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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Lee Oskar harp on sale
Lee Oskar harp on sale
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sonny3
200 posts
Jul 26, 2014
6:53 AM
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Amazon has key of G on sale for 20 bucks.I never tried one before but for that price I might try one.
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Thievin' Heathen
346 posts
Jul 26, 2014
7:14 AM
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I like them. I think LOs have the longest reeds of all the manufacturers. It's a subtle difference but holds up well to hard hitting and I think it imparts a distinct feel. Very noticeable on G's & A's. I find an added bonus is the durability of the reeds and plates stand up well to my ham fisted novice attempts at customizing. Hohners are delicate. The very reasonably priced reed plates are a nice fallback.
I have been experimenting a lot with the wide variety of excellent choices available to us today. I have not tossed away any LOs.
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nacoran
7883 posts
Jul 26, 2014
10:30 AM
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The only LO I ever managed to bust was one I accidentally left in the washing machine. The cover screws are a little short, and it worked it's way off in the wash, leaving the reeds at the mercy of snagging. Still, 19 out of 20 survived. If I ever have another one break I'll have spare parts. I have, had a tiny bit of chipping on one or two combs, but I've had worse on Golden Melodies and about the same on Sp20s. At $20, it's definitely worth it. (If I wasn't heading out to a car dealership in a couple minutes to put money down on a car (and already set in the key of G) I'd jump on that.
You might want to ask if they can match that in other keys. If they can, post back.
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Nate
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arzajac
1432 posts
Jul 26, 2014
6:37 PM
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TH: By longest, do you mean they last the longest? Because they are not longer in terms of dimensions. Manji, Seydel Stainless and Hohner (Hohner in the keys of C or lower) have long reeds and you can tell a difference when you play a long-slot reed.
In terms of durability, I think the jury is out. Lee Oskars are pretty leaky but hard-breath players tend to gravitate to them (because a leaky harp is hard to play with soft breath). I service as many LOs for reed replacement as any other brand but if you compensate for breath force, maybe they can be considered more durable. I have not collected an evidence of this, though, this is just what I think I am seeing.
But for $20, I'd buy a Lee Oskar harp. They don't have the potential to be customized and improved as much as other harps, though.
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Custom overblow harps. Harmonica service and repair.
Last Edited by arzajac on Jul 26, 2014 6:37 PM
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Barley Nectar
450 posts
Jul 26, 2014
9:51 PM
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I have been playing LO's for 20+ yrs. Good harps IMO. I have tried other manufactures but they seem fussy to me. The harps that is. Besides that, when you call for service, you may get Lee on the phone. Great guy, and very passionate about his product!...BN
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Thievin' Heathen
351 posts
Jul 27, 2014
11:29 AM
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Andrew, I stand corrected. Kind of. I just measured a SP20 D (probably from the pin era) E-slot @ .581" and the same LO @.604", but found the LO A plate slots to be slightly shorter the a MB's A. I was referring to length of slot
I think I remember reading, once upon a time, that LO's reluctance to overblows was partially due to the length of reads. Taking that, the larger plate size, and their durability, I jumped to the conclusion that I was working with larger reeds. It looks to be only slightly, some times. I have not torn into any of my Seydels or Suzukis yet and merely transposed my misconception.
I appreciate you setting me straight.
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Barley Nectar
454 posts
Jul 28, 2014
7:27 AM
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They don't have the potential to be customized and improved as much as other harps, though.
Andrew, can you expand on this some. Why is this? Where are the main areas of improvement in your opinion. Thanks...BN
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arzajac
1433 posts
Jul 28, 2014
5:17 PM
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That's a great question!
The important things that can be done to make a harp play better are like a chain. The harp will only be as good as the weakest link.
The Lee Oskar's reeds are of dimensions and are of a shape that don't allow it to be a good choice for overblowing. You can adjust their shape to make it so when they swing through the slot, they have maximum tone, volume and response but they just won't have the same ring to them as other harps - like Marine Band reeds or Manji. They play fine and sound great but you get more bang for your buck, you get more improvement in tone and response when you do the same work on other types of reeds.
The other thing is air leak. Lee Oskars are not airtight. The reed plates are designed to be used with a recessed-type comb. The reed plates don't touch your lips like a harmonica with a sandwich-type comb. In general, nothing is more airtight than a sandwich-type comb. This is because of how they are made and how much surface area they offer to make a seal.
