chromatic maintenance
Hello Winslow
Knowing that a Chromatic needs to be maintained and being visually impaired do you have any suggestions on a model of chromatic that may be easier to deal with than other models Right now I'm thinking of getting the Hohner 270 deluxe or cx 12 and I have been looking at the Seydel deluxe as well. I play primarily blues. I do take the proper preventative measures before playing.
I can get a harp disassembled and reassembled with the aid of a cctv but using this magnification I can only see 1inch at a time.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated
A simplified way to ask this question is what models of chromatic may be easier to maintain. . Issues like geting to the slide to clean it once in a while.
I thought that would be the reply, I have heard mixed reviews on the cx 12. Wind savers curling up and the lower octave being difficult to hear after some playing.. As for the reeds I do no reed work. I have played some chromatic and really enjoy it.
Have you ever played one of the hands free chromatic offered by C A Ryenolds . I don't think he started this design but it has been passed to him and is offered on his website. My thinking is with a different mechanism it may be just as easy to deal with as the cx 12 just looking for possible options.
Dave: The CX-12 would be a perfect fit for you.
Jon
The HFC (Hands-Free Chromatic) was designed and originally manufactured by Vern Smith, but after a few years he passed building it on to Chris Reynolds..
I've tried one, as a sometime student of mine plays one in a rack. It works well enough, but I didn't find it to be as airtight as a regular chromatic. Also, if you're used to pressing a slide button, raising and lowering the entire mouthpiece with your lips and/or jaw is more work. I don know a guy who plays fast jazz on one (again, in a rack) while he accompanies himself of 7-string guitar, so it's certainly a viable choice.
It's true that the CX-12 seems to have more buzzing valve problems than some other chromatics. Also be cause it's so airtight, its responsiveness to oral cavity resonsnace can make it bend notes down when you don't mean to.
I don't know what you mean by "the lower octave being difficult to hear after some playing."
It looks like my path is obvious, I went back and read some of the reviews and it seems some of the complaints could be player technique.I do have my Uncles old chromatic and have been tempted to take it apart to see what I would be dealing with. But there are no harp tech's around me to help out if I run into problems so I will leave well enough alone.
I did watch the Brendan Power's interview again and in the segment more on chromatic customizing he takes the front off and pulls the slide out and then slaps it all back together. I don't know if this is something he offers to do for other peoples chromatic harps but it is quite interesting.
Thanks again for all the advice. I will give the CX 12 a shot
Brendan used to do customizing work but gave it up. Too bad; he's a great tech. I have a chromatic that he customized and it sings (and honks)!
Depending on where you live you may have a good tech in your area. Where are you on the planet?
Sorry for the delay I'm a massage therapist and have been working with the cast of the Wiz. Where do I live on this big blue marble, I live in Arkansas.
Over the weekend I did order a CX 12. I did take my uncles 270 apart and got it back together and confirmed that with my lack of vision it is something I don't want to do again. Since the C X is said to be a bit more air tight than most, I wonder if some of the complaints of wind savers buzzing is due to some players blowing to hard.
I dream of the day either Seydel or Hohner comes out with a metal chromatic like the 270 or the Seydel Deluxe that has a slide release. I don't think that's asking to much .
Thanks for all the great advice and information
The CX-12 is definitely the easiest to get apart and back together.
The slide on most chromatics gets sticky after awhile, and can benefit from being removed and cleaned, along with the surfaces it rubs against.
On most chromatics, removing the slide required a screwdriver, and reassermbling it involves 3 to 4 layers of parts to align along with several small fasteners and a spring the thread through a pinhole. Pretty challenging no matter what your vision status may be.
The CX-12 allows you to remove the slide simply by unhooking the back of the button from the shell and pulling it out.
Instead of separate covers (and screws, the CX-12 had a shell that also acts as a mouthpiece. The shell is held on by a metal pressure strap (technically a leaf spring) that has a couple of tabs at each end that you insert into slots in the shell.
With the shell removed, you can clean the front of the comb where the slide rubs, as well as the interior surface of the shell, and it's as easy to put back together as it is to take apart.
However, if you need to do anything with the reeds or interior windsavers, the reedplates are fastened to the comb by something like 11 screws (that's a guess), so that will require more work and fiddly stuff.
One additional benefit to the CX-12 slide design is that the place where the slide stick out of the right end of the harmonica is, on the CX-12, far less vulnerable to being bent out shape.
Long story short: For ease of cleaning and maintenance, the CX-12 wins hands down.
That said, the 270 Deluxe has a sound that's closer to a traditional blues sound. You can hear a comparison at one of the HarmonicaSessions.com reviews i did in, I think, late 2009 or early 2010.