[Harp-L] Re : Harp as toy (young vs older generation) (Quite Protracted AGAIN :)





Pierre sez :

Excerpt.

"I kind of doubt the old Chicago players tweaked harps."

==================================================================

Hurricane sez :

Pierre , ca va mon ami ! :


Nope , nope , nope , I is in total disagreement .

¿ Why ? - -

Pierre ( & others ) - I thought you'd never ask .


First off my friend your cool , I dig you posts they are interesting and informative . I like you period because of the common ground we stand on with things harnmonica .

That said .

When I first began liking and learning  this instrument it was through the world of " The Harmonicats " variety music show on TV . Later on that year I  heard the diatonic's sound in commercials , movies and such , but my love began with that first show of the Harmonicats that we all watched together , my family and the rest of the country in 1954 .

The diatonic came into my life when my dad brought me my first diatonic in 1954 some months after that show of the Harmonicats started and me bugging the hell out of any one who could buy me one that I could talk too , I was a pest till I got one  . Then a few years later I heard and saw (a) " hobo(s) " that stayed in a hobo camp not far from my home , their camp site was along the railroad tracks  under a bunch of tamarisk trees in the shade ( ¡ it's a desert here !  ) , you know , tramps who traveled the railroad , some called them  bums , some were but - - other ones were real harmonica masters too and I met and talked to one  .  As I listened to this one particular fellow play I heard him produce " OD's and OB's " for the first time and then later on radio shows I realized that really great country western players did them as well . He played Blues , old Hillbilly blue grass and American pop and Spanish worded tunes from Mexico .
 
The most interesting thing about him was not only his playing but how he had his harmonica set in a can of water soaking before playing it . After he finished playing I asked about it . He then explained ,  saying to me that it played better that way with the wood expanding from the water soaking the wood comb , sealing itself for a better playing and sounding harmonica . I was really young ( 8 or 9 nine and had a diatonic since my parents could not afford the chromatic's cost for 4 kids from ages 3 , 4 , 6 . & 8 , yep we all got one if I did ) at the time but I the idea . Well , I tried soaking mine it did play better but , it did require maintenance that I was way to young to understand . My harmonica suffered from the expanse of the wooden comb and it started hurting my lips when the comb swelled about and above the two reed plates - - so - - I said never again will I soak my harps  .

- - ()-: As wiser ones than I have said " Never say never " ! :-() - -

 Time marches on - - from 1958 to  - whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh........

I saw James Cotton when I was about about 15 in 1964 or 65  here in Palm Springs southern California , he ripped me apart with his OB's ,& OD's and his tonal quality and - - I saw his harps soaking in water - -

I  knew soaking was bad and later after I did it , I was told by some other harmonica players I ruined my harps that way and scolded me for doing it ( these harmonica  players did not know how to do an OD or OB ) and I guessed they were right at the time . But now I had to think to myself as I watched James Cotton doing it .

¿ Why did James do "  Harmonica NO NO # 1  ",  I thought as I listened and watched ?

 But there in front of me  as I saw it being done by a pro in one James Cotton  my mind recalled  that old Hobo master harmonica man . I went home re thinking  just what the difference was , I heard it , there was no denying it , a soaked wooden harp was leagues ahead of a non soaked woody back then ! Those old timey players who soaked them knew why and I in time found out for myself too the truth on this issue of :

 " To soak or not to soak , that is the question " .
 
  - - and that's where tweaking , messing around and tricking out my harmonicas began for this mild mannered kid by day and maniac musician at night ( I drove my mom , dad & sisters nuts ) and I'm sure it was the same for others who had figured this out long before I was able too .

