Guys do you think it's worth buying an expensive reed replacement tool like Richard Sleigh's for a guy who just likes to play harp by himself at home? I play for pleasure but don't gig or anything. However i am into working on harps but don't know if economically it's worth getting that or some of the Hohner tools for reed replacement. Up to now if a reed go's bad i buy a new plate because i don't have those tools. They are mega expensive though and i don't know if i can justify getting them. I may get a little bit of money in the next few weeks and i was thinking whether i should do this so i can replace reeds if i need to or whether to buy a Suzuki Manji because i've been wanting to get one of those for a while and forget the reed replacement tool.
I mean how many guys on here replace their own reeds do you reckon?
BTW. Can't Adam find a way to get rid of that stupid code thing we have to type in to post? No other sites that i go to has that in their forums. It's dead irritating and puts me off posting sometimes.
The captcha code is a subtle test to see if you are well-suited to dealing with frustration and pointless irritants. If you can cope with captcha, you may be suitable temperament to deal with the next level of irritations and frustrations which come with mending harmonicas and dealing with forum smartarses in their various guises
I've never regretted buying good tools. I have sometimes regretted paying too much though. I suggest checking out the tools Andrew Zajac has for sale on his website
I started being less annoyed by it when I discovered it's not case-sensitive. did you check Andrew's tool offerings? I used to be a cyclist too. I've given it away because arthritis in my hands became too bad
Bee: I looked at it and i like the look of his tools for reed replacement. Pretty good price as well. Only trouble is i'm in the UK and have to pay VAT and customs duty on any items i buy that cost over a certain amount of cash. This would fall under the category unless it's marked as a gift then i think some of it can get waived.
Jeez you'd think in this day and age there'd be someone in the UK that did this stuff. I swear you guys in the US & Canada are the luckiest. All the coolest stuff comes out from there, especially the US! I mean you have Andrew's stuff, you have Richard Sleigh, you have a load of custom builders. I wish we had these resources over here!
Sorry about your hands Bee. Yeah i was off it for 6 years until this year when i've started to get into it again. I really like being out in the countryside in the fresh air.
I have dystonia in my right hand that really screwed up my guitar playing. So i've had to deal with that the last few years. That's one of the reasons i picked up the harp because i love music so much but was downhearted at the state of my picking hand! I can still play but i have to adapt my technique. It makes me more inventive though!!
Learn to play softer and you won't break so many (if any) reeds.
I'm not sure how long you've been playing. I haven't been playing very long, but i have yet to break a reed and play quite a bit. But i think gaping has everything to do with being able to play softer.
Spend that tool money on some nice new harps. 8^)
Just my 2 cents.
Bee that was well put on the captcha. Never thought of it that way ----------
Killa: Thanks man. I haven't broken any reeds yet and i hope that continues. I was just thinking in case it happened what should i do replace the whole plate or the one reed. But for just my own harps i really can't justify the price of these tools. Andrew's are cheaper but then i have to deal with all these import and customs and VAT charges.
I would rather get some new harps with the money i think the same really. It would be nice to have these tools though!
I used to send to the states all the time years ago for bike tools that were difficult to get here but then the place went out of business because bike manufacturers started re-designing parts every couple of years and the new parts didn't work with the old parts and it became a built in obsolescence type thing. The store owners got fed up and stopped the business. It was a shame i looked forward to their little catalog's they used to send out to customers.
Im running low on data, but when i get home tomorrow I'll post some pics of my tools. They are not for reed replacement, but just for doing reedwork and tuning.
I made most of them myself out of feeler guages. It doesnt take a super expensive fancy tool kit to do harp work.
Maybe ill even try to make a video to show you how i use them.
But as far as the reed replacement tool(or any harp tool kit for that matter) ... i feel like they are to expensive. Reed replacement tool will probably not get used enough to make up for the price. I wouldn't think anyway. ----------
Killa: That would be great if you could show some pics or a video of what you use. I have a cheap crappy set of feeler guages that go down to wafer thin which i find good for centering reeds and stuff. I have just a couple of small screwdrivers a pack of small needle files which i don't know if they're really suitable to use for tuning as i think they're too coarse. But for tuning that's all i have file wise. For embossing i use a tuning fork and use the small ball end like Tinus shows on his site.
