I've somehow managed to influence one of my friends in to learning the harp. He's only just started, this week in fact and he's having a problem with his 3 draw Reed. When he plays it it works sometimes but other times it makes a Clacking sound... Not a torsional squeal but a sound like the reed is hitting the reed plates to the point it stops sounding.
I've tried the harp and it doesn't happen to me when I play it and I don't know how to help him to remedy it.
Can you guys help? It's a sp20 in C (which he bought on my suggestion so I'm feeling a little responsible if it's faulty)
Ian - the odds are that the reed is not centered. The reed is ticking the edge of the slot as it is played. Take the harp apart and hold the draw plate up to the light. Look at the #3 slot. You want to see a sliver of light all the way around the reed. Press the reed into the slot with your finger or a small probe - like a paperclip - always looking for that little halo of light. If you see that the reed is off center, you need to center it. Do you have a reed wrench? If not, making one is very easy - if you have some tools - like a Dremmel grinding wheel. Let us know what kind of tools you have to work with so the guys on the forum can coach you through this. ---------- Tom Halchak www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
Great advice from Tom. You can also use a shim to center it. If it is centered then it is hitting the cover plates. #3 draw is a long reed and capable of hitting the bottom cover if played too hard. ---------- I'm out of the Biz for a while till I get over my burnout. You can try HarveyHarp or arzajac, or just look the page nacoran put together under Forum Search. .
I would have to say since it doesn't do it when you play it the problem may be the player. Sometimes players think they have to suck the sound out of the harmonica. I would have him play hole three ever so softly just breathing through the harmonica and see what happens. You can have him gently draw air in without the harmonica and then bring it up to his lips even have you bring it up to his lips with his eyes shut. Little by little increase the volume. ----------
If it is a centering issue there is a way to align it without a reed wrench, noted by Joe Leone, who is a chromatic and diatonic player who has repaired harps for decades. He once made a replacement reed from a razor blade, and once from a shell casing!
He describes using a cigarette paper to gently align the reed, placing it under and around the reed and adjusting. ----------
Doug S.
Last Edited by dougharps on Aug 21, 2015 7:44 AM
Thanks guys, ill have a look at it. I'm guessing it could be both player and instrument at fault. I have your standard home improvement tools, I do have a dremel but thats about it when it comes to hobby tools.
I have purchased well over 100 OOTB harps, never had one with misaligned reed or rattle. Dude buys his first harp, a good one, and it has a problem, what are the odds?
I think most of this stuff is in their head or else they make up shit for the sake of discussion.
Last Edited by Harpaholic on Aug 21, 2015 12:24 PM
I'll check out the home made spanner idea... And the cigarette paper one. We met up again tonight for a short practice session and it was still clacking away. Its a horrible sound. I do think he is drawing too hard though as when he draws more gently it comes on later, it seems to build throughout a session, getting stronger and more frequent as he plays. Oh well.. He left me the harp tonight so I'll check it out later. Thanks again.