So if you compare the Lee Oskar to a harp with somewhat similar reeds like MS-system harps (Big River), the Big River reed plates can be used with a sandwich-type comb. So although the short dimension reeds are not as "creamy" sounding as longer reeds, the harp can be made more airtight so the payoff is bigger; in other words, you can spend the same amount of time and effort on a Big River and get a better result than a Lee Oskar. Not to mention that the BR is lower-priced to begin with.
Although I don't think the Lee Oskar is a great choice for a custom harp, let alone an overblow harp, it still benefits from some of the same work. I just would invest less time in certain areas on it because I know the payoff would be less worthwhile.
If I had to put the least amount of effort into a Lee Oskar, what things would I do to get the most out of my time?
First, I'd take it apart and look at each reed. I'd hold the reed plate flat in front of me with the reeds on the up side, free ends to my left and reed base to my right. (So I'd hold the blow plate by the high end and the draw plate by the low end). I'd look through the slots at the light shinig off the table in front of me. I'd press the end of the reed through the slot and look to see what part of the reed enters the slot first. The ideal shape is to have all the reed pass through the slot at the same time. The worst is to have the very tip or some part of the middle of the reed enter the slot first. I'd correct any obvious problems. I'd settle for a lot less than perfect because I know if I spend any more than a few minutes doing this, I'm not really going to notice the difference. This is low-hanging fruit.
As a side note, if later on a note wasn't playing the way I wanted it to, I'd go back and improve that (those) reed(s) shape and aim for closer to perfect.
I'd lightly emboss every slot, full-lenth. This, too, is a job that can be done in a few minutes.
I'd flat-sand the draw plate and wash both plates with soap and water. I'd clean my hands and dab a drop of Vaseline on my palm. I'd press the tip of a finger onto the vaseline on my palm and pat the surface of the stock comb that touches the reed plates. Do not rub because that will leave a mountain of vaseline that will cause problems. Just pat to make the surface look a little greasy. This will fill in a few cracks.
Another side note, if the harp has one note that plays badly, you can gently take the harp apart and look for the vaseline traces on the reed plate. You may notice that they disappear in some spots around that hole and that's the root of your problem - leak!
(continued)
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Custom overblow harps. Harmonica service and repair.
Last Edited by arzajac on Jul 28, 2014 5:19 PM
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arzajac
1434 posts
Jul 28, 2014
5:18 PM
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Tune the blow plate to a compromise tuning (Tonic at zero, lower the thirds by a little and raise the fifths by 1 cent) and reassemble the harp.
Tune the draw plate. Same thing, Tonic at zero, thirds a little lower and fifths +1. Everything else zero.
Gap to taste. As you gap, you play each note and you can decide whether you need to go back and improve the reed shape or go hunting for an airleak (and fix it. No, not with more vaseline...) Try to see how close you can make each hole so that you can make the reed play with the same breath force on every hole, from top to bottom.
Put the covers back on and you are done!
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Custom overblow harps. Harmonica service and repair.
Last Edited by arzajac on Jul 28, 2014 5:25 PM
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Barley Nectar
457 posts
Jul 28, 2014
8:19 PM
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Thank you very much Andrew. Your willingness to share your trade secrets is testament to your love of the instrument. I agree that some LO's are leaky at times. I believe you sell custom combs for the LO's. Will your combs solve the leakage situation? Flattening the read plate is a given. I am not an overblow player so this is of little concern to me. I am also a fairly stout fellow with plenty of wind, just ask my wife. LOL
I went to the LO's at a time when Hohners were lacking. I have pretty much been true to them. I feel that Lee is the inspiration that helped Hohner improve their product and inspired the MS series. Thanks again for the info...BN
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arzajac
1435 posts
Jul 29, 2014
5:24 AM
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Hi BN. It's my pleasure!
But these are not trade secrets. This is info that has been freely available from one source or another.
Will one of my combs make a Lee Oskar more airtight? Sure, but the reed plates were not designed to make an airtight seal with the cover plate. So you solve one problem but create another. Not to mention, you need to smoothen the edges of the reed plates to make them comfortable in your mouth.
I make this clear when you order such a comb from me:
Some harmonica reed plates were designed to be used with a recessed comb. These reed plates do not have a groove into which the coverplate can lock in. Although you can install these reed plates onto a "sandwich-type" comb, you may experience a loss of airtightness if the coverplates become bent. You will find some useful tip on converting these harmonicas here.
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Custom overblow harps. Harmonica service and repair.
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