Make Your Harmonica Work Better

Rating:
Summary: Good reference, but...
Review: I got this book because a couple of my harmonicas weren't working all that well, and I thought the book would help me get them back into shape. Much of the information here is available on the Net for free, and repairing and tuning a harmonica is like trying to write the Bible on a grain of rice. It can be done, but it's extremly difficult and time consuming.

If you have a lot more time than money, this book "might" help you out. However, while you may be able to fix your car, build a deck, and even perform brain surgery, you'll soon find that repairing and tuning a harmonica is not as easy as this book makes it appear, regardless of how much patience you have.

I give it three stars because it's informative, but those harmonicas I wanted to fix still aren't, and I'm usually very good at stuff like this.

Rating:
Summary: Good reference, but...
Review: I got this book because a couple of my harmonicas weren't working all that well, and I thought the book would help me get them back into shape. Much of the information here is available on the Net for free, and repairing and tuning a harmonica is like trying to write the Bible on a grain of rice. It can be done, but it's extremly difficult and time consuming.

If you have a lot more time than money, this book "might" help you out. However, while you may be able to fix your car, build a deck, and even perform brain surgery, you'll soon find that repairing and tuning a harmonica is not as easy as this book makes it appear, regardless of how much patience you have.

I give it three stars because it's informative, but those harmonicas I wanted to fix still aren't, and I'm usually very good at stuff like this.

Rating:
Summary: Essential book for harmonica maintenance
Review: Poor instruments was the major impediment to my ability to play harmonica. This book taught me how to turn a bad instrument into a great instrument and my skills as a musician have jumped ahead. This is a great book by a master of the subject. The book has two sections. One section for simple and easy things to do to improve the chromatic harmonica. These require only basic tools and experience. I've used almost all of Doug's simple modifications and they make an enormous difference. The other half of the book takes you deep into the jungle of customisation and is very complex but explained carefully and thoughtfully. The second half of the book will keep my busy for years and years. This is the most comprehensive book I've seen on maintenance and customisation of chromatic harmonicas.

Doug is a well known and respected expert on harmonica improvements and customisation and construction. He has made and customised harmonicas for Larry Adler (who writes a forward for this book) and is frequently providing internet newsgroups with his excellent advice. A perfect companion to this book is Doug's other book "Play the harmoinca well" which teaches you how to play the harmonica - once you've used THIS book to make the instrument work properly! ;-)

Rating:
Summary: Essential book for harmonica maintenance
Review: Poor instruments was the major impediment to my ability to play harmonica. This book taught me how to turn a bad instrument into a great instrument and my skills as a musician have jumped ahead. This is a great book by a master of the subject. The book has two sections. One section for simple and easy things to do to improve the chromatic harmonica. These require only basic tools and experience. I've used almost all of Doug's simple modifications and they make an enormous difference. The other half of the book takes you deep into the jungle of customisation and is very complex but explained carefully and thoughtfully. The second half of the book will keep my busy for years and years. This is the most comprehensive book I've seen on maintenance and customisation of chromatic harmonicas.

Doug is a well known and respected expert on harmonica improvements and customisation and construction. He has made and customised harmonicas for Larry Adler (who writes a forward for this book) and is frequently providing internet newsgroups with his excellent advice. A perfect companion to this book is Doug's other book "Play the harmoinca well" which teaches you how to play the harmonica - once you've used THIS book to make the instrument work properly! ;-)