Archives > GENERAL CHROMATIC DISCUSSION

Stock or "customised"/"optimised"

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Jeff H:
I have owned a total of 6 customized chromatics.. but only one stock 270  which I played a total of one hour in 20 years and when  later it developed a cracked body I had it repaired and "customized".. I never liked that harmonica... before or after its heart transplant..

Having never owned and played a non customized  Hohner chromatic  I was simply curious what others have experienced... I did own the 2 Opusses Opettes  which were box stock.
I liked them much better than the 270  but still wanting  a  4 octave instrument... and hence the questions on stock vs customized

I do think that you are correct it is case by case just as it is with many other instruments....some are great some bad and most somewhere in the middle

I think I may take a chance on a Super 64  stock  and then have another 12 hole made for me.. possibly a CX-12   tuned to 442

Thanks


Jeff

ejacob4:
I have a 270 tenor. It was like sticking your face in a fan to play. Bill Romel made it a comb, a mouthpiece, and sold me some one piece windsavers.

Where Do I Start? It did leak. It does not. The Mouthpiece Hurt and Damaged me. It does not, I used a few OUNCES of beeswax to make the thing playable. I do not now. I used to pray the nails would not vibrate out once I had taken the blasted thing abart to try to get the reeds gapped at something less than canyonesque sizes. Worst, you had to be a carpenter magnified to replace a valve. Now I unscrew THE ONE plate I need to clean or replace a valve on, do it and get back to playing.

It works better. It feels measureably better. It actually sounds measureably beter.
It is the instrument I play most. I play more and enjoy it more.

I also have s super x that has not, nor do I think ever will see a customizer. It is fine.

Lastly in the customized or not discussion. I have a Stan Harper. It could be great. The comb is warped. I'm sending it off to Bill Romel as soon as I get myself together. I'm geting a great comb, another wayyyyyyy cool feeling mouthpiece (the stock one on the hering is fine, but as long as . . . ), and whatever else Mr. Romel thinks might make that instrument as good as the reedplates suggest it could be.

 I do not play for money. It just makes me whole.

Grizzly:

--- Quote from: Jeff Hildreth on March 17, 2007, 12:56:46 AM ---I think I may take a chance on a Super 64  stock  and then have another 12 hole made for me.. possibly a CX-12   tuned to 442

Thanks


Jeff

--- End quote ---

My main ax: CX 12. Other than the tuning, I've been satisfied with them. 444 is high for me, and, as I've said, the Tenor was all over the place. It ranged from 436 to 448 (if memory serves). I re-tuned it myself, and now even the octaves (most of them) are in tune. Airtightness doesn't seem to be a problem.

My Super 64, OTOH, is leaky by comparison. I played it for an hour last night for the first time in awhile. I'll try taping its slide, and see if that helps. I've already replaced the spring with an unbreakable one, 10K gold flute spring wire bent to shape, and smoothed the slide components. I also put a bit of beeswax in places, but doubt if it made a difference.

I'm not against sending it out for customizing, and may do it someday. But I'm playing mostly the CX 12s, so it's not a high priority. I find a standard and a tenor sufficient to cover my needs, and haven't yet needed to change instruments in the middle of a tune to accommodate range. The 12s just fit my hands better than the 16s.

Tom

John Broecker:
Greetings, Jeff Hilldreth and others. This is a reply to the question, stock or customized or optimized?

Until about 6 months ago, all my harmonicas were played "straight out of the box." Then, I sent two Hohner 280s, pre 1936 vintage, to John Infande for restoration and customizing, along with 2 Hohner Chordomonica II double-slide harps, for restoration and customizing.

One of the 280s is a "Chromonika III", made for the German market before 1936. The other is a "64 Chromonica", made for the export market from Germany to the English-speaking countries. As far as I know, they are and were identical, except for the covers.

I had played the 280s for many years, and the reed plates are still super. John tweaked and cleaned the
280s, and replaced the nails in the comb with screws to hold the reed plates. He replaced the wood combs with acrylic combs, and replaced the leather windsavers with the modern mylar windsavers.

The wood combs were replaced with acrylic combs on the two Chordomonica II harps, and screws replaced nails in the combs, to hold the reed plates to the combs.

I was getting impatient with cracked wood combs of the 280s and Chordomonicas. I repaired the combs myself a few times, but the cracks would return in a year or two. I didn't do any screw replacements, leaving that to John Infande.

As a result of John's work, these 4 harmonicas are no longer the original "out of the box" harps, but they sound better, are stronger and more permanent. I'll never have to worry about cracked combs again.

I have done a few modifications, (gapping, reed replacemets, simple stuff), but 95% of my harmonicas are played from the box.

These were 4 antique, collectable harps, but now they're 4 useable harps.

John Broecker.

Harmman:
I bought a Super 64X new and a regular 64X new also.  Both are great.  I bought a used 64 and it leaks like crazy.

The 270's I've bought new are ok except for those blasted mouthpiece screws.  Any one know why Hohner does use metal inserts?  I'd gladly pay the extra 20 cents for them.

I'm hoping to upgrade a few and will report the difference.

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