How Does A Harmonica's Construction Affect the Sound and Feel?

By Jonathan Prestidge (edited by Paddy Wells)

 

If you’re looking to learn the harmonica, you may be wondering how the construction of instrument influences the overall sound. While not a complicated piece of engineering, the materials and build of the harmonica do affect the feel and tone, so let’s take a more detailed look. 

 

Harmonica construction 

The harmonica isn’t a particularly complicated instrument, especially in diatonic form. Essentially, it’s not much more than two sets of vibrating reeds, a comb and a pair of metal cover plates. There are, however, significant differences between specific models and manufacturers.

Recessed or sandwiched comb

If we look at Hohner’s current Marine Band 1896 Classic and compare it to a Marine Band from 50 or 75 years ago, they are fundamentally pretty similar. Sure, there are small variations in the type of wood used for the comb (peachwood was eventually replaced with pearwood) and the cover plate material (nickel plated mild steel versus stainless steel), but the overall design, with two reed plates sandwiching a wood comb, with the edges of the plates exposed, is essentially identical. And this is the way all diatonic harmonicas were constructed for many years. Then, along came the Hohner Special 20, and everything changed.

The main innovation featured on the Special 20 is the injection moulded comb. This makes it completely swell-resistant, while allowing for greater manipulation of the shape of the comb than can be achieved with wood. This opened up the possibility of recessing the reed plates into the comb itself, resulting in a much smoother mouthpiece than traditional sandwich style harmonicas. In practical terms, this makes it easier to move quickly around the harmonica, with less irritation of the lips and many players – especially beginners – find it easier to play.

Of course, some players dispute the validity of these benefits; a quick search on any of the popular harmonica forums will yield plenty of comments from players extolling the virtues of sandwich harps, and decrying those who claim that they’re harder or less comfortable to play.

Vents or no vents

Side vents on the cover plates are a feature of many harmonicas, including the Hohner Marine Band, Big River and the Suzuki Manji. In theory, they should allow more acoustic volume, but, again, this is debatable. However, it does appear to have a small influence on tone: open vents make the instrument sound slightly brighter; while closed the vents produce a more muted, darker tone.

Of course, it’s possible to block and unblock the vents with your hands whilst playing, which you could argue makes a vented harmonica more appealing, as it provides the player with more potential to add colour to their performance. However, some players – especially those with smaller hands – may find this technique difficult or impossible. A good rule of thumb is to try both types and see whether you have a preference.

Comb material

In short, alloy combs are brighter, while unsealed pearwood combs have what many players would describe as the ‘best’ or ‘classic’ sound, albeit with the attendant disadvantages of the wood swelling. Plastic sits somewhere in the middle.

Ultimately, comb material has a negligible influence on overall tone; the reeds, and, most significantly, the player, will have a far greater effect on the final sound than whether it is fitted with a wood, alloy or plastic comb.

Reeds

Unlike combs and cover plates, there’s a relatively small range of materials suitable for producing reeds. Most manufacturers use brass, although Suzuki, and some of the more expensive harps from Chinese manufacturers such as Easttop, use phosphor bronze, and Seydel uses stainless steel for all but a small number of its harmonicas.

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence about the relative advantages and disadvantages of specific reed materials, but few hard facts. Phosphor bronze and stainless steel reeds usually last longer than brass reeds, though there are always exceptions. 

Tone differences are less debatable; stainless steel reeds are usually brighter sounding than brass, with phosphor bronze sitting somewhere in the middle.
As ever, try a few harps out and see which ones best fit your own personal preferences.

 

About Pinegrove

Here at Pinegrove Leather, we lovingly craft leather goods of premium quality for musicians of every level. Since 2012, we’ve been producing elegant and hardwearing leather guitar straps, alongside a bestselling range of cases for harmonica. Whether you’re a pro on the road or just a play-at-home hobbyist, Pinegrove has got you covered.