Then a person who knew more than I did about the harmonica came into my life in jr. high school . A new buddy I met just before the year I first saw James Cotton live , he , his dad & brother played a little guitar and harmonica . I learned something new  ( he was from the big city San Diego I was desert  hick from a desert hick town ,  but , it's not a hick town here hanny moe and I is no hick either hanny moe   :) from him a year later after we met about the Blues harp . One thing was cross harp ( 2nd position ) and then  , he told me about the term OB's  . I already learned on my own OD's but on OB's I was totally ignorant of as far as the term and how to do it . After that Cotton concert I was blown away and told him later when I got home from Palm Springs and he from his Easter vacation trip to visit his family in San Diego , when I told him about that Cotton concert my buddy said :

" Do remember what you said about the note(s) James Cotton hit and that old Hobo you told me about hit ,  notes your still trying to find ? "

Sure was my response .

He then explained it to me again and then I realized I had to figure this out on my own . It was a time with no music books on the subject - - one only knew and learned from trial and error alone with your harp , so ,  I began pondering over my harmonica over and over again trying to crack the proverbial " nut " AGAIN ! :)

- - - So - - -

I soaked mine again and thought of one other new thing to make them playable and not hurt my lips this time around . As  I  soaked and played , and played and soaked  my harp I took as single edge safety razor in my hand and plane across the top of the two reed plate at the mouth piece area and take the wooden combs individual chamber sections back down flush so they were dead even with those two brass reed plates from time to time between playing and re soaking them as they progressed swelling ,  and ¡ WOW ! I had no more problems all afternoon and from that day on with the wooded comb swelling pass the two reed plates causing me discomfort on my lips . When the wood comb dried the individual reed chambers were left recessed below those two reed plates and un playable for OB's and ODs or playing in general  till - -

- - - I soaked them again . - - -

This worked perfectly time after time though out the years and when I was through with the reeds fatiguing passed the tunable stage anymore , I would take a new harmonica down the same way . I did  this for about ten years till I saw James Cotton blowing Hohner  Golden Melodys and then Special 20s in the early 1970's ( when I saw the advantage of the plastic body and the tight air seal they had . I stopped playing wooded combed harmonicas altogether ) and the rest is history and no more woodies for me  .

One thing you get after you get a " tighter air seal " from a soaked harp is this wonderfully playing fast and sensitive instrument that is really air tight now and that being the case , you blow out reeds faster because of the fact that you don't want to put your harp down , you just have to keep playing  it  all the time and that fact ends up spelling " metal fatigue " from the  heavy use your now putting on your harps  like never before as you get good at  it . It's just too good to stop it seems .

That being said : 

- - - (-: Let's not go into playing technique now because with 50 going 51 years at it I KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT :-) - - - I blow out tired reeds and re tune them over and over and they last me a long time and since they last me a long time it proves my technique is more than O.K. They finally ware out and are no longer serviceable when they run out of brass at the tips to file off , or , break close to their rivet when those little reed puppies just can't bark any more with out breaking  :) 

My new buddy who moved to our hick town ( we're  30 miles south of Palm Springs Ca. ) from San Diego California who told me of the OB's also told me about filing reeds at their tips to bring up the pitch once they reached the first stage of metal fatigue and started sounding flat  in pitch in  a reeds life cycle  . That's when the challenge began for me as I started to try retuning a reed for the first time in my life at 14 or 15 years of age , my buddy who knew of this reed tuning fact never learned how ,  he only knew of this being possible and was really happy and congratulatory to me when I did finally learn how many years later . I ruined reeds for ten years till I got the " touch " down when I was 24 years old in 1974 and did my first  successful retuning .

Now for the sake of argument :

Lets assume what I wrote is the truth and that's how it is with harmonicas that had wooden combs like Sonny Boy(s) ( all of them ) & Little Walter ( &  etceteras )  who were doing OB's  & OD's  way back when and before I was born  - -

Think it out because , to me it's a no brainer .

You first on your own find a way to make a harmonica airtight by soaking it to get OB's and OD's - - right - -  . Then you discover how to " plane " down the wooded  chambered comb flush AFTER it swells  and wallabalu it's working really well ( I know exactly what kind of elation one feels at that very moment you get it right ) and your on  cloud 9 trying out new songs and techniques to make " your signature sound " ( this happens when you go at it this way over the years in time believe me ) and then -  - ¡ Son of a  $#@%^! a  reed  starts to go flat , the #$$%%^# ! - - - again the curse of the  dreaded metal fatigue monster ! ! !

