Harmonica racks

whistleman123

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2015
Messages
229
Reaction score
0
Location
Cleveland, ohio
I want to start playing harmonica while playing uke. Any suggestions as to which brand and model of neck racks work best? I've never had a neck rack so I don't know what features to look for or what brands to definitely avoid.
Thanks
 
Your my hero, I was thinking the same thing, but I can't even get the sing and play down. Either the strumming follows the words or the words follow the strumming.
 
Nice to see another harmonica playing uker. I have one of the around the neck units, but I never got into it. I learned to play the harmonica over 30 years ago from Lyle Waggoner (from the Carol Burnett Show). I was a propman on a pilot TV show at Paramount and Lyle was one of the co-stars. On a break he took out a harmonica and went to town. I then told him I've been trying to play for years and couldn't get the tongue and corner blow idea. He said he will show me the same way he was shown. He took my hand, put the fleshy side in his mouth and blew like on a harmonica. That was all I needed, I got it then and there.

A few days later on another show, I was practicing a little and a young actor took one out and did the blues. Ge explained that it's controlling the back of your tongue to change the shape of the chamber. Because as a kid I used to make loud knocking noise with my tongue, I had a lot of control. Again, that was all I needed and started to play blues as well.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 tenor cutaway ukes, 3 acoustic bass ukes, 8 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini bass electric guitars

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. http://.www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: https://www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/videos
 
If you play a diatonic harmonica, you can buy racks for the smaller instrument. Diatonic harmonicas are tuned to a key, which needs to match the key you strum the song in. Google Harmonica Racks. For longer harmonicas you need a larger clamp area. Suzuki and Seydel are the good brands in my opinion. Quite a few harmonica manufacturers have moved away from using pear wood combs and use a plastic comb.
 
I'm playing jazz on a 14 hole, custom tuned, Hohner 365. The tuning is called Newton 4 Key. Mine is a Bb 4 key. It's fully chromatic through 3 octaves with only 2 draw bends (easy 1/2step bends) per octave. So I need a rack that can accomodate a 14 holer!
 
Hohner Flex Rack. It's bulky, and costs more than most metal racks, but it's sturdy and adjustable.

rack.jpg
 
I use an Elton rack. It's wide enough to fit a 14 hole harp. I've modified it by bending the rack to hit my mouth at a 90 degree angle and have added lock washers. I bought this rack about 50 years ago so I'm not sure if you can still get them. They're the type that Jimmy Reed, Bob Dylan and Willie P. Bennett used.
harp box.jpg Jim with harp rack & uke.jpg

I just googled Elton harmonica holder and only got "Vintage" holders, but the Suzuki holder looks like the exact same thing.
http://harmonicaland.com/ca/272-ssh...reBNdc5d50CJY8JggKGCVk0drMWw8Tv8aAgNwEALw_wcB
 
Last edited:
Mine's a Koenig & Meyer. Plain steel but sturdy & should accomodate your 14 holer. It's well wide enough for a 12 holer and I reckon will accomodate your 14 holer. I reckon it will take one of my 48 reed tremolos which are wider than a 12 holer. I'll check and report back as I usually use a 10 hole diatonic in mine.
 
The Koenig & Meyer (K&M) is great!
 
Claude's harp rack.jpg

Claude, a Port Hope busker, has adapted a harp rack so it doesn't go around his neck. He has a little table that sits on top of an old mic stand to hold his harps.
 
My 48 reed tremoloes fit nicely in my K&M rack and they (the harps, that is) are noticeably wider than my 12 hole chrom. In fact they are almost twice the length of two 10 holers put end to end.

I have seen somewhere a harp rack that clamps to a mic stand so it sits by the mic. I think probably in a video as I don't remember seeing one in a shop or online store.
 
Hi,

I’m a half way decent harmonica player who uses a rack with ukes. I have a couple different ones. I play diatonic harps because they’re a heck of a lot easier than a chromatic. I am, however, a big, big fan of the late Toots Thielemans whom I once had the great pleasure of meeting. What a humble, unpretentious man! I said to him that he should make an album with Stephane Grappelli. He said that that was a good idea and that Stephane was an old friend of his. Later they did make an album.

Anyway, I have a beautiful chromatic that I have only played a couple of hours. I just don’t have the time to devote to it. I’m not that young anymore and I’m really into learning jazz uke. It takes time to learn to correctly blow a chromatic. It didn’t come easy to me so I put it in a drawer and gave up. I’d had big plans and bought four or five harmonica books which I will include in the deal.

A Suzuki SCX-64C 16 hole, considered a great chromatic with no problems plus the books. $125 and shipping.

Send me a private email.

Harps can also be called Mississippi saxophones. I like to call them that. Also, when I play I like to imitate a guy named Miles. Jim Hall and Pat Metheny said Miles could play silence better than most musicians play notes. A little goes a long way. Bravo for playing your harps with ukes.

Also, just read an interview where Quincy Jones highly praised Toots. Grappelli once heard him whistling and asked him what the song was. Toots said just something he’d made up. Grappelli said it was great. It later became known as Toots’ most famous song, Bluesette.
 
Last edited:
I have sold the above mentioned Chromatic. Good luck with your racks. It’s nice to actually try one out before you buy. You don’t want them closing on you while you play. Tighten the screw well. And, you want to make sure the rack keeps the harp in one place, so it’s not sliding around in the holder. My favorite is about thirty years old. I think I got it at some music shop when I wanted to be Donovan and try and catch the wind.
 
Need help

I know some of you guys in this thread also play harmonica. I've tried it once and liked it SO much so now I consider buying one for myself. I've learnt some basics from this article: https://wisepick.org/best-harmonica-for-beginners/
Found it quite helpful (maybe there're others like me here). My main question for experienced players: what harmonica can you recommend to make my learning process smooth and what are the main points should I pay attention to?
 
If you use a chromatic, you'll need both hands iow no accompaniment with ur uke at the same time . . . unless you play in C. . .
 
...what harmonica can you recommend to make my learning process smooth and what are the main points should I pay attention to?
I really like the Lee Oscar diatonic line, about $45 US. I have a set of cheap Honers, but the holes are little closer together, making them more difficult to play comfortably.

I know there are players who use the pursed lip method of hitting individual notes, but using the corner of the mouth and tongue cover technique is in my experience far more efficient, which is the method I read about so often, but it took Lyle Waggoner putting the side of my hand in his mouth for me to get it.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
Buy a decent one, don't waste money on a cheap one, it won't last as long.
Starting out stick with a 'C', it's what all tabs are written in.
There are normal 'C', which start the first octave on a C4, but the first octave is missing some notes, as it is mainly used for chords on a diatonic Richter tuned harp.
If you want to play melodies, a Richter tuned diatonic will work OK, but you will be playng the high notes, get a 'Low C'.
Better still is a chomatic, more expensive to start out, but has all the notes & accidentals, (sharps & flats).
My suggested makes are Hohner Special 20 & Seydel (Steel) Session for a diatonic, Hohner, Suzuki, or Seydel for a chromatic.
As I say above, it's worth spending a little bit to get a decent one, aim for an intermediate class of harmonica.
The tremolo is an aquired taste, I think, but well worth investigating, once you have the basics under your belt.
Watch out for H.A.S. - just like U.A.S. - it has a habit of creeping up on you. :)

P.S. If you can read music, use notation, & learn where the notes are on your harp.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom