Harmonica Buying Tips
- Make sure there is no rust
- Play it once or twice to see if works
- No dents in it
- Find out the value
Harmonicas
A 22-year partnership is an impressive achievement in any musical career, but
harp player Tom Ball’s efforts with guitarist Kenny Sultan only scratch the
surface of what keeps him busy. While Ball & Sultan have recorded seven
albums together, and continue a close and vibrant partnership, Ball has
contributed to more than 100 albums, 37 on the bluegrass instrumental oriented
CMH label alone. In addition, Ball has done soundtrack work (“King of the
Hill”), commercials for Levi’s, Disneyland, Warner Brothers, and Honda USA,
and written four books, with another on the way. All in all, that’s a pretty
full plate for a mellow Californian who doesn’t stray far from the relative
paradise of Santa Barbara unless he has to. Considering their diminutive size
and apparent simplicity, harmonicas are complex machines, even more so when
windsavers are added to their works. As with most machines, to get harmonicas to
run at their best some maintenance may be periodically required.
Windsavers are plastic flaps attached to the reedplates of chromatics and other
models. They work as a kind of check valve that serves to increase a
harmonica’s performance by permitting airflow where it is wanted and
preventing it where it is not. Air, which would otherwise be wasted by flowing
past a draw reed while blowing or a blow reed while drawing, is diverted by the
windsaver to the desired reed, resulting in quicker response, greater volume and
cleaner tone. To accomplish this task optimally, a windsaver should be flexible
enough to open in response to airflow yet have enough tension to close quickly
at the airflow’s cessation. Proper installation, careful adjustment and
periodic windsaver servicing can make a noticeable difference in your
harmonica’s performance and can help reduce or eliminate such problems as
sticking, buzzing, popping and muffled notes.
There are great harp players and there are successful
businessmen. It is rare to find someone who blows a great harmonica and also has
a head for business. Mark Hummel is one of those rarities.
Fresh from his 10th Annual Harmonica Blow Out shows in California, Hummel
excitedly talks about how he assembles players for his event and how he’s
added dates the last couple years, until the present six gigs evolved. The
line-up changes every year, but the January 2002 Blow Out combined the
considerable collective talents of Hummel, Carlos del Junco, Sam Myers, Annie
Raines and Snooky Pryor.
Harmonica
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