I have decided to simplify my line of harmonicas to focus on what I believe to be the ideal harmonica:

• The simplest design with the absolute minimum number of parts – 2 reed plates, 3 reed plate screws, 2 cover plates, 2 sets of cover plate screws, one comb.
• The cover plate screws and the reed plate screws use the same screwdriver – a pozidrive screwdriver that gives you a solid fit to make removing or tightening screws easy to do.
• An acrylic comb that is polished to make it very smooth to make tongue-blocking or any embouchure comfortable and  as friction free as possible
• Stainless steel cover plates that are strong and crush resistant.
• All surfaces polished to make them smooth to the hand as well as your mouth.
• An exposed front edge of the reed plates to give you a direct connection to your lips of the vibrations of the reeds. My experience is that it feels like a more intimate connection to the vibrations of the instrument.
• This combination of parts allows you to easily clean the harmonica – you can even rinse it out with tap water or mild soap solution without even taking the harmonica apart – as long as you rinse thoroughly and tap out excess water and allow it to sit out in the open to dry, there is no way you can damage the harmonica.

What this means is that I will no longer be offering the Special 20 harmonica in my Shopify store after the small supply of reed plates I have left are sold out. I will also be open to working out special arrangements for long time customers under certain circumstances, and will be happy to repair any harmonicas that I have built over the years, including special 20s.

You will be able to order my current line of Marine Band harmonicas with Special 20 Cover plates, Rocket Amp cover plates, and Rocket cover plates by making that request. I also have Thunderbird cover plates and reed plates by special request.

I’ve been building custom harmonicas since 1994. I’m now ready to go into a new phase of building fewer instruments that focus on my highest strengths as a customizer. I also want to keep my waiting list down below 6 months without sacrificing quality. I simply cannot put in as many hours per week as I used to in years past painstakingly building custom harmonicas. It is very demanding work to maintain the level of quality I insist on shipping out.

I have one main goal when I work on a harmonicas and that is to keep adjusting it until I’m sure I got it right and it has stabilized. This can mean countless minor adjustments followed by time sitting on a shelf to allow the reeds to react to the changes. I have basic formulas that I follow, but there are always X factors that take special attention to make a set of reed plates feel alive, super responsive, and balanced. Every reed has a unique personality. Reeds vary by differences in the milling and stamping process as well as differences from one batch of metal to the next.

If you have any questions or comments, please let me know and to all of you out there who have supported my efforts over the years, thank you very much and I am going to stay in this game as long as I can!

Richard Sleigh

January 12, 2021