Andrew's blog

Hohner has made some of the best instruments and it dominates the diatonic harmonica market worldwide. There is no company with a bigger share of the market. Not even close.

When Mathias Hohner developed the Marine Band 1896, he was the innovator, the machinist, the product manager, the shop worker, marketer and owner. It took him years to develop the gold standard harmonica with the magic reeds. Once he got it, he was hesitant to change.

And once his kids continued on, the product stayed mostly the same with some slight changes and an almost unnoticeable drop in quality until the late 1980s.

Then Hohner had some ideas.

Mostly bad ones.

To try to be more competitive, the shop significantly lowered its standards and Marine Band harmonicas in the 80s and 90 were terrible. They eventually noticed their mistake and tried to return the quality of the 1896 back to what it was.

Marine Band 1896

They also tried to automate the process and created a new design that could be made with less human work required. The MS series mostly sucked. The reeds are further away from your vocal tract because the reed plates are bigger and the airtightness is just awful.

MS reedplates:

To mitigate the issues with Marine Band wooden combs, they redesigned the sandwich-type harmonica and created a recessed-type instrument with an ABS plastic comb.

That actually worked pretty well.

They stuck to something simple.

Special 20:

By using cheap ABS plastic and not trying to make the comb a feature of the instrument, they created something that was just as playable as a good Marine Band and it surprisingly had a nice tone for an instrument with a 20-cent cheap plastic piece. I think the secret there is the comb is so light and minimalist, it doesn't get in the way of the reeds.

And is has the same magic reeds as in the 1896. So it's a mass-produced Marine Band that doesn't have the risk of comb swelling or failure that the MB 1896 has.

To this day, the Special 20 is the world's best selling off-the-shelf harmonica.

Harmonica customizers take the whole instrument apart and rebuilt it from the ground up. We correct every defect and make the framework perfect so we can properly adjust the reed work and tuning to make the instrument perform exceptionally.

And though we perfect everything, we still assemble the instrument in the best way possible to maintain airtightness for its whole, long, life.

The Classic design of the Golden Melody is a sandwich type, which is very air efficient if the reed plates and comb are perfectly flat.

Sandwich-type Golden Melody:

The Progressive design of the Golden Melody is some weird, douchey nightmare. It seems to be change for the sake of change rather than change for the sake of improvement. The same mass production flaws are present in the new design as the old - and those can be corrected.
But there are also some foundational problems with the instrument so it's not a candidate for customization.

Progressive GM:

Bless its heart.

Hohner should have stuck with simple changes.

Daniel on Facebook asked for help with the nine draw reed. Here is what I would do.

This is the simplest thing you can do to any diatonic harmonica to get the most improvement.

Use 220 grit sandpaper and a flat surface. No need to buy a precision surface plate made of granite. Just something very flat. And one quick pass with 220 grit is all you need. More passes and a finer grit will actually make things worse and make the surface round, albeit shiny and polished - which is not what we want.

For more improvement, use one of my Dark combs:
https://harp.andrewzajac.ca/Combs

My Quick Videos are jam packed with all the information you need. Even the intro clip gives you insights that you can't find anywhere else.

All of the customizing concepts I use on my custom harmonicas are covered here. This set is complete.

There is a pdf with extra information and charts you might like to print out and keep handy in your workspace.

The twelve videos run for a total of 31 minutes.

This doesn't mean that you will cover all the material in about a half an hour. Most of the techniques and concepts will take you weeks of practice to learn. You will need to get your hands dirty and do the work.
Everybody learns differently. Some need some step by step and others need to do things for themselves and will only need to get a few hints along the way.

For the player who really doesn't want to have to do any work on their instrument - but we all have to - these videos try to show you what to do so that you can get right back to playing.
For the player who is curious about getting more power and response from their instrument, the more advanced videos show you what you should aim for. You will probably watch some of the videos more than a dozen times as you make progress and gain experience before you have gotten everything they have to offer.

I recently reviewed every video looking for things I could improve. I thought I could update them. But I don't think I can do any better. They still hold up.
They do exactly what they say they do and I think you will get a lot of value from them.

Every part of the instrument will show signs of age if you play it. My combs are made to be played!

(Top, previous version, Bottom, new version)

I try to improve things as I go. I found a way to finish the tips of the tines of my combs that's more durable than ever.

It's less domed but it's just as shiny to look at and as smooth on the tongue as my previous version. My combs are way more comfortable than stock combs. Like eating candy.

The new tips should stay glossy longer and resist scratches even more than before.

Sometimes I solve a problem and that leads to a new standard way of doing things. Here, I show you how I leapfrogged from trying to make a task a bit faster and more convenient and discovered how the new method was also better and more predictable than the old way.
I integrated this change into my Multi tool.

