Okay, I just picked up a Marine Band in the key of G that is the mouse ear style. Paperwork is dated 1927. I presume that there is a form of date coding these things but I haven't got that far. Can anyone give me a source for screws to replace the nails?
ace hardware is acrtually a decent source for little screws when you only need a few.
However, with an old harp like that, I would restore it and not modify it. Reuse the nails or use new ones, you will be happy that you did. Have extra MB combs here if you need them.
One trick for reusing nails is to break off the tips of wooden toothpicks in the old nail holes, otherwise you will have issues with loose plates and covers.
It all depends if you want to restore the harp or customise it.
If you want to restore it then the toothpick fix is ideal.
If customisation is your goal then there are quite a few sources for small screws online, www.micromark.com are quite good so I'm told. If your in the UK Allthreads are pretty good.
But bear in mind that you'll have to use the correct size drill and then tap the plates or use self tapping screws (I recommend using a tap). You'll also have to decide on what you are going to use to seal the comb.
If you haven't ever fixed a harp up before then I would advise you to send it over to Dave Payne or Chris and have them do it for you.
Those old mouse ear harps are to nice to mess up.
Last Edited by on Jul 15, 2009 12:34 PM
Well, shit. Now you guys are making me feel guilty about hot rodding an 82 year old harp. I thought the old stuff was the best to hop up. This brings up another question. What is the preferred method of separating the plates from the comb? Adam asked me about that last night when we were discussing embossing. Since everything I have is screwed together I don't know how to go about that. Do you pull the nails from the nail head? It just seems wrong to pry the reed plate from the comb.