You know i thought the same thing about the reed replacement? The price of the RS jig was $155 to import to here from the states and then i'd have had to pay customs and VAT onto that. It was just too expensive and i'd have had to be fixing a lot of reeds to recoup that outlay in cash!
I think it took me 2 tepairs to pay for my first reed replacement tool purchase, but they were crossovers which cost over $90 each here. I dont know what you pay for harps there, but i expect 4 new harps would add up to cover the price of tools pretty easily. Reeds are cheap or can be recycled from other harps. It takes a while but you can scavenge broken ones if you put your mind to it. I got my sleigh jig on the first order, which was cut price and think it was $140 australian. We have 10% import duty but they werent applying on under $1000. Ive replaced over 60 reeds with it. I charge $15 per repair, so ive made about $600 with it. I work really cheap because im doing it to help rather than to make money. But i didnt set out to do repairs for others. It was because i had broken harps and i weighed up cost of repair vs cost of replacement and next time and next time... I havent broken a reed since i stopped playing gigs. About 2 years now. I didnt break many before i was playing gigs, but did have a few But when the maths make sense...do it. If it doesnt add up for you, dont worry about it. I know people with many broken harps, accumulated over many years. One chap had me repar a dozen G harps with same reed gone in each. Some of those were over 15 years old
Last Edited by SuperBee on Jun 26, 2016 3:39 PM
Bee: I play SP20's and they cost £29.95 in our money which converts, according to the google thing i just looked up, to $54.21 in Aussie dollars.
I just looked up the duty website here from the government and if the goods come to under £135 we don't have to pay customs charges. So it would be VAT only. I don't know what that would be but i wouldn't think it'd be much.
See this whole thing ties into my nature in a way. You know i'm into bikes so when i got into bikes i knew nothing about the mechanics of them and had a few mechanicals here and there. So then i decided i was gonna learn all about the mechanics of it and how to fix everything myself so i didn't have to rely on a shop. In doing so i had to have all the latest tools and all that so i was completely self sufficient. Well the reed thing and the tools thing is kinda the same thing of wanting to be self sufficient and knowing i can fix anything if it go's wrong.
Anyway it's always nice to be able to do that. Problem is usually the cost in the tools. I spent hundreds on truing stands for building and truing bike wheels, all of that!
Still you've got to have passions and hobbies. What would life be like without them?
I never went into wheel building but I did get wheels built for me. I think I used an old fork to help me keep them true...it's getting to be too long ago...I just donated all my accumulated bike parts and tools to the local 'bike kitchen' where people go to learn how to do repairs or restore bikes etc. they will let people come along and build a bike from the stock of parts and teach them to maintain it. I was happy to donate to the cause, but it was thousands of dollars worth of stuff I gave away. I hear you on the topic of obsolescence too..that began to really annoy me and I was going back to down tube shifters and 8 speed groups in the end because I really think that was the optimum in durability and reliability. But I had some great 9 speed stuff. I sold my 10 speed carbon fibre to my nephew before it had a chance to be too old hat to be worth anything. My custom made race wheels and tubular tyres...all useless to the average cyclist, and of no interest to the racing cyclist except as museum pieces...I could go on...I became disgusted with cycling as a sport on several levels. As a recreation and transport option I think it's great. But the business of cycling totally sucks. The business of music I also find rather repellent. And the gear thing has a tendency to get rather poserish. But at least music is still the object and people seem to generally understand that... That is mainly why I'm a Hohner marine band adherent..Repairable and good to work on. Other brands either hard to work on or get parts for, or both. And I have only mediocre talent. So it's all about knowledge and skill for me...grindingly slow improvement but I do continue to improve as I learn... I played a Suzuki this morning and thought I could hear nice tone from it. I began to question my values..was it really nicer? I dunno...but I'm sure I have barely begun to learn
Bee: Man you're the same as me! I was off it for 6 years. I got disgusted with the lies and the deceit of pro cycling and the whole drug thing sickened me. The big makers are constantly re-designing groupsets and they change the index ration of the shifter so it won't mesh with the old stuff and then you have to buy the whole new system. That got to me badly and i started seeing it as a money making racket.
