Popculture Chameleon
162 posts
Jun 25, 2016
11:55 AM
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My question is this-
Should I make a harmonica easier to bend first and then tune it the desired sound or vice versa- or does it even matter- sorry I know this is a newbie question but I am just starting out with tuning my own harps
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RyanMortos
1571 posts
Jun 25, 2016
2:47 PM
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I'm a beginner to harmonica customization. That out of the way it's my understanding that you set up your harmonica how you like and then adjust the tuning. Reason being if you tune first and adjust after the tuning may have shifted.
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~Ryan
See My Profile for contact info, etc.
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SuperBee
3893 posts
Jun 25, 2016
4:15 PM
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Tune it after you have adjusted it. Adjustments can affect the tuning.
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MP
3365 posts
Jun 26, 2016
5:49 PM
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I agree w/ SuperBee.
Also, if you plink the reeds after setting them the reeds will settle in to their new position and not be as prone to vary in pitch making them easier to tune
accurately.
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Have good day. M.A.P.
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Popculture Chameleon
163 posts
Jun 27, 2016
10:40 AM
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Thank you what you all have said does make perfect since
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arzajac
1776 posts
Jun 28, 2016
8:37 AM
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I agree that tuning should be the last thing you do.
Part of the learning curve is that one thing affects the other.
If you play around with reed shape - even slightly aggressive gapping - can change the tuning. You will notice this when you play chords and octaves more than the tuning of single notes. But if you have a light touch and don't overdo it or work against yourself, you should't make a harp that's in-tune become out-of-tune.
Likewise, you may completely bugger up the shape and gapping of a reed as you learn how to tune it. As you become more confident, you can expect to tune any reed up or down a fair amount without changing its shape. Good tools help. If you find that you constantly have to correct the reed shape after you have tuned, you probably would be more productive if you changed your methods.
Don't get discouraged! You can do it. I'm not writing this to make it seem harder than it is. But I think you need to expect to have some failures and having a good sense of the big picture can help you through them.
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Custom overblow harps. Harmonica Combs and Tools.
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mlefree
691 posts
Jun 28, 2016
9:57 AM
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But wait a minute. The way I read the OP, if Chameleon is asking about tuning to the desired sound he may be talking about ~changing~ tuning as in changing temperaments, not final tuning.
If I were to changing tunings, say when changing a harp to some other key or temperament or when changing reeds, I'd first make the basic tuning changes to each reed, then do the reed work, and after that do the final tuning as y'all are describing.
I think it's better to have the baseline pitch in place before I change a reed's arc and/or gap. If you have to make significant changes to the pitch of a reed, doing so after you've done a lot of work shaping and gapping the reed can undo the work you just did.
At least that's the way I see it. But I'm not a Hohner-Certified Affiliated repair/customizer person. 8^)
Andrew?
Thanks,
Michelle
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SilverWing Leather - Custom leather creations for musicians and other eccentrics.
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Thievin' Heathen
780 posts
Jun 29, 2016
4:41 AM
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I work on the plates & reeds - set the tuning - work on the reeds - set the tuning - tweak the reeds - check the tuning - play the harp for ~week - check the tuning - give it a final cleaning - find a pretty folk singer to give a really good harmonica to.
Sometimes.
Last Edited by Thievin' Heathen on Jun 29, 2016 4:46 AM
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Popculture Chameleon
164 posts
Jun 29, 2016
5:12 AM
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basically I want to do 2 things to my special 20 combs make them easier to play and bend the notes and then set them to a pre war marine band tuning with my strobo plus hd under I will be using hohner Rocket cover plates and custom rocket combs from blue moon harmonicas once I get the money for them ( Im just a die hard fan of the old school harmonic sound
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mlefree
692 posts
Jun 29, 2016
9:57 AM
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Pop, I'm not understanding this last post.
First, there isn't much you can or even should do to your stock SP20 combs except replace them with Tom's. The stock combs are pretty darned good as is and you can't flat sand them. People have tried to use various kinds of gaskets but they always introduce more problems than they solve. Rick Epping trims the injection-molded sprues in the channels but that's mostly for access to reeds while the harp is assembled.
I think you may mean reeds or reed plates instead of combs. If that is the case, here is the shortest path to achieve your goals.
First, I'd flat-sand the draw reed plate. Andrew has an excellent video on that on his Youtube channel.
Then I'd retune to your desired 7-limit Just temperament. BBQ Bob has generated a table of tuning offsets for this.
TuningsForDiatonicHarmonicas.pdf
Andrew and many others have videos on how to tune a harmonica. He has a common-sense practical approach that appeals to his many e-students. He also offers excellent and affordable tools on his web site.
Andrew Zajac's tools
Then I'd set the gaps of the reeds to accommodate your playing style. Joe Spiers has an excellent series of videos on how to do this (search Youtube for choppajoe). The Hohner Shop Series also has a good video on setting reed offset (gap). In the process I'd do as Winslow does and plink, plink, plink and plink again. That will help you avoid having to open the harp up and adjust it all over.
Finally, after you have baseline tuning and gaps in place, check that tuning again. You will be close since you've tuned it once but your reed work will have changed that slightly. Make your fine-tuning adjustments and plink, plink, plink after each step.
You should be off and running and ready to swap combs and cover plates when you get them.
Good Luck and please let us know how you do.
Michelle
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SilverWing Leather - Custom leather creations for musicians and other eccentrics.
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