A new harp player asked me to listen to his harmonica, an OOTB Seydel Blues Session Standard in key of C. He thought the 5 hole draw sounded "dull". He was able to get clean notes (even on the 2 draw. Not bad for playing only 3 weeks!) except for the 5 hole draw. He didn't know if the harp sounded that way from the start as he didn't know what to listen for.
I listened to him draw on 5 and it was indeed flat sounding. I took off the cover plates and checked the gapping. It looked "normal". I "pinged" the reeds along with the adjacent reeds and the 5 draw reed pinged with a dull sound. I shined a light through the comb holes and noticed the reed seemed off center in the slot. Could that have the effect we heard? I don't do much with my own harps except gapping and occasional light filing. I wouldn't know how to adjust an off center reed (if that's the actual problem). I also did not observe any debris or build up in the slot. Rinsing didn't solve the problem.
Alignment problems usually either make the reed sound sort of buzzy or stop the reed altogether. It shouldn't make it sound dull. You can fix the alignment, but unless it's hitting the edge that doesn't sound like the issue.
It's quite possible that in his exuberance he's damaged the reed, or maybe he just got one that is a hair off on tuning. He could try playing it into an online tuner to see if it's flat, although, at least to my ears, a flat reed only sounds dull when you play it next to the other reeds, in isolation it sounds 'normal'. It's possible that it's on its way out.
I'm not sure off the top of my head what Seydel's warranty is, but in case it's 30 days he might want to reach out to them earlier rather than later. Fixing it afterwards isn't a big deal, but it always hurts less under warranty.
5 draw is the most likely to go dead--most likely it is fractured. I wonder if they will fix it--I think they will. I do the tech work for Suzuki, and we have a year warranty. When I get a case like this, the free repair comes with a lecture on proper vocal resonance. Here's Steve Baker setting the record straight . . .
So what Steve doesn't mention is that, if you feed a reed a frequency that it can't play, the bad vibration is dissipated in a manner that causes the reed to fracture. Can I get an amen, fellow reed fracturers?
Last Edited by Gnarly on Apr 07, 2016 9:42 PM
Gnarly has fixed a number of flat 5's for me. When I first started playing I could fatigue one in a day! I can get a great deal more life out of a harp now.
Chances are if you look at the 5 reed under a microscope you will see a little crack starting to propagate. The bigger the crack gets the flatter the pitch gets until the reed breaks.
Hey HarpDoc you've used two terms above. Can you clarify? Is the reed sounding "flat" (as in out of tune?) or "dull" (not resonant)?
If the reed is flat - out of tune – then depending on the if the reed is damaged or not you may be able to just file the tip end to raise the pitch back up again. If there is a crack in the reed it will need replacing.
If the reed is sounding dull (not resonant) – @nacoran I'd respectfully disagree – then this can be an alignment issue. I've found that even if the reed has enough clearance to get through the slot without hitting the sides, unless it's exactly centred in the slot it can cause the reed to sound kind of dead, non resonant. This would be evident when plinking as well as playing.
If the reeds are riveted you can re-align it using a reed wrench tool that does this:
Or improvise something. It can be a matter of microns so best to do it on light box with a magnifying glass.
Last Edited by Baker on Apr 08, 2016 6:09 AM
Agreed a reed can sound dull and not be damaged. The quest to discover why...that's where you start to learn how they work and what can go wrong. Close inspection and observation, make changes, test results...think, try again... Sometimes a reed is shaped badly, sometimes it's twisted, sometimes is poorly seated, not centred, sometimes there's interference you can't see. I'd be looking down near the rivet end I think. And light and/or magnification as Baker said, but if it's visibly off line try simply realign first. Free end might appear to pass through ok but the root can be impeded. Reed plays, no buzz or rattle, but it's a bit deadened. Warranty first, if no help there...try aligning with wrench, if still no good...send to repairer or become your own harp tech...
Last Edited by SuperBee on Apr 08, 2016 3:38 PM
At this point, the one year warranty Suzuki USA offers includes reed failure. As I said early, I counsel folks on what they may be doing wrong to avoid replacing 5 draw multiple times. 4 draw is another likely suspect--and I stopped breaking reeds quite some time ago, of course I don't play that much, mainly at the gig, unless I am practicing, and mostly that is either chromatic or (lately) the SSCH-56 chord harp.
