I managed to get the videos from Richard Sleigh on the Hot rod harmonica website but didn't get the tool kit he had offered at the time. I was wondering what Itools i could use to start customizing the harp for easier bending etc. I still haven't heard any word about R Sliegh's new tool kit I really liked the last one I saw on Youtube because of how compact it was Finally decided to stick with Hohner Crossovers and Thunderbirds as my harmonicas of choice
Don't focus on the tools but figure out what you want to accomplish.
You can be very general and do the things with the highest impact to improve the tone and response of your instruments or you can get very detailed and put a lot of time and work into each one of them. Figure that out before you think of what tools you need.
Once you figure out the answer(s) to the question Andrew suggests, you'll find that he sells some great tools at great prices.
The most used and handiest of all my harmonica tools is the brass reed tool. They are easy to make out of a length of brass rod or flat stock, available at your local hardware store.
I have several round ones but I really like the one I made out of flat stock after I saw Richard's, pictured above. (I already have an older version of his kit.)
I pick it up as often as the rest of my tools combined.
Michelle
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Last Edited by mlefree on Mar 27, 2017 10:27 AM
pretty good way to look at it, as in which tools you actually need to do the work you want to do
as far as a new kit from richard, i'd just write to him and ask about it. i think he hasn't changed much, and the new tools were available last i heard. he made a new version of the draw scraper. iirc it has a wider blade. i like the way he uses this tool to tune, i find it quite a good approach for lowering pitch. i think he also produced a variation on the reed wrench. the earlier model can be seen in the photo Michelle posted above. the new one is very similiar but has some dimensional changes neither of the changes are game changing, just refinements.
basically I just want my harps to be easy to bend and stay in tune- I don't need to change the tone quality of the harps I have a StroboPlus HD Handheld Strobe Tuner with Optional Metronome Function for that but since this is my first foray into customizing the harp I wanted to be triple sure of the equipment I would need to do it.
I would venture to say that just about everyone who works on harps started out with homemade tools. A piece of shim stock. A sharpened nail. A modified something or other. If you do enough harps, after a while you figure out what you need. If you are handy, you can make it. If you are not, you can buy good tools from aftermarket guys like Richard or Andrew. The kits sold by the manufacturers - Hohner and Seydel are expensive. ---------- Tom Halchak www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com
Last Edited by florida-trader on Mar 30, 2017 6:10 AM
I advocate making your own, but Andrew's French Tuner is the Cat's Meow, and you can only do so much with Legos. I'm sure Richard's stuff is 1st class, also.
I suggest that the easiest way to achieve what you are looking for (easier bends and a harp that stays in tune) is to put most of your effort into the basic things that make a harp play well (or not well).
Make the harp airtight: This will make the harp more responsive and make bends easier. It will also allow you to access nice tone with much less effort. - Flat sand the draw plate. This takes one minute to do once you are set up. - Flatten your comb or get one that has been flattened by hand. - Flatten the blow plate (I offer a tool to help you with this)
To make bands work really well, make sure the reed shape is favorable. You don't need to do hours of reed work but you can spot obvious problems (like the tip or the middle of the reed entering the slot first) and fix them in just a few minutes.
Tune your harp. Here's a way to zero-in on the biggest problems instead of aiming for perfection (and taking all day!)
