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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
How far can you raise the pitch of a reed?
How far can you raise the pitch of a reed?
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LevelUp
45 posts
Nov 05, 2017
5:40 AM
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I’m doing some more harp work and have some long slot 4 and 5 hope reeds, which fit the length of 2 and 3 holes from a short slot harp.
As I tune up the reeds, they are getting pretty darn thin. I’m wondering if there is anything to do other than thinning the tip to raise the pitch. I tried putting blue tack on the base half of the reed, but it seems to have no effect. Suggestions?
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Gnarly
2336 posts
Nov 05, 2017
8:48 AM
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That's why I prefer to lower pitches by weighting the end, rather than raising it by removing material at the tip--there is only so much material.
You can also lower by removing material at the base of the reed--I do this with Stainless Steel, since solder won't stick. Just about to do this with a Psardo 16 hole--it's tuned to B with brass reeds, but not the bottom octave--Seydel doesn't have those reeds in brass (they just started making their own 16 hole chromatic, but they are making these reeds for Phil Sardo).
I am hoping for the best--I stopped lowering pitches this way, but started doing it again after a conversation with the resourceful David Payne (Elk River). As long as you don't go too far, and remove with polishing, this doesn't seem to weaken the reed--Greg Jones is doing this too.
As far as adding material to the base of the reed, I never prefer to do this, but sometimes you have no choice. It WILL raise the pitch, but the tone can get wonky.
Last Edited by Gnarly on Nov 05, 2017 8:50 AM
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