stones
27 posts
Feb 11, 2011
11:03 AM
|
OK I've searched the forum archievs, tried to contact hohner, and now I'm here to ask the real genuine harp people in the know.. Does any harp manufacture produce a left handed chromatic harp? I've got a super 64 that I really like except for one thing ....the button needs to be on the left hand side the side with the low notes, I cannot play it upside down.. I've tried. I've opened it up to do a little 007, FBI type of investigation to check the situation. I don't think that I can modify the comb to accept the button on the left. I hold it in my right hand and do my effects with my left.... it would sure be easier to push that button with my left thumb. I get all messed up when I'm playing. and I KNOW I could be one badd ass chunky monkey with this thing if I could only use my south paw. any thoughts or ideas would be very useful to me right now. because I'm at the point that I don't want to play with any more. it's very frustrating...it's like learning how to play all over again. I have no problems with my diatonics I can jump back and forth all day. it's just that button....damn it.
|
Diggsblues
722 posts
Feb 11, 2011
11:30 AM
|
Chamber Huang plays reverse but it's full reverse.
The button doesn't seem to take that
much effort so I wonder why it is messing you up.
Part of button technique is actually pushing
the harmonica into the button.
----------
Emile "Diggs" D'Amico a Legend In His Own Mind
How you doin'
|
MP
1401 posts
Feb 11, 2011
11:50 AM
|
-hey stones,
just took apart my 64. the spring is,as you said, built into the right short slot high note side of the comb. sorry, looks like you're stuck. you can't take off the plates and flip the comb because of the various slot lengths. bummer.---------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
KingoBad
606 posts
Feb 11, 2011
2:08 PM
|
The Hohner 270 deluxe can be switched to lefty. I can't vouch for the left handed screwdriver you would need to do it...
Last Edited by on Feb 11, 2011 2:10 PM
|
MrVerylongusername
1557 posts
Feb 12, 2011
8:07 AM
|
I just checked on a CX12. You'd have thought with so much clever thought put into the ergonomic design of it, that they'd have made it switchable, but alas no. Sorry.
|
MP
1409 posts
Feb 12, 2011
2:06 PM
|
that's right! if anyone can help it would be Ned Flanders of Springfield! maybe we can get him on Facebook.
i'll stick with being defeated myself.
----------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
stones
28 posts
Feb 14, 2011
9:04 AM
|
Thanks guys I keep working on it but it's just not a natural feeling for me. I did how ever order a special left handed screw driver.ha.... Diggs I've tried the pushing thing and using the ball of my hand below my index finger????? If one could restamp or reproduce the slide plate so the chamber slots lined up correctly I could leave the spring in the comb on high end and put the button on the left ??? just a thought thanks for the input. I'll check out Ned Flanders.
|
chromaticblues
586 posts
Feb 14, 2011
9:35 AM
|
Stones I don't have a 64, but I think its built like the 270/260 just an extra low octave. MP maybe you can help hear sense you have one. Can you flip the mouthpiece around and drill a new hole for the spring?
|
MP
1421 posts
Feb 14, 2011
7:20 PM
|
chro, you could concievably flip the slide assembly, drill a hole on the left lower side and insert a spring. rather than remove the old spring, you could clip it off. but...........if you could remove that spring, i think you can. you could put it in the new hole.
yah know chro, it just might work. hell, i just made a draw scaper out of an allen wrench cuz somebody said you could..............
----------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
LittleJoeSamson
496 posts
Feb 14, 2011
8:22 PM
|
Hey, I got it !
You southpaws have to stand on your head to play the chro !
Smiley emoticon.
|
MP
1424 posts
Feb 14, 2011
8:54 PM
|
like james booker with a chromatic!
actually, the mod i suggested is possible. stones, if you sent your chro to me i think i can do it.
lemme think about it a bit first. click my username for e-mail info...unlesssss, chromaticblues would like to tackle it. i mean 'chromatic' is in his user name so obviously......
----------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
MP
1425 posts
Feb 14, 2011
9:20 PM
|
uh,uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, ohhhhh! GOT IT! i'm a fooking genius.
not only do you flip the mouthpiece/slide assembly.
you flip the slide like a playing card. this puts your spring top left, buuuuut, it also keeps you in C, rather than C# the other way. dig?
