The number of harmonicas I have is too high. I’m losing them because it’s too many to keep track of, which breaks my heart because I love them all.
Had a Gold Mars, I even bought spare coverplates so that I’d have two bottom covers (no stamping = slick!).
Lost an A marine band that had my homemade dead-flat comb and 5 hours of rework.
Lost a chromatic that was custom made for me.
It’s possible the children are hoarding them. But most likely I lost them.
Yet, there are so many harmonicas I want to play.
I find every harmonica teaches me something. Even the piedmont set my aunt gave me with the plastic coverplates.
But the number is too high.
Organization…not my strong suit. So I’m wondering, those of you with hundreds of harmonicas, what is your system? I already have two drawers with desk organizers. This works fairly well, but then I have to pick and pluck when it’s time to leave.
I’m considering:
one case to rule them all, a chest. Inside, sub-cases for sets. Then, when I need to grab and go, I just pick the sets and jam them in a backpack.
archive the harmonicas not being used. Like a storage bin.
soprano sax case
My least favorite option is reducing down to a single set. I have to have ET for melody playing because I do a lot of deep positions, and I have to have my 19 limit just intonation for blues and chord playing. And I have to have a handful of chromatics since sometimes valves get sticky and need to swap harps.
Harp organization and storage is a fave topic of mine, I am curious what others have been doing with large harp collections.
I keep all my live and practice harps in a Hohner case, all my old harps I keep in the slots I took out of my case under a table next her art box so she can’t complain.
But if you don’t want those harps I can give them a good home
If you were headed for heaven which 10 harps would you want forever? Those would be my top and most played harps. I have an Oskar that plays single notes well but it is like playing a large match box to me. Its tough to get comfortable and the notes are not as sweet as a crossover. I cannot remember where it is as it never gets used.
My wife is a life time artist as well. She started very young and taught it in high school before we checked the concrete jungle AKA Houston to those that still have to live there. My wife does not complain as I let her have the storage room as an art studio, which I was lucky enough to get to paint, nine gls. She goes there and I sit up stairs and practice. Works great and she does not have to listen to mistakes. Life is a series of compromises. I can practice for hours and I love it. it seems I improve in steps. I have a good week and figure something out and others I convert air to noise. learning a musical is not a straight line situation for me but I am better than I was six months ago and even better than i was a year ago. I still have a long road ahead but I am doing this solely for the fun of it and always will.
The only stairs we have are inside the property we live in a small one bedroom Flat. I’m not complaining about my wife far from it. She’s my support, she’s my spotter when I play she tells me honestly when I screw up, because she grew up around bands and music ( her Dad was an amazing musician) she knows her stuff. She is also incredibly talented she’s an Amazing artist and she has decorated our flat from top to Bottom. Outside it looks like an ordinary flat inside it’s Gothic, we love our horror movies, my Wife is also a White witch ( with Christian leanings) and a medium. I’m totally Heathen pagan as we’re my ancestors who came from Denmark and Iceland. I absolutely love and adore my wife, we suit and compliment each other perfectly. I’ve had a pretty rough life in many ways my wife is my reward for the crap I’ve had to suffer.
I always tell my kids its the decisions you make in your 20s and 30s that determine how the rest of life is. We both got lucky. My wife was a great flute player but will not pick one up now. She is so patient with all questions about music and some how never gets tired about trying to help.
There are poor people with a lot of money and rich people with little. I have known both. If she puts up with the repetition and noise she will have my back when life really test my health. I guess this and the harp put me in the rich side of life. I am retired and without the harp will go crazy. father time took many of my favored past times away. The harp showed up at the right time but I do wish I started playing 40 years ago.
I suppose that’s where I’m lucky I started a little over 30 years ago as part of recuperation from losing my lung when I was in the forces. The whole story I’ve posted several times. The way I’m really lucky is the man who I saw playing harp on a documentary on blues is actually on this Forum. @Corkymusic. Corky Siegal. I feel very honored he gives me the time of day. My Wife loves to here me play live, but she will tell me when I’ve had enough practice Live and practice not being the same thing. But she will say have you been working on that, or that sound better than you’ve ever played it. But I do understand that we have Neighbors and I need to keep it down for their sake as well as the wife’s sanity. But when I’m not practicing or playing I’m listening or watching I’m always learning. Apparently locally I’m known as"the man" when it comes to playing harp, but I think that’s because I’m the only guy who tongue blocks and feels what I play. There’s been an Up-surgence of harp players around here but they are not studying it seriously I can tell they just play it because it makes a cool noise. It’s a pity there’s a couple who could be good if they put their heart and soul into it.
No @Hogie.Harmonica to answer your question: less harmonicas is more if you’re giving them away! I give away harmonicas all the time. I’m about to send a 7 pack of Blues harps to my daughter’s boyfriend in California. That’ll be 7 less harps I own, and I’ll be better for it!
All joking aside, DEFINTELY take up @davidkachalon’s offer for Hohner XL. That was absolutely the very first thing I was gonna recommend.
I’ve got a nice Tombo bag my friend gave me that holds 16, and has all my most prized possessions. I find, if I have the set list with keys ahead of a gig, I can always make the night work with 16 harmonicas.
*A plastic bin at the back full of harps that I never play
*A Hohner XL case
*A big Seydel case
*A Hohner belt
I can usually find what I’m looking for fairly quickly - tho I do sometimes mis-place a harp or 2. (My wife rolls her eyes and groans if I tell her I’m looking for a harmonica. )
I have only 2 Game Changers and 2 Chromatics so they just live in their own boxes.
For all we do for our children, the least they can do in return is be our scapegoats whenever we can’t find something!
Do you have one yet? Definitely start with 1. I find the experience of putting a harp into a slot to be a little bit harder than a regular box. The box they slide in effortlessly. The belt I have to hold the pouch and wrestle with it for several seconds.
I’m a relative newbie, but an old guy. In my lifetime I’ve had a number of interests, hobbies, and sports. My normal pattern is to get carried away and buy too much equipment. My goal is to not do that with harps. In about a years time I have bought 3 harps and the 4th one is on order. I hope keep my count down this time.
I always had a case filled with keys and I like to collect harmonicas because of my very intense hyperfixation on them, however I just put the ones I don’t use in small shoeboxes in the cases they come in, which is somewhat organized. I could arrange the cases, but I always put it off due to my executive functioning getting weird.
Now back to the topic. I use my main 12 standard + 2 extended range diatonics + my 12-hole chromatic in a Hohner Flexcase Large (which holds 14 diatonics and one chromatic). The ones that I usually play are mostly Hohner Golden Melodies (mainly the old one, but I still use the new ones). I always have my main 15 harps in that gig bag, just in case I get hired for session work or play in a band that tunes a half step down.
I love my Hohner case for the same reason it holds all my keys and second and third back ups plus my Chromonicas ( With some handy Velcro glued to the lid, 3 Lucky 13’s, my transmitter and receiver, my harps stickers and two mics and a fold up tool for fixing any problems that may be incurred. It was Expensive at £95 but it was worth it as it makes my wife happy there aren’t Harps all over the place
