agarner
24 posts
May 22, 2018
7:31 PM
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I got a few Chromatic harps (key of C) at a flea market the other day. I already have a 16 hole and love it, however I dont need a bunch of the same key so I though that it might be cool to tune one to B flat and another to D. I'm just not sure how far a reed can be tuned before the integrity of the reed is compromised.
Thanks
Last Edited by agarner on May 22, 2018 7:31 PM
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WinslowYerxa
1570 posts
May 22, 2018
9:12 PM
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Tuning down you can take a reed farther than tuning up. Tuning a C chromatic down to Bb is totally do-able, but up to D, mhhh, good luck.
You can tune down by removing metal near the base or adding material (solder, bits of metal, or blue-tak) near the tip. I've successfully tuned reeds down two semitones by removing metal without weakening or shortening the life of a reed. Adding material at the tip is quicker and can lower pitch much farther.
I know that Norton Buffalo had a 64 tuned from C down to A by Frank Huang, largely using solder. And Frank also tuned a 364 from Low C down to Low A for Madcat, decades before there was such a thing as a Low A diatonic.
However, you can really only raise a reed's pitch by removing metal near the tip. If you add metal near the base, you can raise pitch, true, but you sacrifice response significantly, because the reed becomes stiff right in the part where it most needs to be flexible. And for shorter reeds, raising them more than a semitone, you can run into loss of metal integrity. I ran into this trying to tune a 64 up from C to D, and I've talked to others who ran into the same problem. Thats not to say it's true for all reeds, as I've tuned reeds in general up by two or three semitones. But those little ones don't have a lot of metal to begin with.
Perhaps others have had different experiences and have successfully tuned an entire chromatic up in pitch more than a semitone.
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Winslow
Harmonica lessons with one of the world's foremost experts
Check out my blog and other goodies at winslowyerxa.com
Harmonica For Dummies, Second Edition with tons of new stuff
SPAH 2018 - August 14-18 in St. Louis
Last Edited by WinslowYerxa on May 25, 2018 10:26 AM
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Gnarly
2487 posts
May 22, 2018
9:34 PM
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"Perhaps others have had different experiences and have successfully tuned an entire chromatic up in pitch more than a semitone."
Not me!
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agarner
25 posts
May 23, 2018
5:03 AM
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Thanks Winslow! When I was writing this, I was hoping that you would respond. This forum is great, and I think it is specific to the harmonica world, because we lay people get to actually discuss and learn from the world's foremost experts. It's a really neat thing to experience. I've learned to play and work on my gear from the best!
Blue Tack might be my best initial try. I used it once on a reed on my diatonic and it was easy and worked nicely. Do you find that blue tack lasts long enough to be a viable option down the road?
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LFLISBOA
29 posts
May 23, 2018
2:19 PM
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I never tuned any harp, that's why I did think that was easier to raise the pitch than turn down.
I had seen some old photos of 64 "A" chrom.
I have a 64 "D" chrom custom made by Hering, but now I'll try to make a 64 "Bb".Thanks for the useful tips.
Last Edited by LFLISBOA on May 23, 2018 2:27 PM
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WinslowYerxa
1573 posts
May 25, 2018
10:24 AM
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@agarner - I've never used Blue Tack, but Brendan Power swears by it and says it stays put for years on end. And Brendan is a very active player.
===========
Winslow
Harmonica lessons with one of the world's foremost experts
Check out my blog and other goodies at winslowyerxa.com
Harmonica For Dummies, Second Edition with tons of new stuff
SPAH 2018 - August 14-18 in St. Louis
Last Edited by WinslowYerxa on May 25, 2018 10:24 AM
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eebadeeb
122 posts
May 25, 2018
10:35 AM
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I retuned several harps to powerbender using blue tack and it held up for years under daily use, even harps left inside a car in the summertime. Actually, not blue tack but the U.S. off-white version by DuPont I think, used for sticking things to walls. I also have tuned reeds down a full octave with it and they still sounded good.
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STME58
2066 posts
May 26, 2018
11:29 AM
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I started using blu tac after I tried to add solder to a stainless reed with an electrical soldering setup. The Blu tac works surprisingly well. I put on a dot big enough to take the pitch below the target pitch, then remove small amounts with an exacto knife to get the pitch I want.
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Gnarly
2490 posts
May 26, 2018
1:26 PM
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Well now I HAVE to try it!
Captcha is nbc8dc
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