----------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
stones
29 posts
Feb 15, 2011
7:55 AM
|
I dig!! but I do believe that the ports for the chambers would not line up, putting the harp in the key of C.... (i think)the ports on the slide are offset to match up with the chambers so by pushing the button in it would play in C#?. drilling and flipping the slide would be easy..... but if it sounds to good to be true .. it usually is.I'm alittle apprehensive to start hacking away at a $150. harp ....BUT I've screwed up better things that have cost me more. I do have a 10 hole chromatic I think it's called the "EDUCATOR" I've popped it open and I do believe that I can modify that one.. it's a cheapie so I wont cry if I screw the pooch on it.I'll educate my self on it first. I love the support that you guys give this forum, you guys give me a false sense of hope that I won't mess it up.. and when I fully f*&%k it up I'll send it off to the pro's for help. but I'm really interested in doing this first my self..... hell it's only a harp..and you have to start somewhere. I will keep y'all informed, and if I can figure out the photo cropping on windows 7 I'll put up some pix of the operation, and you guys can check out my special left handed screw driver in ACTION...hell I might even get tricky and use it in my right hand... watch out!!!
|
KingoBad
608 posts
Feb 15, 2011
7:59 AM
|
You didn't like idea of the 270 deluxe?
I would think you would rather buy a chrom. that actually CAN be switched instead of doing the mod, buy hey, you might get it done.
|
chromaticblues
593 posts
Feb 15, 2011
8:58 AM
|
@ stones my first idea was to just play it upsidedown, but you said it doesn't work like that. So I looked at the reedplates lastnight to see if there is a reasone why you can't play it upsidedown. Nope! the blow hole reeds go thru the slots toward the coverplates on the blootm and top. The harp doesn't know if it is upsidedown or not. Only the coverplates do. Can you swap the coverplates? I would try playing upsidedown again. I maybe wrong, I don't currently have one that isn't being run thru my torture tests. I can't just do it myself or I'd try it. The only good advice I can think of is think about it alot before you do ANYTHING!
If I had one to look at I know I could help more!
|
MP
1426 posts
Feb 15, 2011
10:02 AM
|
stones, if those guys don't line up they have to be fliped over too. what a mess:)
----------
i used to work repairing brass, reed, and woodwinds, back in the 80s. maybe take your chro to a shop that does band instruments? they might like the break from all those clainets and saxes.
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
MP
1427 posts
Feb 15, 2011
10:45 AM
|
STONES! DON"T DO IT! IT'S A DEATHTRAP!!
just removed slide assembly from a 64 and the harp exploded, jettisoning a huge chunk of comb on the end and exposing the cavern where the spring assembly is.
it was cracked where there is a post extending from the top plate. wrapped around this post is a spring(think bread tie)in a V shape.
man it's evil in there. i give up. i gotta go glue something. see yah.
----------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
chromaticblues
594 posts
Feb 15, 2011
11:06 AM
|
Yeah your right MP. I always bend the spring in. They put WAY to much tension on those things. Every other one I have ever taken apart does that. Oh yeah untill I smartened up and got a metal tube that fits in there around the spring. That way you can take the post out without absolutly ruining the comb! I've been playing 260's, 270's and CX-12's for about twenty years. Taken alot of them apart! Boy the CX-12 is just a nice harp. The reeds are longer also which changes the feel of bends and vibrato. Oh and no exploding spring thingy!
Last Edited by on Feb 15, 2011 5:07 PM
|
MP
1428 posts
Feb 15, 2011
2:11 PM
|
hey chro, those springs are something,but, it wouldn't have exploded the comb unless the comb was cracked. this 64 isn't mine and looks like it lived on a boat.
BTW
i think you should check out bill rommels reed tool and also see what Seydel has to offer. the biggest problem is getting the reed in and out w/ as little pain as possible.
----------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
stones
31 posts
Feb 15, 2011
2:24 PM
|
OH YEAAAAAA. they don't have a warning sticker on this thing warning the unsuspecting victim that he is about to open a can of worms and may lose an eye from flying debris. it took me an hour to put the thing back together... the first time...really the only big problem I had was getting the spring and the slide and the front cover to go on with out binding, I had to do it several times before I got it figured out. I realize the harp does not care which way it's played upside down or rightside up...trying to get used to playing backwards with it upside down really messes with my already challenged mind. I'm not the spring chicken I thought that I once was, and new and challenging things like this just frustrate me....not the fixing the already working harp.. but changing my ways and trying something new with the harp. my muscle memory to play it high notes on the left and low notes on the right is something that I have spent abit of time on already....hence the mod...nothing ventured nothing gained so maybe tonight I'll venture back into it once again.
|
pistolero
59 posts
Feb 15, 2011
4:34 PM
|
Ummm, maybe I'm missing something, but as long as you have two hands and 8 or 10 fingers, wouldn't it be a LOT easier just to use the button on the side that it is on using your right hand?
