Turbo your harmonicas !

If there's any doubt about the capacity of our favoured instrument to fire the passions of enthusiasts, Dr James F. Antaki, PHD will swiftly lift them. A famous name in medical circles following his designs for heart-assist devices, Dr Antaki also happens to be a harmonica player and enthusiast (and is known in harmonica circles for having nearly drowned Howard Levy during one of his experiences on bending, or at least that's how Howard tells it!)

A couple of years ago, Dr Antaki started company called Antakamatics with the idea of using his scientific background to design better instruments. Their first release was the Turbolid, a modular harmonica cover designed to fit on Hohner Special 20 harmonicas. The Turbolid is made of a hard translucent plastic and clips on the harmonica body, which means you never have to bother with those screws or nails ever again. Incidentally, if you're into adjusting your harmonicas, opening them now takes the whole of one second.

As you can see from the image here, the Turbolid has a very specific shape too, being much wider over the low notes. If you've noticed how high notes, and high bends in particular often sound a lot louder than low notes, you'll know why. The sound dynamics are affected by the Turbolid and supposed to balance the sound level better. Incidentally, it makes cupping much more effective as well.

I've now been playing with a couple of Turbolids for a few years, and I really enjoy the product although they are not without their drawbacks. The first of these is that the embouchure is really different from that of a standard diatonic, and that takes some getting used to. If you've had a chance to use a CX-12, the experience is similar. It's not unpleasant or difficult, just different. The other side effect I've noticed is that the acoustic sound, especially on the lower end, is somewhat veiled, as if the brightness was conveyed in part by the metal plates.

There are some great advantages too, though. First of all, the ease of opening mentioned above, the lack of angles, and the fact that you can't grab your harmonica the wrong way round, even in the dark end of a smoke-filled club. Also, because the Turbolid is better at concentrating the sound, especially in the lower end, I find that amplified playing packs a little more punch.

Dr Antaki didn't stop at that, though. In the process of designing a fully customised harmonica, Antakamatics developed an industrial process to enhance the airtightness on a diatonic harp, called the Turboharp (AXS20). The turboharp is a regular Hohner Special 20 enhanced using a special film called the Turboliner that prevents air-loss and a reed process called the Turbotape to avoid lateral vibration when overblowing. It is, of course, fitted with Turbolids.

I've owned a G Turboharp for the last two years and it's an impressive harp. It overblows smoothly and easily, the airtightness is exemplary, and there's no adjustement issue, ie. I can overblow and play hard on the same harp without the reeds choking or the overblows squeaking. As such, the Turboharp compares nicely with bottom to mid-range customised harmonicas.

If I went back to gigging on a regular basis, I would seriously consider getting more of these, especially for amplified playing. Of course, they may look odd if you're going for the 1950s bluesman look, but if you play in a rock or funk band, the lids alone would make you a star...

Comments

[Leonardo Kenji]

I've tryied it once. I found it difficult to handle and I haven't noticed any significant difference in the sound, although I've seen Madcat using it and getting a slightly different sound, probably because he can use his hands much better than me (in fact, he can do anything better than me using an harmonica...). Maybe, I haven't got how to proper use it.

But it's a nice idea, it looks really cool (I always say to my friend that "it will impress the girls") and it's an intelligent solution for someone that needs to open it quickly to unlock a reed for example.