RE: [Harp-L] Special 20s "built in obsolescence"

["Smith, Richard" <rismith@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm certainly no expert, Tony, but that doesn't usually stop
me from giving my opinion - - - 

It may be hard for you to acknowledge, understand, and accept, 
but I would be willing to bet that your technique is the real
culprit here.  Beginners, especially blues players who bend
notes a lot, tend to play way too hard.  I had the same problem
as you, when I first started playing.  I was blowing harps out
left and right.  I blew out Hohner Special 20's, Bushman Soul's
Voices, Bushman Delta Frosts, and Hering Vintage.  I even posted 
about it on this list, as you have.  And I was told politely by
several kind responders, that I needed to learn to play less
forcefully.  And you know what?  They were right.  It took time
to overcome that need to blow hard, but gradually I got over it.
Of course, within the song's dynamics, there are still times to 
blow hard, but not constantly all the time.  I've now been playing
for about 2 1/2 years, and my set of Special 20's are nearly
a year and a half old, and still going strong, without being 
blown out.  Once I stopped destroying the less expensive harps,
I felt better about trying some customized harps, knowing that
I wouldn't destroy them.  I now have several of Tim Moyer's 
Working Man's Harps, that have been performing well for almost
a year.  So do yourself, and your wallet, a favor and break 
yourself of the bad habit.


Richard J. Smith
Wormleysburg, PA


-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx]On
Behalf Of Tony Renshaw
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 9:50 PM
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Harp-L] Special 20s "built in obsolescence"


I am 1 year into things, and am getting frustrated with the ease at which 
the Special 20s blow out, or actually bend out. This last C of mine lasted 
only about 3 weeks and I don't think I was working it all that hard. In 
fact, I have been in different keys of late, so I reckon it hasn't lasted 
well at all. It seems they go flat quickly, and I reckon it is the tuning 
method in the factory that puts many diagonal scores in the base of the 
reed, where it later cracks. Not good method I reckon. If the reeds need to 
be flattened initially, well there is something wrong with the initial reed 
design. I would have thought a reed should only have to be sharpened by the 
factory. If I am right, well this is built in obsolescence. I was told by a 
seasoned performer that he uses Lee Oskars as they are significantly 
stronger reedplates. Is this true? Even my one and only customised is off 
pitch on one hole using my guitar tuner, and my ear too surprisingly, but I 
daren't take to the base of a reed intentionally. Any advice or opinion 
gratefully appreciated.

_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l