Marine Band Harmonicas Views

• Musical Instruments

The Special 20 was introduced in the mid 1970s. It has the same reeds as a Marine Band, but it has a plastic comb instead of a wooden comb, and rounded edges. It was the first harmonica to have a plastic comb, which not only made the instrument more air tight, but also eliminated the swelling wood combs go through as they moisten from use. Made in Germany, this model quickly became the preferred choice of many rock and blues players. Now, most harmonicas being manufactured from all companies are based upon the Special 20. Its most noted user is John Popper, who appears on the bilster.[12]

Sounds simple (and it actually is) but, for most,the most intimidating aspect of this is taking the harmonica apart and putting it back together. Unlike most harmonicas made today, the brass reedplates and coverplates of the Marine Band are still held to the wood body by nails, as they were when Jacob Hohner invented it in the late 1890s. Once you've taken the harmonica apart and put it back together a couple of times, the nails don't hold as well and the harmonica leaks air. Keep reading, that's an easy problem to fix.

The first item in the collection consists of a complete set of seven Marine Band harmonicas in the natural keys of C, G, D, F, A, B, and E, which have been played and hand-signed by Bob Dylan. The harmonicas are displayed in an inlaid ebony presentation box, handcrafted exclusively for Bob Dylan with his distinctive

The second item in the collection is a single Marine Band harmonica in the key of C, hand-signed by Bob Dylan. This single harmonica is displayed in an inlaid ebony box, also handcrafted for Bob Dylan with a signed card from the President of Hohner, Inc., confirming authenticity. One hundred of these single key harmonicas exist worldwide.