Marine Band: replace nails with screws and install new comb

This is a quick and easy way to install a flat comb in to a Marine Band harmonica. The stock comb has dimples to make room for the ends of the rivets which hold the reeds. My combs provide more surface area to make an airtight seal with the reed plates and the rivet ends need to be flattened.
This is a harp in the key of G. The end result is a fantastic harmonica that is loud and responsive. I was happy with the instrument but was not satisfied with the 4 overblow due to the shape of the reeds (out-of-the-box profiles).
I spent a few minutes and did some re-shaping of the blow and draw reeds to make them more efficient. It's much more work than just gapping. But the end-result is a 4 blow that is not tight and plays normally with hard pressure as well as a solid - and bendable - 4 overblow.
harp.andrewzajac.ca

[@robertbrunston5406]

I just finished converting my marine band today, I ordered 2ww stainless screws and nuts, I also ordered An aluminum comb. Put all together following your instructions! My marine band came out awesome, It's much more comfortable to play, looks much better and sounds much better and louder. Thank you for sharing. 😎👍

[@ryanstull6317]

Where did you get your screws?

[@ooyginyardel4835]

These should be sold as kits. There are 1 million Marine Bands out there.

[@billroy2780]

Thanks so much for this video! Can’t wait to work on some of my old harps

[@giusepperesponte8077]

I recent bought andrews full toolkit and when I went to do work on a brand new marine band I was surprised to find that even the reed plates are held on the comb with tacks, it’s a real pain, i had only owned crossovers before that and it’s so nice to just have the screws pre-installed

[@robertbrunston5406]

I have a marine no. 1896 I want to perform this same up grade! Good video, thank you.

[@R3druMz1]

best way to get those nails out without warping the cover !

[@JohnBrown-CRSI]

Thank you so much for this video (and the rest.) I just finished "practicing" on a very old Marine Band F that I've had rattling around a drawer for at least 15 years. I'm pretty pleased with the results of my first customization. Only a couple of mistakes: I drilled the through and through holes in the blow plate after "marking" them with the smaller drill bit. Tapped, the draw plate, and then couldn't get my 8mm bolt through. Duh! forgot to drill the comb to the larger size! Then while drilling the comb I managed to put a dimple on one of the holes with the drill press chuck. After all that, I'm pretty impressed. Still have some tweaking to do with the reeds but this old harp sounds at least as good at the F I bought earlier this year. (Sadly the new one's comb has swollen on the middle "teeth" to my great disappointment. I'll be subbing in my old, renewed, F harp till I can flatten or replace the comb. Thanks again for giving me the necessary information, techniques, and confidence to tackle my own harp maintenance.

[@jasondonnelly1885]

Very helpful clip.thanks man for showing me how.I bought 5 new combs looking forward to customizing them on to my old harps ..Happy harpen..

[@arctichare8185]

Thanks. Great information, and excellent camera assistance!

[@PhilORourke]

Thanks arzajac.This done the job.Again many thanks.rorky

[@aniloberoi]

Thanks for sharing this wonderful information. Regards.

[@pocketknives_and_harmonicas]

Hello and thanks for the incredibly detailed instructions. I have used them twice successfully. However I just opened a used marine band that only has 2 nails in the bottom plate that don’t line up with my new comb. Any suggestions? Thanks again for all the info! Cheers

[@ikust007]

Splendide ! Merci

[@ikust007]

Merci !

[@citysurvivor1272]

what size screws did you use?

[@FreeSilio]

Any tip for flattening the plates of a CHROMATIC harmonica (which has reeds on both sides of the plate)?

[@mxm190]

Man I had a devil of a time starting the screws into the nuts on the cover plates because they barely stick out, you did it so easily in this video. I used my stock MB wood comb, is your combs thinner?

[@dirtywhiteboy6026]

My 6 hole draw is acting up. I just want to check it for debris/lint. Can I reuse the hardware i.e. nails? Will I need to remove the reed plates? Anything helps?

[@leobrocato3230]

@arzajc how do you fix nail holes so we can reuse the nails?

[@pauldazar3348]

it's impossible to understand why Hohner doesn't put together its harmonicas with screw instead of nails to begin with! it's ridiculous!

[@formansbasement2311]

All the other models use screws. This is the original marine band 1896, the only current model that uses nails. Some pof us like them old school like that

[@carlrudd1858]

XXXXXXXXXX, but the bearings are shot on your drill-press.

[@PhilORourke]

+Carl Rudd Petty and pedantic remark

[@carlrudd1858]

oh, OK.... I'll edit out the compliment.