I also contemplated going back to downtube friction shifters and saying to hell with them. It used to be you had a good frame and fork, nice wheels and a good groupset that lasted years and years. Then if you ever did need to change anything it was just a gear or brake cable. Now it's all been made so complicated and they want you to use a torque wrench when installing parts to make sure you don't break anything!
Anyway i love being out in the countryside and that makes up for it but i agree with you it's a racket alright. I decided a while back that i was gonna be happy with the stuff i had and i wasn't gonna compete in 'the arms race' anymore. You can't keep up with it and it's way too expensive unless you're minted and money isn't an obstacle.
The Suzuki Manji i saw a video of Brendan Power playing them and he seemed to like them. Jason (Ricci) uses them. I heard that the quality of them had went down a bit from when they first came out but i don't know, that might be a load of rubbish that was just someone's opinion. I was thinking about trying one or a Seydel Session Steel or a Hohner Rocket! Something different from the SP20's i have.
EDIT: Forgot to add. I'm on 11 speed just now! No better than the 7 speed stuff i started back on when i got into it. I reckon you're right 8 or 9 speed was perfect there was no need to go beyond that. Of course there was one reason $£$£$£$ for the makers after they convinced us gullible cyclists that we must have this stuff. It' was gonna be so much better than our old stuff! Do you know the latest is electronic gears? On the road the big 3 manufacturers all have an electronic shifting system which of course costs mega bucks. No thanks i'll stick to the cables thank you!
Last Edited by Bike&Harp on Jun 26, 2016 7:31 PM
Re Manji. As far as ive been told Suzuki actually makes improvements on the manji all the time. They supposedly do it quite often, but don't announce it all the time. I really like the manji. But they are the most different from any other harp Imo.
If your going to try another model i would suggest the Session Steel, The Rocket, or The Crossover. The 1896 Marine Band is great, but if you still got virgin lips it may tear u up a bit. The Crossover is pretty Smooth. And it's got a more mellow tuning than the Marine Band 1896. The rocket and the session both have larger holes, which i really like. But some don't. I really loved the Marine Band Deluxe. But it's been discontinued here in the states.
I always thought hohner should have just gave the option of the classic tuning or new tuning on the crossover.
Anyways ..... i could talk till I'm blue in the face about which model i like better and yada yada, but until you try them yourself you ll never know what you like.
Another thing that could save you some money is just buy a rocket comb and put it on your special 20. I'm going to but a few of them from Rons to swap out all my sp20s to rockets. ----------
So you don't recommend the Manji Killa? I was thinking of a more higher end harp in the hope that i won't buy a lemon you know? LOL! The Marine Band, the original; do you recommend getting one of those? They're a bit of a problem for working on with the nails instead of screws. Is that not a problem for you if you need to disassemble them? If i thought i'd buy a Marine Band and get a good one i'd go for it for something different. But i hear so many stories about some of them being real bad SOTB.
Who is Ron? I'm from the UK so i don't know about this guy. Yeah that would be an option for me as well. Would that improve the sound of my SP20's?
