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beginner forum: for novice and developing blues harp players >
Hello im new
Hello im new
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Davekeyofc
3 posts
Oct 15, 2016
7:56 AM
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When getting a new harp out of The box
What tweaking mean and why
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ME.HarpDoc
199 posts
Oct 15, 2016
1:54 PM
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You'll see lots of discussion, and opinions, on this forum and the main forum about "tweaking" harps and the need to do so. There are different opinions on just what tweaking a harp means, all of which are valid to consider.
Generally speaking, when harmonicas are mass produced (and most harmonicas that we all buy are), each harp's tuning and playability may fluctuate slightly. Some may even have a defective reed or have a hole way off key, but that's rare with today's harps. "Tweaking" usually means making small adjustments to the reed gapping (the space between the reed and the reed plate slot) or even more involved, flattening/sanding the reed plates and or combs to make the harp more airtight (which improves playability by reducing air leakage). Most of the time when people talk of tweaking, they mean adjusting the reeds and gaps for optimal tone.
That being said, some will feel EVERY harp needs some tweaking OOTB (out of the box). Some very good harp players will play OOTB harps with no adjustment at all (unless there's something noticeably out of whack).
My own take, for a beginner, is buy a decent harp from a major manufacturer in the $35-50 price range (Suzuki, Lee Oskar, Hohner, Seydel) and you most likely will not have an issue OOTB until your ear becomes sensitized to subtle differences in sound or you notice difficulty in playing the notes (e.g. it takes a lot of effort to sound a note because of air leakage or you can't bend a note on one harp as easily as another).
Play for a while on an OOTB harp and then, once you get the feel, if you want to open it up and tweak it, go ahead. I played for over a year on OOTB harps until I felt I wanted to adjust them.
Just don't buy a "cheap" harp and expect to learn easily. They'll only discourage you and tweaking them won't make them much better.
Others will hopefully respond with their experience and advice as well. This is a great forum to get you on your way.
Last Edited by ME.HarpDoc on Oct 15, 2016 1:55 PM
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Killa_Hertz
1811 posts
Oct 15, 2016
3:12 PM
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Hi Dave, welcome to the forum.
Harp Doc pretty well covered the bases for you.
As he said some players do not do any tweaking at all, so its not something that is required by any means. So don't get overwhelmed with all these crazy techniques, thinking you have to learn to do all this stuff.
Some very good players play straight ootb harmonicas.
In time you will develope your own opinions on what IS and ISNT necessary for you.
Personally I do tweak quite a bit. For me the reason can be summed up in one word ... "Consistency"
You will find after playing for a while that from hole to hole the reeds will require different amounts of air to sound the reeds. Sometimes the differences aren't that great. Other harps you will find some holes extremely airy. Generally this is just luck of the draw and happens on various models and brands.
Gapping is the term used to describe adjusting the gap between the reed and the reed plate. Just doing this alone can make for a much easier playing harp. It's a fairly easy thing to learn and there are many videos and resources out there to help explain in more detail.
If you have just started playing however, i recommend you buy a decent recessed comb harp (Such as the hohner special 20 or Lee Oskar.) And just learn the basics.
Tweaking a harp won't do you much good until you know how to play a little better. So don't worry too much about this stuff. That's my suggestion.
But if your interested in reading more about the different aspects of harp"tweaking",tuning, etc. Simply for academic reasons .. Andrew Zajac has a pretty good site layed out with tons of good information.
Andrew Zajacs site is
http://harp.andrewzajac.ca/MyHarps
Hope that helped.
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Last Edited by Killa_Hertz on Oct 15, 2016 3:14 PM
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SuperBee
4181 posts
Oct 15, 2016
5:20 PM
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Back when I really started playing...in the 90s...I'm a slow learner, don't worry...
Back then...I had a no name harp that came with an instruction book.
Awful harp.
After a while I realised it probably wasn't very good. I bought some if different keys. Huang silvertone deluxe harps. A and D. They were actually pretty good. I also bought a Special 20 in C. And a Suzuki Folkmaster in G
The Special 20 at that time was an MS harp. Different to the current sp20. More like the current Hohner Pro Harp.
It was really hard to play. I was just learning to bend notes and this harp was so different to my Huang harps.
And over the next few years it went on. I would buy a harp and find it was pretty good to play but then I'd get another that was really difficult. I couldn't work it out. I had a Hohner blues harp that was good, so I thought I'd cracked the code and bought another. It was impossible.
Then one day about 10 years down the track I posed a question here about whether the Suzuki blues master was any good. A member called 'Harpwrench' responded that it was an ok harp, with a little gapping.
What's that? 'Gapping'?
So I researched, applied, and found I suddenly has an instant collection of good playable harps. Except for that sp20, it had other issues.
The sense of freedom was empowering. No more stress about harp purchases. I could just set them up to work.
I dunno when that was but it really marks the start of learning to play for me. Somewhere between 2007-2010.
Gapping is not the full story but it's the part to learn about 1st, and only when you need to. You really need to play a few harps and get a feel for the differences before you get into too much tweaking IMHO
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Killa_Hertz
1816 posts
Oct 16, 2016
4:18 PM
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Nicely put BEE.
Yes you do have to play a few and get a good feel before you could possibly have areference for gapping.
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