----------
It's MUSIC, not just complicated noise.
|
KingoBad
609 posts
Feb 15, 2011
6:02 PM
|
Uh... At the risk of venturing into the twilight zone again...
Would you not rather buy a chromatic with a button on the left!?!
|
WinslowYerxa
3 posts
Feb 15, 2011
10:39 PM
|
If you really, really want a right-handed harp (low notes on the left) with the button and spring also on the left, then you have two good choices:
1) Buy a 270 Deluxe, take out a screwdriver, and do the 10-minute job of switching the slide
2) Get a customizer like Mike Easton or Chris Reynolds to modify another model of harmonica, like a Hohner 280, for having the button on the left.
Option 2 *might* work if you simply left the spring where it is. Flip the slide over end to end, and drill a new pinhole for the spring in the appropriate location in the far end of the slide. That way you don't have to alter either the comb or the mouthpiece (which needs a slot for spring clearance). But I don't know whether you'd get enough sproing from the spring.
Last Edited by on Feb 15, 2011 10:40 PM
|
MP
1429 posts
Feb 16, 2011
10:04 AM
|
with Yerxas option one, you could get the tenor tuned 270. then you wind up with the low octave of the 64 and no high squealy register.
----------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
stones
32 posts
Feb 17, 2011
7:53 AM
|
Well after I took it ALL apart and cleaned it up real good... (the thing was gross inside) I checked it all out and found out that the slide WILL work in either position. I flipped it side to side and than rolled the slide over so that the #1 hole top chamber key of C remained open with the button out. redrilled the opposite end with a #60 drill, then flipped the spring over so the tension worked in the opposite direction, this keeps the harp in the key of C with the natural tension of the spring on the button. in doing all of this I found that my mouth piece was warped, it had a nice crown in it which was causing the slide to hang up and not work very smoothly.... now this thing plays better then when it was new, the slide NEVER moved this smooth before. the button works perfectly and now I can operate the button with very little pressure from my finger. it's actually very pleasent to play now. and for those of you that know how to play a chro. the warble that you can get from working the slide rapidly is very effective and sounds soooooo cool. I'm looking forward to learning this thing now.
|
chromaticblues
606 posts
Feb 17, 2011
9:27 AM
|
Isn't it a great feeling to take something apart and find things that could have been done better, fix them and make it better than the day it left the factory. Playing the harp so much more fun when they work right!
Glad that worked out for you stones.
There's a lesson to be learned there. Never assume you can't fix it or make it better yourself!
I don't know how much a 270 Deluxe cost, but I'm assuming you saved yourself alot of money!
|
MP
1433 posts
Feb 17, 2011
10:26 AM
|
GO STONES!!!! HAH! i knew it but i didn't want to bum you out and that 64 is too damn long for my vise.
good show, man!
----------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
ElkRiverHarmonicas
552 posts
Feb 18, 2011
5:13 PM
|
The Payne method lol of making a left handed harmonica involves flipping the slide and adding an external spring.
----------
"There are only two things money can't buy - true love and homegrown tomatoes." - Lewis Grizzard
|
spaz
3 posts
Jan 11, 2019
9:15 PM
|
there doesnt need to be a lefty harmonica....they are already lefthanded in the note layout and chromatics have button on the right.....why would a lefthander want the button on the left...you cant hold in your left hand and hit a button on the left very easily....moving button to left is so rightys can hold in their right hand and push button with their left....so the question should be do they make a harmonica for righthanded people
|
WinslowYerxa
1623 posts
Jan 15, 2019
5:27 PM
|
The Hohner Discovery can also be LH switched. The Discovery shares reedplate compatibility with the 270 Deluxe, and either one could be fitted with 270 tenor or non-C reedplates, though those plates would ned to be drilled out for screws.
===========
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
Last Edited by WinslowYerxa on Jan 15, 2019 5:28 PM
|