You might be able to buy rocket combs fromhohner Europe. Manji...I owned one but years ago. I've repaired a few, but they weren't really broken. I cleaned and tuned them. That's for different customers so I guess they are prone to clog from anything less than good attention to playing with clean mouth. My personal experience was the harp was pretty good but honestly...I was not really experienced or skilled enough to form a well-informed assessment. I mean, the more I learn the more I feel I understand..the manji I think is a good harp but it doesn't suit the way I play at the moment. I can see why JR likes them, although maybe he gets them free, and he customises them also so...but anyway I can see why they would suit his approach. Marine band 1896...is what I play, or what I say I play...actually I play a bunch of harps but 1896 is the core idea... The main disadvantage is that they are more difficult to maintain. If you get a good one, you won't beat it. But it's a lottery. The good news is that the ones which aren't so good are usually easily adjusted to play well. Marine Band deluxe is still available in Europe and that is a marine band built with screws so easy to take apart for cleaning and adjustment and tuning. More exxy than the standard model. I only have one, which I have owned for 9 years and replaced one reed and a comb. The crossover is the same Reedplate as the deluxe but tuned differently. It's brighter, especially the top octave. And the 5 and 9 draw are not as flat as the standard old tuning. 2, 5,8 blow might be brighter too, can't quite remember. My 4 are 6 years old so I can't vouch for current production but nothing's changed afaik Rocket is s sp20 with different comb and covers. I've seen a few and I liked them all. A special 20 deluxe in a way, but a bit different. I'm unimpressed with the session steel. IMHO it's a cheap harp that costs a lot. Anyway, honestly it's probably not 'bad'. These things are relative. I was disappointed with what I'd hoped was going to be good. I didn't think they were impressive in any way. In fact I gave mine away and felt a bit embarrassed to be giving the guy harps I thought weren't really up to scratch. He didn't write to thank me so I guess he wasn't exactly blown away either. (Sometimes it's happened that I've worked on harps like Suzuki hammonds and manjis and felt bad that I couldn't make them good, and then received messages from the owners about how great they are, so I guess I can't always tell.) And they are a pita to work on, hard on tools and consumables. Most of the rest of my assessment is subjective...see above comment about the suzukis. I mean...I made those suzukis as good as I possibly could and I thought they were just blah. Dull, in the case of the Hammond. I would have left it in the dud drawer. But the guy posted it on Facebook about how it was the best harp ever. I'd worked 4 other harps for him and in my opinion that was the worst. Quite good for throwing at things. The guy loved it. So what do I know. I have some promasters which I often trot out to complain about. I played one yesterday just because I needed a harp in a hurry to practice something (blueberry hill..band project) and I thought...even thought the 2 hole reeds are awful, it actually sounded kinda nice...it's a cleaner sound, not really a blues harp sound but nice for sweeter music.
I do love the manji. BUT its a bit of a stiff harp. So i think you may not like it at this juncture in your playing.
Ron is RockinRons.com, but everyone sells them. So if your not in the US then wherever you get harp parts from should have them.
All harps have problems. My suggestion is learn how to gap and you ll be fine.
Everything else comes down to preference.
My favorite models are.
Manjis
Session Steel
All models of marine band
1847s
And i am really liking the Rocket, but i just got it and only have one.
But the point is you will likely end up with many different models. So just pick one in a new key. But honestly there isn't a harp that i have that i didn't open up and set the gaps.
From $30 1896 to $109 1847 Noble.
The 1896 Marine Band is harder to open up and maintain. But that's why i suggested the Marine Band Deluxe.
I really can't tell you what harp you will like. Know what i mean. I really like the session steel, but it's a big harp so if you have small hands about if people complain about it being too big.
I think you should get a rocket comb and a marine band deluxe (if you can find one) or a crossover. I think you will likely like those best.
Also check out hotrod your harmonica. Ruchard Sleighs website. Itll tell you everything you need to know about fixing harps and making them better. Itll save you much time money and agrivation. ----------
Forgive me but I'm going to put up quite a few photos.
Here's the main stuff i use to work on my harps. Now the point isn't to teach anyone how to do stuff, but more about what i use to do each technique.
Also to show how little it takes to make decent harps. And that if your waiting to save up $300 to get a pro tool kit before starting to work on harps. You don't need it.
I buy top quality tools for work. I dont skimp out in crap tools. And even i make cheapo harp tools. So ... Anyhow. Check it out.
