Craftsmanship, and the return of the Hohner Marina Band harmonica

[Otter74]

Since there seem to be a fair number of people here who are interested in subjects centered on craftsmanship, as well as blues, I thought some of you might enjoy this article:

https://craftsmanship.net/the-return-of-the-harmonica/

[herr_oberst]

Good read! I love deep dives into common objects like this.

[craigster59]

I have one of the Lee Oskar harmonicas and a few Hohners. Haven't had a chance to read the whole article but thanks for posting!

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by craigster59

I have one of the Lee Oskar harmonicas...

Years ago I was on a "blues cruise" ... totally cool "music festival @ sea" and was sitting at a deck table one morning chatting with some folks. Didn't realize until later that one of them was Lee Oskar himself ... doh! It wuz a funky boat !

"...all my friends know the low rider...."

[Tobra]

My brother has quite the collection of harmonicas, will certainly be interested in this.

[Tervuren]

Hmm, makes me wonder if Marine Band is post makeover.

Probably is.
Was a gift, so I'm not sure.

My personal favourite is a plastic cased CX12.
It has survived a lot.
Had to pull off the reed valving it had as they didn't hold up to environmental issues.

One thing I've learned over time with different instruments is how much humidity and temperature come into play.
Taking a cold harmonica from an air conditioned space out into the SC heat and humidity is not a good idea.

If you carry a harmonica on you, go for an inner jacket pocket so it will be a closer match to your body heat.
This way when you use it you'll have less condensation issues than if you kept it in an outer pocket.