Re: Which harps stay in tune longest?

[Barry Schaede <barrys@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I think it's RKT. that always says your mileage may vary.  In my 
experience Blues Harps last the shortest time.  Lee Oskars seem to last 
the longest.  Special 20's are a close second.  What I find funny about 
all this discussion of longevity is that no one has mentioned the single 
most important variable in harmonica life.  Playing environment.  If I 
play an unamplified acoustic gig in a small cafe I'm almost sure to crack 
a reed because I play louder to compensate.  It's even worse if i play 
outside unamplified.  Loud club gigs are also a sure bet for cracked 
reeds.  What's going on is I'm overplaying and damaging the reeds.  To a 
lesser extent that's what anyone does that blows out harmonicas.  They're 
playing them in a way that was never intended by the manufacturer.  
Have'nt we all gotten the stern lecture note from both Hohner and Lee 
Oskar when we return damaged harmonicas?  Now don't get me wrong there's 
nothing wrong with playing like this.  I don't do it much anymore because 
I'm more interested in subtleties of tone that are not to be found by 
playing loudly.  There is a lot of broad brush stroke loud playing that 
is to be admired and is worth copying.  Now on to the second subject of 
the day.  Overall Harmonica length.

The shortest regular 10 hole diatonic I own is a Special 20 non MS type.  
This is closely followed by a Marine Band. ( BTW I can't believe that the 
Marine Band and the Special 20 share reed plates due to the simple fact 
that the two reed plates aren't the same length.  The Special 20 plate 
also lacks the characteristic Marine Band groove at the leading edge of 
the plate)  The 3rd shortest harmonica is a Meisterklasse finally 
followed by a Suzuki.  In a virtual dead heat for longest are the 
following four harmonicas, Golden Melody, Big River, Lee Oskar, and a 
Tombo Ultimo.  Survey results were obtained by turning the harmonicas on 
edge on a flat surface and sighting over the the tops.  There seemed to 
be less ambiguity involved this way.  FJM