FreeWilly
75 posts
Nov 24, 2011
3:53 AM
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I've been wondering why I've never blown out a reed. I play an hour a day, and have had some harps for over 4 years. They go out of tune, but I never blew one out. I do play loud sometimes, but not too loud. Is that the reason? Perhaps it's because I seldom gig? I seem to blow louder on jams, because all the guitars are so f***ing loud.
Do you guys think people like Jason Ricci (using expensive custom harps) blow out reeds?
Should I start blowing out reeds? I feel left out somehow..
Last Edited by on Nov 24, 2011 10:47 AM
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FMWoodeye
40 posts
Nov 24, 2011
9:27 AM
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Dude, you're sounding like a guy with a 12-inch penis wondering if he should have a couple inches lopped off. I just blew out a four-draw reed. Guess my short penis and I will have to go to eBay. Happy Thanksgiving.
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Tommy the Hat
456 posts
Nov 24, 2011
9:38 AM
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"Dude, you're sounding like a guy with a 12-inch penis wondering if he should have a couple inches lopped off."
Well, it would be difficult buying bathing suits.
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Tommy
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Barry C.
308 posts
Nov 24, 2011
9:59 AM
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almost all reeds are blown-out whilest playing-out live (i blame the guitar players)! try it and i'll guarantee a blown 4-draw or two...(but no harm to the valueable penis!!)
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~Banned in Boston!
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nacoran
4975 posts
Nov 24, 2011
5:54 PM
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I've blown out 2 reeds (excluding a couple experimental embossed reeds that I destroyed with a file and a penny). One was the first time I jammed with people who were amplified. I wasn't. Special 20 A, I loved you. You were a sweet harp.
The other time was just recently. My collection of harps still had 2 Piedmonts filling in keys. I have a low F Marine Band and a LLF Seydel Blues Favorite, so upgrading my Piedmont F wasn't high on my priority list.
The other, well, that was my Piedmont D. Why hadn't I upgraded such a useful harp? Well, every losing team has a star, and Piedmont's was this D harp. I imagine it was the finest Piedmont ever made. It was not a sweet harp, it was MY sweet harp. I could play it faster than my F# Golden Melody. I could bend it farther than a yoga instructor. It wasn't as loud as my other harps, but it didn't have to be... well, except for one song, a song where I change keys twice and my poor little Piedmont just didn't have the volume to play evenly with the other two harps. My heart never really strayed, but I was, in practice, unfaithful. I brought home a hussy Lee Oskar D.
Oh sure, it's a nice enough harp, but it's no perfect Piedmont. That night my Piedmont knew. She could have refused to play, but she didn't. She played like she never had before... louder, more powerful. We made sweet music. I realized I had made a mistake, but it was too late. She'd blown a reed. I'd take her to a hospital, but, well, she's a Piedmont. The hospitals all turned her away, and so I put her in a drawer, in a place of honor, my best little Piedmont. I'd had other harps before her, but she was the first harp I made sweet music with. I'd play the last post and chorus, but that was our song.
edit: Typo
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Nate
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Last Edited by on Nov 24, 2011 7:06 PM
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RyanMortos
1195 posts
Nov 24, 2011
5:58 PM
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I understand how he feels. In the 3 or so years I've been playing I've blown out zero reeds but I keep hearing people talking about it. I guess some of us don't play as hard.
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~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Steven Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
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NH Steve
4 posts
Nov 24, 2011
6:15 PM
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"blown out" meaning when they go dead flat?
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walterharp
767 posts
Nov 24, 2011
7:30 PM
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i have never physically blown out a reed in that it broke and fell off the reed plate, but always assumed it meant a structural failure that makes it flat and cannot be fixed by tuning. have heard of reeds actually breaking off
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STME58
22 posts
Nov 24, 2011
7:42 PM
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I seem to frequently have 7 blow fail. It goes a bit flat and within a few minutes it is down to the same pitch as 7 draw and if I try to tune it it breaks at the slightest bend. Fatigue failure I expect. I don't do anything but practice and I don't play real loud, no guitars to compete with, yet. I have had harps blow out in lees that a week but I am playing more now and they are lasting longer so I suspect it is subtle difference in my technique .
It reminds me of first starting to ride a bike long distances. I would get a flat every 25 to 50 miles. Now I can go 100's of miles without a flat. Of course now that I have said this, tomorrow I will blow a reed and flat a tire!
Last Edited by on Nov 24, 2011 7:45 PM
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didjcripey
160 posts
Nov 24, 2011
9:06 PM
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12 inches? I knew someone with twelve inches
but he didn't use it as a rule. Boom boom.
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Lucky Lester
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FreeWilly
76 posts
Nov 25, 2011
3:50 AM
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Reassuring to hear I'm not the only one. Perhaps I'll buy piedmonds to feel part of the group? Although that would get me out of the other group that is - as we've established now - existing!.. Oh well.
Literally blowing out reeds could be cool! It would provide protecting when practicing in dark alleys with cool acoustics. Grap a Piedmond: blow out a couple of reeds and get yourself to safety.
Perhaps that's what Little Walter meant in that scene of Chess records where he grabs a harmonica when confronted with angry gamblers. "Watch out or I'll blow out a reed on ya!"
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FreeWilly
77 posts
Nov 25, 2011
3:51 AM
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And if there's a very sweet Piedmond I'll save it for Nate!
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jbone
692 posts
Nov 25, 2011
4:08 AM
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guys, count your blessings if you're playing at a level you like and you're not killing reeds!
it does come with playing out live. and under extreme circumstances one CAN physically blow a reed- or suck a reed- out of a harp. which i did one night and never found it. in fact i blew up 4 harps in one gig but i think a couple of them were on the verge of failure. that was many years ago and i was playing very loud, with a loud band and not enough amp.
the reed in a harp is a fragile and flimsy thing. constant over-stressing will result in microscopic cracks which allow the reed to flat out and never come back to true.
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STME58
23 posts
Nov 25, 2011
9:09 AM
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It doesn't seem to be only the cheap harps that blow out. So far I have had the mot troube with Suszuki Bluesmasters. Suszuki replaced several reeds for me but now it is deemed abuse, and they may be right.
I have blown Marine band, Pro Master, Manji, Blues Bender, Lee Oscar, Bushman, Session Steel, Pro Harp etc. so its not the model.
Even within a model some are better than others. My first 2 C Marine bands were not too good but I really like the one I have now. I like it so much I don't play it much for fear of blowing it out!
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HawkeyeKane
482 posts
Nov 25, 2011
10:45 AM
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I've blown out pretty much every model harp I've ever tried except for the cheapie ones that I seldom used. But usually I get jammed reeds rather than blown ones. Those can sometimes be fixed by cleaning the gaps. Yeah, I would say until someone invents a reedless electronic harmonica that actually has a good sound (a solid state harp if you will), so harp will ever be immune to blowouts.
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Hawkeye Kane
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nacoran
4978 posts
Nov 25, 2011
11:59 AM
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Thanks FreeWilly... wait, if anyone knows how to use a harp as a weapon it would be a ninja. HarpNinja! He's a customizer too. I bet he could design flying reeds. :)
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Nate
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HawkeyeKane
484 posts
Nov 25, 2011
12:18 PM
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@Nate
Funny that you should mention....
Hipbone's dad is a knifesmith. I asked if he could try mounting a blade into a harp body. He said he'd look into it.
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Hawkeye Kane
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