Will’s Make Chromatic Harmonicas

The newest harmonica manufacturer out of China and in my opinion currently one of the most interesting ones is Will’s Make. They are at the fore front of new harmonica development and inventions. Besides relying on modern CNC manufacturing facilities for creating outstanding harmonicas they also experiment with metal 3D printing. 3D printing has been getting more precise over the last couple of years. In addition, the price for 3D printing manufacturing  has come down.

CNC manufactured harmonicas

 

 

ML-12 with new magnetic lock system:
3 octave chromatic with stainless steel comb, brass cover plates and new magnet system*.

* No screws needed to attach cover plates to comb.

This prototype was a collaboration between Will’s Make and me.
I appreciate all the valuable design input they provided to make the new magnetic lock system a reality.

Demo of magnetic lock system

This harmonica encompasses a lot of useful  features found in other chromatic harmonicas and even more:

Slider package:

• half moon shaped mouthpiece (similar to Seydel Saxony)
• slider has only minimal contact points to reduce friction and stickiness (similar to Polle Silver Concerto)
• slider package consists only of mouth piece and slider (similar to the Easttop chromatic)
• pockets are cut into mouth piece and comb to reduce slider friction (similar to Harmonica Art chromatics)
• extended slide button to increase area for finger placement (similar to Tombo MU-01)

Comb (stainless steel):

• fits Seydel Saxony reed plates (with long-life steel reeds)
• reed plates can be separately attached to comb, 11 screws on each side (similar to Silver Concerto)

Covers (silver plated brass):

• single reed chambers (similar to e.g. CBH 2012/16)
• carved out channels (below mouthpiece) to retain moisture when playing (similar to Polle Silver Concerto)
• new unique magnetic lock system which helps to take the covers off within seconds for maintenance work or cleaning (new feature)

Update:

ML-12 AW (all Ebony wood)

ML-12 Silver Helvetia

This is my newest acquisition of the ML-12 series, my new ML-12 Helvetia
with silver covers and titanium comb and mouth piece.
The graphic represent the Swiss mountains and the traditional Swiss Edelweiss flowers.
This is my 15-year Swiss anniversary edition.

ML-14
A new 14-hole (3 1/2 octaves) version based on the ML-12 design was just finalized and manufactured. The ML-14 uses Hohner Meisterklasse reed plates. The brass comb and covers are silver- and the stainless steel mouthpiece gold-plated. Some of the specific ML-14 design characteristics, like acoustic openings on the backside of the comb, were provided by Rocky Lok of the renowned King’s Harmonica Quintet.

RC-16
The newest addition coming out of Will’s Make factory is the 16-hole chromatic RC-16.
The instrument comes in three different versions:
1) aluminum alloy comb and body, all silver
2) brass comb with silver plated brass covers and gold plated mouthpiece
3) brass comb with gold plated brass covers and gold plated mouthpiece (limited addition)

What is special about this harmonica is the new trapezoid shaped comb.
According to Will’s Make, it creates a larger resonance chamber increasing the sound volume while reducing the weight of the comb.

Suzuki (SCX64, Sirius 64, Fabulous) or Easttop 16 holes reed plates can be used.

 

All three models: RC-12,14,16 with aluminum comb and covers

3D printed harmonicas
As mentioned before, Will’s Make is experimenting with new 3D printing technology.
One great advantage is that the harmonica body and mouth piece can be manufactured in one complete unit.