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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > harp tuners help with low D
harp tuners  help with low D
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littleeasy
54 posts
Oct 09, 2012
7:53 AM
I am getting a clicking sound while playing my special 20 on the one hole draw when I draw pretty hard. Is the reed hitting the cover or is another reed making the noise? Or do the lower harps make this noise when over drawn? Any help would be appreciated.
HarpNinja
2743 posts
Oct 09, 2012
8:16 AM
The reed is hitting the cover. The easiest thing to do is tighten the gap just short of choking and then not playing it so hard it still rattles.
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Mike
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littleeasy
55 posts
Oct 09, 2012
8:23 AM
thanx I'll give it a try
Jehosaphat
314 posts
Oct 09, 2012
6:33 PM
Or take off the cover, get a nail punch and (gently) tap the underside of the cover above the reed til theres a slight indentation .Dosen't take much to give the reed a little more room.
Adam Hamil
49 posts
Oct 10, 2012
7:44 AM
Also try opening the #1 hole Blow reed. This will take some of your breath force off of the draw reed.
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C. Adam Hamil
HOHNER CERTIFIED Free Reed Instrument Technician
S-harp
64 posts
Oct 10, 2012
8:36 AM
The draw reed is hitting the cover at the front, meaning the mouth side.
Take the bottom cover of ( of course) and place and hold it on its front edge on the table.
The thing to do is to increase the coverplates distance from the drawreed.
So, with the cover on the lip like edge, press ( quite hard) and massage the lip, decreasing the lips angle.
This also places the cover à bit more forward and the holes for the cover screws might get misaligned if you overdo it.
BUT, be carful and use an even pressure along the edge to keep it straight, or else the cover plate can get leaky.



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HarpNinja
2748 posts
Oct 10, 2012
8:53 AM
Use the K.I.S.S. method...try the easiest thing first (adjusting draw gap), then try the blow reed, then consider coverplate modification.

I guarantee you will mess up the bottom cover on your first attempt. Try practicing on an older cover. I don't recall too much rattle compared to MB's, so you should probably be able to just gap to fix this.
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Mike
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oldwailer
1928 posts
Oct 10, 2012
10:19 AM
I have a low D that I can hit the cover with--if I play a hard slap on it--I like the effect--kind of like snapping a string on the guitar--but you have to control when it happens. . .
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GMaj7
107 posts
Oct 10, 2012
11:11 AM
I think Adam's idea on the blow reed is a great suggestion. Essentially, you are making the machine less efficient which should reduce the swing of the draw reed. The air loss through the 1 blow will reduce the pressure on the 1 draw.

Another trick I copied is to use a scrap reed plate to build a shim that I glue on just left of the 1 hole. Then, I re-shape the bottom cover around it. This will give you double reed plate thickness on the draw 1 side.
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Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
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MP
2496 posts
Oct 10, 2012
12:31 PM
GMaj7,

"Another trick I copied is to use a scrap reed plate to build a shim that I glue on just left of the 1 hole. Then, I re-shape the bottom cover around it. This will give you double reed plate thickness on the draw 1 side."

Dude! Slick!
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tookatooka
3100 posts
Oct 10, 2012
12:47 PM
I found the reed hits on the first part of the draw attack. If you open the gap slightly on the draw reed, the initial attack is reduced thereby curing the problem. It's the opposite to what you may think but it worked for me on a Low F.
HarpNinja
2750 posts
Oct 10, 2012
12:47 PM
On Marine Bands, I use a couple of specialized tools, but if you have a tin snip and a hand seamer, you can easily accomplish the same thing.

I'd imagine that'd work on a SP20, too.

I am having a hard time picturing what you're saying, Greg.
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Mike
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