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Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jun 27, 2016 5:29 PM
All of the things in this picture, except for the light box and the engraver, go with me in the bag on the left. The feeler guages are obviously spread out here for you to see more clearly. But normally are in the feeler set. This is how i use them. I rarely take them out like this.
I take all this with me just incase i need to work on anything. The files come in handy to smooth out a rough edge in a harp aswell. I have a set of picks that come in very handy for many things. I have more than one way i do most things.
A posidrive screw driver.
And small screwdriver set combo with the pick set.
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Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jun 27, 2016 6:10 PM
I have a few fancy light boxes i made, but this makeshift one gets the most use.
I tried out my idea with the packaging still on. And Half assed it at that. But it worked so well that i never redid it.
I built up the sides with a few pieces of thin poster board folded over a few times and taped with masking tape. You need enough space to be able to plink the reed. So that's the reason for this.
And i put a piece if tape in the middle aswell because this is a super bright LED and even on low was too bright. So this diffuses the light.
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Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jun 27, 2016 5:39 PM
Here is the "tweezers" i use. I have been using a different meathod recently, but this one works great aswell.
I have been through many types of tweezers, including the stamp type as R Sleigh uses. But find that these work best for me.
If you dont understand how to use the tweezers you really should check out the hot rod videos.
It's for shaping the reeds. Offsetting, Arching, whatever you wanna call it.
I use a thin feeler guage at the bottom. And a very thick one on top.
I side the thin 80% of the way up. Squeeze together, lift, plink. Then flip over to the thick side where i use the front edge to set the reed back down.
As you can see i put the two together and shaped them flat in front.
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Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jun 27, 2016 6:25 PM
Ive made many different reed wrenches aswell. Different shapes for gettin in tight spots. Different size slots for different reeds. Hohner/ lee oskar.
The best way i have found is to use a bench grinder to shape it. Then use an air angle grinder to cut a slot. Then i take a key wrapped in sandpaper and work it, check, work it, check. Until it fits nice and square.
Heres a cheapo engraver i use for tuning. I use this for big steps. Inside the harp is a tuning tip grinded down from a feeler guage.
Here is one of the files i use for fine tuning. And a home made version of Andrew Zajacs 5 cent tool. Made from a feeler guage, heated and re hardened. Sharpened the side point so that u can tune with it aswell.
At the top edge of the reedplate is a strip out of a security tag with a piece of tape wrapped for grip. Use these for clearing blockages.
I also use the very thin feeler guages
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Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jun 27, 2016 6:01 PM
This is a set i made for home so that its easier to use. Dipped handles.
I have many other tools ive made, bought, tried. But ive found that this is really all i need. And is all i really use.
For flatsanding i have a thick piece of plexiglass cut from a golf cart windshield. It's got a 90 edge up top so that it sits up. But Andrew Zajac says you can even use a dollar store cutting board.
So i hope this helped. At the very least to show you that you don't need much. And maybe give you some ideas of your own.
For example: one other way i push the root back up after offsetting to far. Normally you would push it up from the bottom. But if you take something like the pick i have bellow and put the tip perpendicular under the reed. Then push it back toward the root, this will lift the root out without risking slipping from underneath.
Our you can use a feeler guage (sbout .007) and push it back toward the root from underneath. This will also lift it up. Depending on reed material alot of things change because some take much more force than others to change the shape. But the knowledge is only half of it. The rest is practice and repitition. I learn better technique everytime i do a harp.
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Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Jun 27, 2016 6:36 PM
Killa: Thanks for taking the time to post these up. That's a cool set up you have there. I wish i had a set up like that but alas not at the moment. I looked at the RS video and it looks great. I think you can get it on a digital download. i think i'll get it.
Digital download is how i got mine. It's about $20 cheaper. You dont get the cool lil book, but ... i can't recommend it enough.
No problem.
You can get all the stuff i have here for pretty cheap.
But really if you just gap your harps you will be pretty well off.
You dont NEED to do any of this other stuff.
A well gaped harp well play pretty darn good. And you can gap with a toothpick and an index card. So. Dont worry about HAVING to learn all this stuff.
