last significant chagne to Hohner reed dimensions of
whcih I'm aware took palce in 2005, with the aforementioned narrowing of the
widths of some of the shorter reeds on several models.
Winslow
Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
Harmonica instructor, The Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance
Resident expert, bluesharmonica.com
Columnist, harmonicasessions.com
________________________________
From: Vern <jev...@fea.net>
To: Mox Gowland <mo...@orange.fr>
Cc: har...@harp-l.org
Sent: Fri, January 28, 2011 12:14:33 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] MS slot lenghths
Winslow Yerxa
Special 20, Golden Melody). MS reeds, for the post-1995 versions, are longer
than the corresponding reeds in the handmade models.
Winslow
Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
Harmonica instructor, The Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance
Resident expert, bluesharmonica.com
Columnist, harmonicasessions.com
________________________________
From: Robert Coble <robert...@hotmail.com>
To: Harp-L <har...@harp-l.org>
Sent: Fri, January 28, 2011 2:12:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] MS slot lenghths
<snip> I'm not sure if there are differences
Robert Coble
<quote>
The MS series uses different reed sizes to the "handmade" models (Marine Band,
Special 20, Golden Melody). MS reeds, for the post-1995 versions, are longer
than the corresponding reeds in the handmade models.
Winslow
</quote>
According to Richard Sleigh's TMBFSG, the Marine Band 1896 harps low D up to and including C are
long-slot reed plates. Harps from Db up to and including high G are short-slot reed plates.
The same is true for the Tombo/Lee Oskar harps. Lee Oskar has a Pitch Charts diagram on his Web
site that shows the relative pitch across all four members of the Lee Oskar family, so it's possible to
figure out the keys for the Melody Maker, Natural Minor, and Harmonic Minor long-slot and short-slot
harps based on the Major harps.
Pat Missin (in Altered States 23, Slots.txt) gives 3 different slot lengths for the MS series-long, medium,
and short.
Does anyone have the keys associated with long, medium and short reed slot lengths for the MS series?
Thanks!
Crazy Bob
Mox Gowland
wrote:
> Hopeing to rebuild a '98 G Hohner MS into a Powerbender,
> I borrowed a 9 hole 'E' draw reed from a '93 built A harp.
> Much to my surprise, I discovered it to be too short !
> Can somebody please explain...............
My original calculation was taken from the november 07 edition of Pat Missin's "Altered States"
Tho Richard Sleigh's excellent Marine Band Reed Replacement chart refers to 'handmades' the same principal seems to be correct.
My error was pointed out by Winslow as to the re-tooling date (1995)
Steve Baker suggested I move one hole over.....
& Bob's your uncle
So thanks everybody
Mox
BTW
Here's an interesting 'fact' :
It's the law to learn harmonica at school in Belgium
http://www.tootsuite.co.uk/harmonica-in-belgium/#more-282
Ludo?