Hohner Song Band Vamper
I've just bought a Hohner Song Band Vamper of eBay and was wondering if anyone can tell me anything about this harp. The guy I've bought it from says he purchased it in the 70's. It looks pretty much like a standard 10 hole Marine Band but unusually it appears to have metal around the ends of the wooden comb (i.e over the tines). I bought it with a view to customising it as I picked it up pretty cheap and it looks to be in excellent condition.
Thanks for your reply Winslow.
I'm guessing it must be a model peculiar to the UK or Europe as I'm aware of a tremelo version called the 'Song Band'. This one arrived the other day in pretty good condition. I've stripped it down, filed off some rust from inside the covers, cleaned it up and given it a re-tune. It's pretty much like a Marine band with the main difference being that the tines on the wooden comb are shorter. It then has a metal insert which slides in between and around the wooden tines. I guess the reason for this may have been an early cure for the problem of the tines swelling and jutting out beyond the reedplates.
The only other difference is that the covers aren't vented like the Marine Band and the numbers stamped on the front go from 1 to 20 instead of the normal 1 to 10 (i.e. first hole is stamped 1/2, second 3/4 etc).
Anyway it plays fine so will make an interesting addition to my collection.
Hohner used to make an "Orchester" harp with metal over the comb tines. It played in minor keys in first position. For instance, one in C would have a C minor chord C-Eb G) in the blow notes, while the draw notes would be a G7b9 (D G B D F Ab - Ab being the flat 9).
The "Vamper" designation was used for harmonicas sold in the UK (and perhaps Australia, but I'm not sure about that). The Echo Super Vamper was like the 10-hole Marine Band and the Echo Vamper was like the 112-hole Marine Band No. 364 .
"Song Band Vamper" is a new one on me. I wonder if Pat Missin could tell you anything about it.