Has anyone swapped out a stock comb for a custom comb? Do you think it made a difference in the sound or ease of playing the harp? I was given a Blue Moon acrylic comb and am willing to spend some time on YouTube to make sure that I can put the harp back together properly, just curious about the end result.
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I’m getting my first custom comb soon from my friend/teacher, Todd Parrott. He made it as a gift to me for being his student. It’s an ice blue/pearl white swirled Golden Melody comb. From what I’ve heard, Todd’s combs are leak-free. A custom comb can inprove the airtightness of a harmonica.
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I play Suzuki Manji’s and the stock resin combs are great. However, I tried one of the Andrew Zajac “dark combs”. I liked what I heard. Of the 19 harps in my case, most are now his custom combs. The website description notes:
“Dark combs ™ made from an earth-friendly composite of 100 per cent recycled paper resin produced from naturally occurring raw materials and selected natural pigments. This material is strong, dense, waterproof, hypoallergenic, and does not emit any volatile organic compounds, including formaldehyde. It has been certified food safe, contains no petroleum-based chemicals and doesn’t have an odour.”
“Many types of materials including Corian, brass or other metals can make the harmonica sound very bright. Dark combs help your harmonica produce the fat, dark, woody tone you get from a harmonica with an unsealed Pearwood comb.”
I’m not promoting Andrew’s products, but I (clearly) like the tone, they are slightly thinner, nice colour selection, and help with air tight too, so the right choice for me.
Another custom comb I tried is a Brendan Power Extreme PowerComb - 3-D printed ABS Plastic. I’m very happy with it. I bought an old Koch Chromatic and decided to replace the comb. The PowerComb fits well, nice tone. loud, and is everything that was promised.
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