Buy it from RockinRon

My tools are expensive!! I put a lot of work into each piece. They are the exact same tools I use on my workbench when I customise harmonicas. I know they work well and will last a long time.

I've added a minimalist kit to my tools so that you can make your own choice about what you need and save some money.

The Essential kit is my Basic Kit with fewer add-ons and it doesn't include the Grobet file.

Tuning is an important aspect of harmonica maintenance but it may be less important to some players. For those folks, I offer a method that uses easily obtainable 120-grit sandpaper to make tuning adjustments using my reed support tool.

As with my other kits, email support is provided with the purchase of these tools. Within the first 90 days of purchase, I will answer any question about using the tools, just email me your questions.

See the Essential Kit page.

__________

__________

__________

__________

If reed work seems like an occult art or weird science, or if embossing feels like a dangerous idea, maybe you aren't looking at things the right way. Maybe you don't understand what you are seeing or what you should be seeing?

Here's a hint. Tilt your phone.

If you aren't reading this on a phone, print it out!

See also this post from a few years ago around the same subject. It has a video!

Question:
"I play ... blues, simple jazz, little country. I play single tone, multitone, chords, arpeggios (triades, 6th; 7th), different modes (or positions). Tongue blocks, splits,
What kind of tuning is optimal for my style of playing?"

Response:
"Hi ---,

Since you play single, multiple, chords and arpeggios but you also play in different positions, the answer is not straightforward. But the problem may not be too big, either...

If you have played both stock Golden Melodies and Stock Marine Band or Special 20s, you have experienced both temperaments. And if you don't have a strong preference at this point, then either temperament should work for you - the question is which do you prefer? How important is it to you? Is this really a big problem?

If we focus on the reeds that are tuned as major thirds, that's the most noticeable difference. So holes 2, 5, 8 blow and 3, 7 draw are tuned about 12 cents flat on Marine Band type harmonicas. When playing in positions/modes/scales where those holes are the tonic or the fifth, I feel like that's where it's the most noticeable. The single note is flat and if that's your tonic, the whole scale may seem unstable. Or for example, the major scale in third position - the second and the sixth note on the bottom octave feel a little off. They would feel better in equal temperament.

But if you tune those notes to be equal, the major triads and even the splits can offer less power, less harmonics. One of the features of a custom harmonica is the precise tuning which provides powerful harmonics if you tune for harmony. The sound from the major triads in harmony can fill the room (as Joe Filisko says, little instrument, big sound!)

I am sorry but you can't have both! Not on the same instrument at the same time, anyway. So the choice is a matter for you to decide. But I hope I have given you the information to make that decision. Please let me know if you need me to elaborate further.

Best,
Z"

I offer two harmonicas that are not listed on my Custom Harmonica page. They are variations of my custom harmonicas.

BASIC CUSTOM
CAD$55 less than my Full Custom
Order a Basic Custom

RECONSTRUCTED / NRW harmonica™
Special 20/Rocket CAD$150
Marine Band Deluxe CAD$175
Order a Reconstructed N.R.W. harmonica

It's a little bit like going to a restaurant and ordering something that's not on the menu.

I try to tailor each instrument to your needs and I keep the Basic custom or NRW options open for specific cases.

I'd rather start the discussion with what a Full Custom can offer and suggest a Basic Custom if the player would not benefit at all from the extra customisation.

I used to feature my Basic Custom harmonicas along with my Full and Overbend custom harmonica as a budget friendly option. It's a great choice for a player who only ever uses second position.

But the truth is, I have found it difficult to start from a Basic custom harmonica and try to meet some extra needs beyond its intended scope.

I usually end up creating a custom harp that's an awful lot like a Full Custom, and that means I have spent the same amount of time and effort customising it as a Full Custom.

I'd love to keep doing things that way, but it's not sustainable.

It's not easy to tell a player who is really set on a Basic custom that I feel they would best be served with a Full Custom because it feels like I'm up-selling.

So my Basic Custom harmonicas are now an off-menu item. They are CAD$55 less than my Full Custom.

The other off-menu item is new: A Reconstructed or NRW harmonica™.

A Reconstructed NRW harmonica™ is not a custom harmonica because it does not feature high-performance reed work.

Whereas a custom harmonica does most of the work for you and is played with little effort, an NRW harmonica™ is played with regular breath force. As such it is the best choice for players who cannot use breath control.

Every player secretly hopes to "win the lottery" and get a "really good one" when they buy a new stock (non-customized) harp from the music store.

A Reconstructed NRW harp™ exceeds that expectation because attention is paid to every detail of its foundation as it is rebuilt. But it does not feature custom reed work (reed shaping). It aims to be powerful, consistent from top to bottom and in perfect tune.

My Reconstructed NRW harmonicas™ are CAD$150 to $175.

See more information about my custom harmonicas here (The Menu)
Order here.