Shade-tree Harp Mechanics and whatnot
Elk River
Harmonicas
Dave Payne Sr., owner
Harmonicas
Dave Payne Sr., owner
Welcome to
The complete Seydel line and home of the Elk River Special
Grandpa Cecil Payne And Dave Payne Sr.
Do coverplate sidevents really make a difference in what
you hear from a harmonica?
You tell me.
On the audio above, there are two test samples done on a
prewar Seydel Bandmaster. In one sample, the sidevents are
left open. In the other sample the side vents are opened and
closed several times. You can listen to each of them
separately at right.
Please send me an email letting me know in which of the two
samples I am covering and uncovering the side vent.
Results will be posted later.
you hear from a harmonica?
You tell me.
On the audio above, there are two test samples done on a
prewar Seydel Bandmaster. In one sample, the sidevents are
left open. In the other sample the side vents are opened and
closed several times. You can listen to each of them
separately at right.
Please send me an email letting me know in which of the two
samples I am covering and uncovering the side vent.
Results will be posted later.
Sample No. 1
Sample No. 2
Side vent test: Prewar Seydel
Bandmaster C
Bandmaster C
Side vent test: Prewar
Hohner Marine Band A
Hohner Marine Band A
Do coverplate sidevents really make a difference in what
you hear from a harmonica?
You tell me.
On the audio above, there are two test samples done on a
prewar Hohner Marine Band A. In one sample, the sidevents
are left open. In the other sample the side vents are opened
and closed several times. You can listen to each of them
separately at right.
Please send me an email letting me know in which of the two
samples I am covering and uncovering the side vent.
Results will be posted later.
you hear from a harmonica?
You tell me.
On the audio above, there are two test samples done on a
prewar Hohner Marine Band A. In one sample, the sidevents
are left open. In the other sample the side vents are opened
and closed several times. You can listen to each of them
separately at right.
Please send me an email letting me know in which of the two
samples I am covering and uncovering the side vent.
Results will be posted later.
Sample No. 1
Sample No. 2
Sample No. 2
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Are throats resonant?
You be the judge...
You be the judge...
Throat resonance test
Nasal Cavity
resonance test
resonance test
Is the harmonica player's nose used
for more than picking? You be the
judge on the nasal cavity test.
for more than picking? You be the
judge on the nasal cavity test.
Whiskey test
Was soaking harps in Whiskey an effective treatment for the harps of
our harmonica forebears? I intend to find out. I'm going to look into
this and get some answers. Two of my prized Seydel NOS pre-2006
NAILED and UNSEALED beech-comb Solists (they are screws and
sealed now) will be used in this experiment, one a soaker and one
control.
I'm sure the sealantswe have today work way better than any of this
stuff and a fifth of Butcher's Block oil is a lot cheaper than a fifth of Ol'
Granddad. So I have no expectations this would be a valid treatment
for us. What I want to know is whether it worked for our harmonica
forebears. My hypothesis is, regardless of how they thought it might
have worked, it was a wood treatment, not a reed treatment.
They poured some whiskey in the harp, or dunked it in a glass.
Whiskey gets soaked into the wood. I'm gonna find out what happens
next. Alcohol will evaporate quickly, I know, I've used both isopropyl
and moonshine to clean out an unsealed harp or two in my day.
I'm looking a bourbon in particular. I have purchased a 375 ml bottle of
Early Times (I'll call it Bourbon since it's made in Kentucky) for this
purpose.
When you soak an unsealed comb in bourbon, the alcohol will
evaporate out.
What's left behind? Basically, liquid oak. Bourbon starts out life as
moonshine and its put in these white oak barrels with the insides
charred out. The whiskey barrel is then put through temperature
changes over several years so the whiskey soaks in and oat of the
wood, where it picks up wood compounds, such as tannin (same stuff
that makes the Blackwater RIver in WV black), cellulose, holds the
wood together and liginin, the binding agent that holds the cellulose
together while its in the tree.
The best case scenario is that these substances and other
compounds will get into the pores of the wood and slow (not
eliminate, but slow) moisture exchange. Worst case scenario - I
wasted seven bucks on a bottle of whiskey.
There is one compound in whiskey that also interests me ----
lyonresinol. There's supposedly a bunch of it in bourbon. It's an
antibiotic agent that has been synthesized it has a" potential to be a
lead compound in the development of antibotic
agents"(http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:16212233)
First part of the research, I poured a tablespoon of whiskey on a plate
andam let it dry. The residue was thick and oily. That's what will be left
in the wood when it dries. Soon, I'll find out what that does.
Was soaking harps in Whiskey an effective treatment for the harps of
our harmonica forebears? I intend to find out. I'm going to look into
this and get some answers. Two of my prized Seydel NOS pre-2006
NAILED and UNSEALED beech-comb Solists (they are screws and
sealed now) will be used in this experiment, one a soaker and one
control.
I'm sure the sealantswe have today work way better than any of this
stuff and a fifth of Butcher's Block oil is a lot cheaper than a fifth of Ol'
Granddad. So I have no expectations this would be a valid treatment
for us. What I want to know is whether it worked for our harmonica
forebears. My hypothesis is, regardless of how they thought it might
have worked, it was a wood treatment, not a reed treatment.
They poured some whiskey in the harp, or dunked it in a glass.
Whiskey gets soaked into the wood. I'm gonna find out what happens
next. Alcohol will evaporate quickly, I know, I've used both isopropyl
and moonshine to clean out an unsealed harp or two in my day.
I'm looking a bourbon in particular. I have purchased a 375 ml bottle of
Early Times (I'll call it Bourbon since it's made in Kentucky) for this
purpose.
When you soak an unsealed comb in bourbon, the alcohol will
evaporate out.
What's left behind? Basically, liquid oak. Bourbon starts out life as
moonshine and its put in these white oak barrels with the insides
charred out. The whiskey barrel is then put through temperature
changes over several years so the whiskey soaks in and oat of the
wood, where it picks up wood compounds, such as tannin (same stuff
that makes the Blackwater RIver in WV black), cellulose, holds the
wood together and liginin, the binding agent that holds the cellulose
together while its in the tree.
The best case scenario is that these substances and other
compounds will get into the pores of the wood and slow (not
eliminate, but slow) moisture exchange. Worst case scenario - I
wasted seven bucks on a bottle of whiskey.
There is one compound in whiskey that also interests me ----
lyonresinol. There's supposedly a bunch of it in bourbon. It's an
antibiotic agent that has been synthesized it has a" potential to be a
lead compound in the development of antibotic
agents"(http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:16212233)
First part of the research, I poured a tablespoon of whiskey on a plate
andam let it dry. The residue was thick and oily. That's what will be left
in the wood when it dries. Soon, I'll find out what that does.
At the Elk RIver
Harmonica Research
Institute, we shall remain
true to our motto: "This is
important junk we're
doing here and stuff."
Harmonica Research
Institute, we shall remain
true to our motto: "This is
important junk we're
doing here and stuff."
Under
construction
construction