[Harp-L] Re: Harp-L Digest, Vol 93, Issue 41 Hering 1923 Vintage Harps

["Richard Hammersley" <rhhammersley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have a couple of 1923 Vintage harps. I bought Bb and Ab to try. Like everyone has said they sound really good out of the box. But nobody has said that they are supposed to sound like a harp made in 1923, which I imagine would be that prewar blues sound; think Jazz Gillum, Sonny Boy 1st and even deFord Bailey. I think they do sound sort of like that although they sound superior to my oldest surviving hohners that date back to the 1970s. Anyway they give a gentle breathy vintage sound. I can't comment on durability because I don't blow out harps much for some reason and don't play that much either compared to someone gigging most nights. I will say though that when we started playing a lot in Bb and F, including some jazzier stuff like a Mingus tune, I found that the 1923 wasn't responsive fast enough to play the hard bits so I bought a Manji in Bb. The first night I used it my pals said "You are playing really well tonight" which they don't usually say. This matters more than what I think they sound like! 
  Besides (to extend the dreaded topic of comb materials) I once jammed over a backing track in G swapping across the 4 C harps I own, including a Marine Band, a Firebreath, an XB-40 and a Chromatic. I deliberately played simply and didn't exploit the various bending capabilities of the different harps. Listening to the recording it is not easy to hear which one is which, even for me and even although they sound completly different when I am playing them; what you hear resonating in your head is not the same as what goes out into the air. 
 Richard
Richard Hammersley
Grantshouse
Scottish Borders