Marine Bands Can't Have All the Fun

Hello Harp Techs,

Readers know I am a fan of swapping vented cover plates (think Hohner Marine Band) with non-vented cover plates (think Hohner Special 20, or Rocket Amp) to alter the playing experience for the player.

With exception of the Hohner Silver Concerto, I found no other vented (i.e. vents or holes) chromatic harmonica cover plates.

Vents located on the left side of the cover plates provide “near field monitors” for the player. Especially when playing acoustically, the player will be able to hear the sounding reeds (notes) with greater clarity.

I wanted that feature with my Chromatic harmonicas, so decided it was time for another episode of …

Taken it to the Bench!

There are no vents on the stock CX12 Jazz chromatic harmonica

With a Sharpie, mark the locations of the new vent holes

Use a center punch to make the pilot holes. This will prevent the drill bit from “wandering”

The CX12 Jazz body is molded from plastic (ABS). This is why I chose a special drill bit made for drilling plastic (notice the steep angle of the tip).

Next, size up the proper countersink bit.

Chucked into a Dremel Rotary Tool, I countersunk (deburred) each hole for a professional finish

Here, I’m brushing out all debris from the drilling process

Inside view of the new holes

Mission accomplished and experiment validated! This was a wonderful enhancement to my CX12 Jazz harmonica.

Move over Marine Band--you can’t have all the fun!

Your Harpsmith, Kinya