So ---- get the picture Pierre ?

The old timers were the first real pioneers of " tweaking harps " plane and simply put . There is no doubt in my mind  , my experiences showed me and I'm sure the guys who were going at it long before myself found out the same way or from some  one who did it like I did and showed them . Some where some how that old Hobo learned it from someone , like Cotton & the  rest .

Now a days the fellows who offer "customized " harps know it ( those who started with wooden combs like me before micropor tape or sealing a wooden comb with hot paraffin or making a state of the art comb from either some really great hard wood , acrylic plastic  or metal  )  and did it too . Remember there was no " micropor " adhesive tape and books on harmonica maintenance , no SPAH , no nada , niente , zippo , on the subject when I was doing this in the beginning years as a very young and eager beaver novice harmonica musician almost half a century ago :)

Bottom line :

I ended up playing Hohner Old Standbys for many years , a wooden harp , same model James Cotton and many other pros were playing at the time I saw him . They took a glass of water , and a single edged safety razor and or a super sharp knife ,  a paper clip , and a maybe  a  little business type card or something similar  that worked like it to tweak out a diatonic  , that's it and nothing more .

You know what the razor  ,  paper clip ( reed gapping tool :) was for and the glass of water , but your wondering about the " business card " . Without that business card in place under the reed in question supporting it from as deep as you can slide it to the rivet ,  I would many times ( almost always ) mess up other reeds constantly when filing the ends of a flat sounding reed to bring it up to  pitch till I used a business card to isolate and protect the other " good " reeds from harms way as I filed the brass reeds end of that offending sour and flat sound reed  .

Using the paper business card also sets you up to realize what gapping is all about in time since on many  occasions  reeds before hand did not respond as well as other similar reeds did on other harps because the gap was not right and then after the reed has had that little business card in it modifying it's gap because of the tuning process involved ( lots of stuff to cover on gapping and it wont be me that writes about here ) with the cards thickness affecting the reed in question sometimes resulting in a better and more positive sounding tone and response due in part to the gap change cause by the cards thickness  . I remembered that  sometimes not only was the pitch better after the tuning ,  the action improved better than I had before I tried to tune it , I was confused at first but , in time it all explained itself to me . If for some reason the gap was too big after the tuning ( could have been to big from the get go before I tuned it ) I used the end of the wire of 
a paper clip to lower and re set it's gap . 


In closing :

Old timers are to be respected for not only their playing technique ( provided there are truly talented harmonica masters mind you ) , but also ,  they  should be respected as masters of innovation as they the modern Blues harpers of our time ( Sonnys & etceteras )  maintained and when possible improved the performance of their harps . This is one thing I learned from having something in common with these older guys now in my life in retrospect , I can sum it up with this old Spanish wise man's quote  :

Old type guy talking to his young friend , nephew , niece , sister ,  son or brother .

Question :

¿ Sabes porque esta sabio el diablo ?

English translation :

Do you know why the devil is so knowledgeable ?

- Most would say ( including myself when I was first asked that by my grand dad ) " ¿ Because he's the Devil ? " - - ¡¿ one would assume right ?!

WRONG <====<<<- answer above .

CORRECT <====<<<- answer  below:

¡ El diablo no es sabio por ser diablo , el diablo es sabio por viejo !     

English translation :

The devil is not knowledgeable because he's the devil  , he is knowledgeable because he's OLD !




Pierre , that old Hobo was a master harp man to the core , good as it got ,  he was also pretty old too (: like the ole the devil : )  as he played his harmonica back then and I was the young guy then watching , and  now in my life -  - Well you figure ......... :)


Sincerely :

Hurricane Ramón 

Aka :

Party_Man1@xxxxxxxxxx





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