Recommended maintenance on a Hohner Marine Band
Thu, 06/13/2019 - 09:36
Hello David,
I had a question about what you would recommend as the most effective method of cleaning and maintaining a Hohner Marine Band harmonica. I’ve been playing it about an hour a day for the last four months and it may not be due for cleaning quite yet but I imagine it will soon.
I’ve watched a couple videos on how to clean a harmonica that involve taking it apart but the screws on the cover plate are microscopic and the grooves are too small even for an exacto knife to unscrew them.
It’s my first harmonica ever so I wanna get expert advice right away. Any tips?
Thanks!
Andrew Kern
Hello Andrew. I don't clean my harmonicas, except every now and again wiping the outride with a damp cloth (I do this maybe every six months). If there is not an issue with the harmonica, like a stuck reed that you can't free from blowing/drawing or a quick rinse under the sink, then you'll need to take the cover plates off, or take harmonica apart to get to a very stuck reed. I can't think of a time that I had to do that over the past ten years. So... if it ain't broke, don't worry about fixing it :-)