Re: Thanks: High "A"; Making Bass Harps

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

- --- In harp-l-archives@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Arthur
Pellerin 
<aepellerin@xxxx> wrote:

> What about lower on a regular diatonic?  How much of
a real bass
> harp can you get from a regular diatonic? Can you
take old organ 
reeds
> and make a true bass? Or is it easier to take a low
D or a Hohner 
#365 C
> and tune down those reeds to something like a low G?

You can buy a low C as a regular item; both Hohner and
Hering make 
them. Hohner sometimes makes low A and even low G
harps in the SBS 
model; Norman Ives in England is the most likely
source. Customizers 
like Filisko will make low A's, but expect to pay
molto $$. You can 
also start with a low C and add solder, or glue on
bits of brass, or 
file away metal from the base of the reed or some
combination of 
methods - it's a lot of work and hard to do
accurately.

None of these, however, will give you a "true" bass.
The low E string 
of a bass guitar or string bass is nearly two cotaves
lower than the 
low C on a low C harp, just to give you an idea. There
is such a 
thing as a bass harmonica that has that low E as its
bottom note, but 
it doesn't look, sound or play like a standard
diatonic.

Winslow


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com