It's just fun to mess with and will Make your harps play a bit better.
I know you may know this bike, but just for those who are reading that may not.
When i first get a harp i might play it for a few weeks with it just having the gaps tightened before i feel like messing with it. Some need a lil work more than others. ----------
Great stuff and good pics, I've made a couple tools from a set of feeler gauges too, but I made the mistake of taking it apart to make the tools and didn't save the pivot screw or casing. Next time I'll separate them into one handle holding the thinnest for cleaning and supporting, and another set for plinking and reed wrenches. Or mix and match.... Thanks for posting those cool pics and your descriptions.
Yeah very good. Of course, you need a grinder. But I guess lots of people have one of those. I also have R.Sleigh as a tutor. It is probably time I watched him again. I've written a few posts which didn't make it today. Kept going on tangents. Like this. Richard is building a D harp for me. I picked D because I have a lot of use for D and I think it's a special harp. In Hohners at least, because it's the 'high' template, and thus different to G, A, C. A different category than those I mean. A different model really. And I don't have a good pro custom D to compare my work. That's the point. I have spiers G and Bb and Zajac A, so I get an idea of where this can get to. And where my work is by comparison. But D I don't know because I have this idea it may not be directly comparable to the lower keys. I'm not sure why I think that's relevant to this thread. Yeah, good to make those tools. I came at it from repair angle rather than customisation and my kit reflects that. I was always pretty happy with a harp that played well and not worried about overblow. I'm still quite a bit that way inclined but I've come to appreciate 'played well' a bit more keenly since I started working on them. I really started making them better for customers. My kicks, when someone tells me the repaired harp is better than new. I still don't have a light box. I use the sun when I can, or the fluoro on the ceiling.
Yea i just use a bench grinder. Ive made many different tools. Some failed attempts, some unnecessary. But ive settled on these. But just as you can see through the hot rod videos how richard's methods are always evolving, so are mine.
I put my easiest to make little light box in there, just to show it doesnt need to be fancy. And this one actually gets the most use. Also i never mentioned the blue LED light in the second picture. It is perfect for shining into each hole of the comb when you have the covers off. It also is sort of my travel light box, i suppose. I have used it to shape reeds. I shape the reed, then (assuming I'm working on the low end) ill hold the high end of the plate in my mouth to keep my hands free and use one hand to hold the light and with the other hand close the reed with my pick to see if it's choosing properly.
Bee I knew where you were going with the D harp. I never thought of it like that. I guess it is a bit different working on the higher harps.
Speaking of which, i really want to get a Spiers Harp to compare to. Well actually that's a bad choice of words because my harps wont compare. .... lol. I guess more like .... learn from.
I really want to play one of his harps
Bee what tier of work dud you get done to your Spiers Custom? ----------
I forgot to add another harp i've been considering for a while; The Seydel Powerdraw. One of Brendan Power's tunings. You can wail on the high draw notes. I think i have it narrowed down to a battle between the Seydel Powerdraw, Hohner Marine Band Deluxe, Hohner Rocket. I don't know...
Well the power draw does look cool, but i was afraid i would get used to it and get confused between tunings.
If those are your choices. I would say get the marine band deluxe and a Rocket Comb. Then open the backs of the covers on the sp 20 you put it on. ----------
Killa they are stage 2. Set up to overblow 4,5,6 sustained. Power draw seems like a good idea but I'm digging that old 1st position on the top end too much. Hey this is cool; you know that jimmy rogers album 'blues blues blues'? They do Bright Lights, Big City on that and Taj Mahal plays the harp...the solo in the middle is this classic high end 1st position with sustained 9 blow. I think...Really cool variation on the jimmy reed original...but he also takes a solo on the outro which uses 1st on the low end. Hitting the 4 blow and probably an octave split on 4/1 or maybe 4/7 but then some classic low end 1st licks and throws in a great second position lick on the 9th measure...it's a great little idea he put in that song which shows how repetition with the right amount of change works. I was walking around at lunchtime yesterday listening to a playlist when this song came up. and I just had an A harp in my pocket so I took a right turn into a quieter street and figured this lick out, hung a left and heading down the hill to work...a skater kid was walking up toward me and he gets about 10 metres away and looks up and just yells 'hell yeah that's the way to do it!' Which I like but I just learned this and I slightly forget what I was doing but it's ok...I'm the only one who knew what I was doing...
