How to store my harmonicas so many now
I am buying harmonica one after another but for I am not sure if I have to invest
a lot for harmonica cases , bags . There will be scratches any way as time goes by
because I mostly use them in a guitar rack.
Guys what do you use to store your harmonica?
What should I buy that not too expensive?
A lot depends on where you take your harps, if at all. E.g., if you don't take them out of your home, an inexpensive storage system can be created using a plastic tool/fasterner box with adjustable slots, available from a hardware store. Or if you want to get fancy, you can order a bunch of empty Lee Oskar boxes from Rockin' Ron's, i.e., the ones with the slots that slide together, and keep them from sliding apart from each other by sticking a piece of gaffer tape on the underside of the box lineup. (This sort of storage box is infinitely expandable - just attach a progressively longer piece of gaffer tape each time you add a new box.)
For travel or gigs, it's a whole 'nuther world out there. I have a beautiful 8-harp case from Pinegrove Leather in the UK, that reverse-clips to make its own rack. It's my basic-blues-keys set. I last used it for an outdoor cabaret gig where I played harp for only two songs (a G diatonic on one, an A harmonic minor on another), standing out front on a lower part of the stage, below and to the side of the vocalists. My amp was on the stage as my monitor (lined-out into the PA system), with the harp case on top. Even though I used only two harps, I had eight in the case, just so it'd look as if I were a real harmonica player. (Looks are significant in our cabaret shows.) But I have a whole array of cases, e.g., belt bags (never leave home without at least one harp on your person), and cases for one, two, three or six harps. If I'm traveling, the length of time I'll be away from home dictates how many harmonicas I want to take along for practice.
On thing I'm still looking for: A smaller case for my two Hohner CX-12 chromatics, i.e., smaller than the orange-crate-sized plastic case that Hohner supplies with the harps. Sadly, all of the cool chromatic belt-bags, boxes and cases I've seen on line all come with the caveat, "Will not fit Hohner CX-12." Why Hohner elected to supply this model with a case that fits not only the harmonica, but also a family of five ... and their two dogs ... beats me.
Check out what Charlie is carring his harmonicas in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rzwkwgaq5Q
Looks like a plastic parts case or fishing box.
Brian: Charlie's looks exactly like my first harmonica storage case, which I bought at the well-known national music store, Ace Hardware! Since picking up some other more harmonica-oriented cases, my original case now sits in a drawer in my garage workbench, filled with screws and fasteners.
I remember once encountering Howard Levy backstage and he had about a dozen custom-built Filiskos (brass combs, special covers) rattling around in a paper bag. Then there are the custome-built, multi-tray blonde tweed ones costing hundreds of dollars.
I kind of split the difference, leaning towards the cheap, pracitcal, but not very distinctive. I use a 14-harp cloth Seydel case of a gigging set of dinatonics, and a couple of chromatics in their hard boxes that I lug around along with mics, cables, etc. in a large shoulder bag.