RE: [Harp-L] Marine Bands and Me

["Joel B. Chappell" <joel.b.chappell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John-

I recently had the same experience with a brand new Seydel Blues Soloist
Pro. It did not happen right away...it was probably after a dozen practice
sessions that the problem manifested itself. I might add that this harp
played cleaner and brighter than my Marine Band does from the get-go. I was
really disappointed when #3 blow shut down. I decided to open the harp up
and see what was causing the problem. An initial inspection with the naked
eye revealed nothing. I got out my jeweler's loop and looked again. This
time I saw a sliver of what looked like clear, cured Silicone RTV Compound
that was partially wedged under the reed. It was a little tricky to remove
with a fine pair of tweezers as it seemed to be sticking to the reed plate.
Once removed, the reed came back to life with all its original brightness.
I'm not sure what was the source of the "gunk" under the reed was...maybe
some residual material from the manufacturing process? 

Joel B. Chappell
21 Billings Street
Milford, NH 03055

From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of John Neff
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2011 9:32 AM
To: jeikuman@xxxxxxxxx; harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [Harp-L] Marine Bands and Me


The "sticking problem" you are experiencing could be that the reeds are not
properly gapped to your playing. Also if you are hitting the note too hard,
this can also choke the reed, depending on the gapping. Have you made any
adjustments to the gapping on the Marine Band?
 
> So I am a fairly new harper, this will be month 9 for me. My first
harmonica
> was a marine band in the key of C. I really liked the brightness of the
> sound it made. It seems like it is hard to part away from your first
> harmonica. But compared to my Manji in the key of C that I later
purchased,
> it really has some sticky reeds. sometimes I will go for a note and it
just
> wont sound unless I play the opposing reed, for some reason that seems to
> reset the reed placement. So I basically replaced the marine band with my
> manji from then on. But I really like how easy the marine bands hold in
your
> hand, and the chirpy sound it produces, so I decided to try a Marine Band
> Deluxe this time in the key of G. As it is nicer to play than the original
> and easy to overblow right out of the box for holes 6 and 5 for me, I
still
> get some reeds that wont sound when i need them to, draw 5 is the most
> common culprit. Now with my tombo Major Boy in the key of G, I have never
> once wanted to throw it against a wall because a note gets stuck. I am
sure
> its not so much my instrument as it is my inexperienced style of playing.
I
> tongue block a lot and sometimes a lot of saliva builds up and causes the
> reeds to just get stuck ( I think). But this is more of a problem on the
two
> marine band models i have tried than others.
> 
> Questions:
> 
> I like the marine bands, so are there any pointers through maintenance and
> playing technique that can solve this problem?
> 
> How does the MB crossover stand on this sticky note epidemic I am having?I
> kinda want to try one... but darn so expensive.
> 
> PS: I have tried special 20s, they just don`t sound as chirpy as a marine
> bandi, though I haven`t had this problem with them. Also, no, I don`t
throw
> harmonicas at walls.
> 
> Jake