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From: ELDEREL~ol.com
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 17:59:51 EDT
Subject: Re: ....===Golden Mels and comb related info===
"<<<<<" denotes Pats reply...===are mine

In a message dated 5/31/99 10:16:23 AM Central Daylight Time,
pa~lobalnet.co.uk writes:

<<<< Different shapes as well as different alloys. The shape of the reed has
some effect on the timbre of a note.>>>>>>

I forgot to mention that... so... The shape of the reed effects the timbre
of the note? Has this been proven? ( to add to the ever growing... "you got
to prove it in a test" kick )


>> But tone production on a drum has little in common with tone production on
>> a harmonica.
>
> ==I was trying to make a point of the nature of a tone resounding in a
>certain material. But it does... the metal resonates the stick blow...hit a
>paper plate...what happens? I know these are two different instruments but
>the principal I'm getting at is the same. Ok...compare the cheap party
harps
>with the plastic reeds with a normal set of brass ones. Although I'm not a
>rocket scientist, I know that the vibrations of the reeds will be augmented
>and transfered to the rest of harp due to the harder plastic or lets
say... a
>brass comb. The harp is ALL connected.=
<<< istelf. The primary resonator for the harmonica is the human connected to
it. Any possible contributions from the body of the harp istelf are tiny in
comparison with the effect of the human part of the system. To the point
where many would say that the effects are neglible.>>>>

And thats why everybody could play the same exact harp and key... and all
sound slightly different. Hands,mouth,chest ect,ect,ect. Right..very obvious
there Pat. And yes, the drum is a instrument of itself. Unless you include
the way you hit it and the type stick. Guitars sound pretty much the same
depending on the condition of the fingertips and technique. The vibrating
reed sound properties are effected by the "Entire" harp excluding the human
element. And "is" noticeable to varying degrees. Different harps are made
different. Thats why alot people play a certain harp over another. Do you? Is
what I'm saying hard to understand?

> ==I was making an observation of the vibration resounding properties of
>materials.=
<<<< quialities of the harmonica are many orders of magnitude smaller than those
of the guitar or drum and comparisons between these and the harmonica are
not really applicable.>>>>>

I dont care if the resonate qualitys of the harp is "many orders of
magnitudes smaller than those of the guitar or drums."
You missed my point. The comparison I was making was to as I said above"
..observe the vibration resounding properties of materiels. " Be it.. hitting
a barn with a bass fiddle.. to.. dropping a bag of cow sh** in a truck. Drums
and guitars happened to be the first things to pop in my mind. This is about
noise being transfered through ANY material... for any application ...and
making a decision if making a harp a different way will improve anything at
all. If it does. Good. And it does.

>==Well...that makes alot of sense. I'm not refering to life proportionate
>changes... just noticeable ones=
. <<< I have yet to meet anyone who can identify a the materials of a harmonica,
just by listening to the tone produced, although many people claim they
can.>>>>>

I can feel alot of differences when I'm playing harps with different
materials side by side. Thats the "feel and responce" too. Which happens to
be equally important as the tone or sound. If it doesnt feel good...your not
going to play as well.
"I" can hear differences also. Mattering on the harps in question.

> == Question...why would Joe Filisko make Brass combs? Why the Holy Grail?

<<<< Simple answer - they make them because people will buy them! The same
reason anyone makes anything. Every material has its own advantages and
disadvantages. Titanium is stable, corrsoion resistant and lightweight. It
is also expensive. Some people claim that it gives a massively improved
tone, but at BHF and SPAH, nobody was able to demonstrate the ability to
tell Ti from the other comb materials.

In the case of Joe's combs, there are not merely brass copies of standard
combs - he has redesigned the reed chambers to direct the air to them in a
more efficient manner.>>>>

Just because the way of testing it now doesnt prove anything, doesnt mean
YOU cant decide one sounds better to you than another. You dont throw it out
because the "test" says so ( ....all this stuff were writing about is
opinionated cause what harp Billy thinks sounds better is not what Sue thinks
)

>The masterkliese (spelling?) sounds brighter. Why? The Marine Band sounds
>tonaly richer than a special 20.

<<<< Then you should have been at SPAH or at BHF to demonstrate your
ability to
tell them apart! I might also add that I have one customer who swears that
the Lee Oskar is a bighter sounding harp than the Tombo Folk Blues - as
they are functionally identical harps, it can't be the comb material that
makes this difference. More likely, in my opinion, are psychological
factors.>>>>>

Remember!... The sound and "feel" and "responce" and "control" and.. and..
and ...... Your "customer" probably hasn't been playing for years and tried
every harp out there. Opinions without experience ain't worth much.


<<<<dampening
effect on the tone, as some people (yourself included) have claimed. Oddly
enough though, I have tested brass combs against wooden and plastic ones...
>>>>>>

No it wasn't. That was just to illustrate that I noticed with micropore,
the transfer of vibrations from the reed plate to the comb were effecting its
volume and clarity....and consequently the type of comb/influence on the
vibrations was also a factor.
Pete Elder.......elderel~ol.com