Special 20 Cover Plates
Kinya,
I have been playing Special 20's for over 9 years and just realize the other day that I have Special 20 cover plates that are different size thicknesses. For example: D Harp front of cover plate is 17.42mm and the back is 17.15mm. I have a 'Harpsmith' G harp, front is 18.60mm and the back is 20mm (average). Can you share when Hohner made these different size Special 20 cover plates? Also it has to be at least 4 to 5 years since I purchased a Special 20 so I do not know what thickness the new ones come out as.
Hello Harp Techs
Back in '73, I bought my first Hohner Blues Harp. It was a super low profile--non vented--cover plate design nailed onto a Marine Band harmonica.
Clearly Hohner understood by swapping cover plates from vented to non-vented, it muted the voicing of the harmonica from acoustically bright to warm.
Kinya,
The Rick Epping interview you mentioned can be found in the June 2005, August 2005 and October 2005 (three parts) www.harmonicasessions.com magazine. I must confess that I have kept and printed off many of those articles for future use. I was just cutting my teeth on the harmonica – so to speak and found them very useful and educational as well.
Ken
Thanx for the tip Ken. We never know if or when Mel Bay will decide to pull the archives from the site.
Rick Epping is a brilliant accordian and harmonica technician, and one hell of a player as well--living now in Ireland with his family I believe. Instead of erecting a statue of him, I think Hohner decided to embed his name on his invention, the Hohner XB40 harmonica ;o)
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Hi Ken
Terrific to hear from you.
If my memory serves me correctly, in April '05 I had interviewed Hohner USA Tech Guru, Rick Epping about Hohner cover plates, he verified that Hohner was migrating the product line away from the "tin" (zinc) material to a chrome over steel combination.
The best way to identify the differences between the old and the new Hohner cover plate are to notice how easily the old cover plates tarnishes (this is where Happich's Semichrome Polish comes in handy) and as you had pointed out, it will be less tall (17.42 vs 18.6). The new cover plates--especially after bending inward the back folds (i.e. Hohner Marine Band Deluxe, Crossover and Thunderbird)--will have the potential of voicing brighter than the older cover plates.
Your Harpsmith,
Kinya