Last Edited by SuperBee on Jun 28, 2016 9:37 PM
I ordered a Seydel Powerdraw direct from the Seydel factory so should come in a few days. They have them here in the UK but the key i wanted was out of stock! I like how you can get what would be the 6OB the flat 3rd in cross as a bend and also 5OB is also available as a bent note for the b5th in cross.
So an update here instead of doing a new thread about it. I got the Seydel powerdraw and i really like it. You can get the notes in the middle octave as bent notes instead of OB's. And you can overblow all the holes. There are no overdraws. i gapped it a bit tighter to get the OB's on the high end 7,8,9 and 10. One of those is a duplicate not of one you can get normally though.
Anyway brings up another issue; i want to get the Powerbender as well. I was going down the Seydel route until i saw Brendan does his own version. Now there's a significant price difference. Brendan's is £27.95 or thereabout while the Seydel is almost £60. I emailed Brendan to ask about the differences and he said he had had no complaints from customers. However there's no way surely this cheaper harp can match a harp more than double the price? I will be getting one and if the cheaper one was really good i'd get it and save some money. But the old saying keeps coming into my mind "You only get what you pay for"
What do you think guys?
Last Edited by Bike&Harp on Jul 13, 2016 8:55 AM
I've got the Power Draw in G and A in Brendan's brand and I like them but have nothing to compare to. Don't use them a lot due to the tuning confusion issue. They're fun to just go to the high end and draw bend.
Thanks ME. Yeah i don't think i want to chance it by the sounds of it! I seem to remember Brendan saying before they weren't up to the standard of a Seydel but i think this wasn't the current one made by the Kong Sheng harmonica company. If i get the bender i'll get it from Seydel i think. Not that there's probably anything wrong with his own brand one's. But there's got to be a reason they're less than half the price! £27 here as opposed to £59.95 for the Seydel.
I have no opinion worth sharing about the concept and neither do I really know anything about Brendan's name-brand harps. But I do expect that when you buy a non-standard tuning from Seydel, the harp probably gets a little more attention before it leaves the factory. (The seydel people might find that objectionable on the grounds they want you to think everything they do is superior...)
I know Hohner (depending on the model) requires a special tool to disassemble their harps. One day I purchased a Suzuki Bluesmaster, & quickly discovered all I needed was a tiny Phillips head screwdriver. But with the price of a new set of reeds sometimes just getting a new harp makes more sense, economically speaking.
I charge $15 Australian to replace a reed. In this country, that is 4 times I can repair your harp for the price of a new sp20. (I.e. Sp 20 retail at $60 here) so I think it's reasonable for a person to think about having their harp repaired at least once. That's for paying customers. My own harps, in parts it cost me around $2 for a new reed and rivet. So basically I never have to make an economic decision to buy a new harp. The catch can be that you mend a harp with a bad 5 draw, say, and then the 4 draw goes bad in a short time after. For me that's no problem but for a customer it's more of a problem. I have one customer who breaks harps regularly and for them they just add that harp to the next batch and it all works out. Plus I clean and tune them while I'm at it so I think it's pretty good value vs buying a new harp.
Last Edited by SuperBee on Jul 17, 2016 3:13 PM
Guys i'm about to push the button on Richard Sleigh's digital download 'Hotrod Your Harmonica' so it's £37.48 in our UK money. Is it worth that? Is there a lot of cool info on it or am i wasting cash? I know a couple of you have said it's good but is it worth what they're asking for it?
Sorry man, I really don't know. Maybe you can get that info cheaper or free. It's a bit too long ago for me to say. At the time it was the most reputable source, where you knew the guy had solid credentials, and you know; "pay your money, take your chances". There's a bit more free stuff about these days. I don't know how it compares really. To really get the good oil, you have to actually get one on one with someone. Shop practices are where it's at and none of the really skilled customisers are interested in selling all their practices for cheap. Richard will teach hands on, but you gotta go to his place and pay him a fair bit more than $65 for it. So I think what you get in hot rod video is probably value because you get to really see what's going on with reeds and slots. It's easy to talk about but I think the vision RS provides gives a pretty good sense of the effort he is making and exactly where he is applying pressure etc. it is good vision. And also good when it comes to tuning. He talks about files, not rotary, and that is good for me because I don't do rotary atm. Anyway, it's relative. If you have plenty money, it's cheap. It's solid info but if you are already down with it, you know what I'm saying. Hard for me to say if it is value for you. If you buy it and feel ripped off, I guess that's a different kind of value. For me, I keep supporting Richard and I appreciate his contribution. But he's on my dashboard of inspirational people so I'm not sure I can be completely objective about whether his prices represent good value
Bee: Well i certainly don't have plenty of money LOL! Ok i'll describe what i can do at the moment with a harp and maybe you can tell me if you think it would be good and i could learn more than i say here. Ok i can gap, arc (though arcing to me means just getting the reed almost straight. Better for OB's according to Tinus). I can emboss and get the tolerances down quite tight. I know how to tune although i don't think i do it right as i just tune to a Boss chromatic guitar tuner. Other things like tip scooping i haven't tried because i did a couple of slots and didn't see a lot of difference so couldn't be bothered wasting my time. I know about waxing the rivets but have never done that.
Bee: I emboss the slots already but i don't know if you mean there's extra embossing i could be doing? The only reason i haven't bought the download so far is it's pretty expensive for a computer download and i don't want to be disappointed with what i bought. I read some reviews and guys online were saying there were tons of tips and tricks they'd never heard of before.
Last Edited by Bike&Harp on Jul 21, 2016 8:05 AM
Maybe I should watch it again! Like I said, it's a bit too long ago for me. I don't remember where I learned stuff I just take for granted now. I'll get it out and look at the index. I'm sure I don't remember what's covered
Bee: I bought it and... i'm disappointed! not much init that isn't covered in Tinus's site. No way it was worth the cash. $49 US which was £38 something here. Should have been half that price and that would have been more than enough. Too much him showing tools he's developed instead of focusing on the principles and doing things and telling you why he's doing them.
Says you can get your money back if you're not satisfied. But i don't think that'll apply to a download. But i might contact Richard and tell him i'm disappointed and it wasn't worth the money.
See this is why i hesitated in buying it in case this happened.
Oh man! I'm not surprised. I'm sorry you're disappointed. My ringing failure to endorse it didn't convince you I hope? Like I said, it's been around a long time. I've never seen what Tinus offers but when you said you could do all that stuff, that's why I said I didn't know if you'd get much out of it. But I also do think it's value for what he put into making it. The fact someone else gives their work away for free doesn't change the fact that Richard really pioneered a lot of this stuff and is trying to make a living at it. But time moves on. I don't know Tinus, mainly because 'overblow' doesn't grab my attention. I'm sure Richard will give you a refund. I understand what you mean about you can't really un-download it, but I bet he won't want a dissatisfied customer and will honour the guarantee. He'll probably respect and value the feedback too.
Bee: Yeah man i kinda thought "so this was what all the fuss was about!" Don't get me wrong if someone never had looked at any of that stuff on Tinus's site then they may have got a lot more out of it but i just felt a bit deflated you know when you buy something and you're disappointed?
Anyway i'll just put it down to experience.
EDIT: Richard refunded the money i paid for the download and i didn't even have to ask for it. I commend him for his professionalism and integrity and it speaks volumes for him as a person.
Thanks Richard.
Last Edited by Bike&Harp on Jul 24, 2016 1:07 PM
