The Stick
3 posts
Mar 25, 2012
1:46 AM
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There have been several solutions presented on how to eliminate buzzing/ringing reeds that avail themselves only when attempting overblows.
1. Dental wax, Chapstick
2. Fingernail polish
3. "TurboTape" on the side nearest the reedplate.
Feel free to expound on these.
My question:
Where the heck is a good place to buy TurboTape, and exactly what specifications of it will work best?
BTW, Tinus Koorg of overblow.com insists that no reed modifications will solve the ringing/buzzing phenomena. Only wax, polish, or tape!
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Slewis
11 posts
Mar 25, 2012
3:16 AM
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IMHO, two things greatly (among others ) cause the squealing one if its not correctly embossed at the rivet end/or in general..and second incorrcet technique..
the three things u mentioned dont have to be used at all to get clean overblows!
if ur able to emboss the harp correctly, especially at the rivet end, u shudnt have problems with the squealing/buzzing, of course taking into consideration ur technique is spot on!
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arzajac
763 posts
Mar 25, 2012
4:07 AM
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Not all harps are the same.
Are we talking about a harp with long narrow reed slots (good) or one with short wide slots (bad)?
It is far easier to eliminate torsional vibrations (squealing) on a harp with long thin slots. That would be a Marine Band-type harp like MB, SP-20, GM, etc... An example of the short/wide slots would be the MS series harps - all of them. Tinus uses MS-series plates and that's why he says that you need to do extra work on them to get them to stop squealing.
On the other hand, I have heard many customisers say that they don't have to use wax, nail polish or anything else on the rivet end of their high-end harps to get them to avoid squealing. Some boast that they never use any of that stuff. I believe that they just provide near-perfect airflow and long-narrow slots deal with the problem themselves.
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Last Edited by on Mar 25, 2012 8:03 AM
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harpwrench
577 posts
Mar 25, 2012
8:02 AM
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FYI
I've read several posts on here claiming that I don't use wax. That's total BS, it is a tool I happily use as needed. When done properly it causes no problems down the road (just don't leave the harp in your car, beeswax flows at 140F). I will post an image of the correct application to show how little is needed and exactly where it needs to be.
I do remember posting something one time to mess with Buddha's head...but what I said was that I don't slather it on there (or something to that effect). Chris used way too much sometimes.
As far as other suggestions given here and on similar threads....
I have used 1/16" fine line 3M tape, but that was years ago. I don't like how it affects the playability of the reed, but it does work.
Tapping rivets is not usually going to do anything for you except risk bending the reedplate if you're not careful.
Embossing tightly will not cure a squealing reed if it really wants to squeal. Some reeds simply have bad profiles and the only fix is to replace them with a good one. Period.
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Spiers Harmonicas
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arzajac
764 posts
Mar 25, 2012
8:06 AM
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Thanks Joe for clearing that up!
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harpwrench
578 posts
Mar 25, 2012
8:11 AM
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Spiers Harmonicas
Last Edited by on Mar 25, 2012 4:53 PM
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ridge
320 posts
Mar 25, 2012
9:29 AM
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Nice picture! I'm making this my background :)
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The Stick
4 posts
Mar 25, 2012
10:59 AM
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Thanks Joe! I see the reedplate has been properly scraped near the rivet, but it is obviously clean. (no wax)
Will mine most likely stop buzzing if I perform this scraping on the reedplate near the rivet?
Or is it that your picture was accidentally posted without wax? (you stated you were going to post one with wax applied)
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Todd Parrott
891 posts
Mar 25, 2012
11:08 AM
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The best solution I've found are Spiers harps. You can fool with homemade customs if you want, and I have a bunch of them I've done myself with nail polish, but they just aren't the same as what Joe builds.
I think some of my Spiers harps may have wax, others do not. I say, whatever works. When you get into bending up overdraws, you're really forcing the harp to do something it wasn't designed to do, even more so than bends, so who really cares if you have to use wax or not. With Joe's harps, you get good solid overblows and overdraws, but you can still play the fast, rapid-fire Popper licks without the reeds sticking.
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Todd Parrott
892 posts
Mar 25, 2012
11:12 AM
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@The Stick - I think what he is showing is that the wax is applied in the corners where the reed enters the slot, not on the rivet itself.
Last Edited by on Mar 25, 2012 11:16 AM
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harpwrench
579 posts
Mar 25, 2012
5:14 PM
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Photo changed to clarify for The Stick
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Spiers Harmonicas
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The Stick
5 posts
Mar 26, 2012
7:50 PM
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Thanks guys. And Joe, thanks for the straight up honesty.
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SergZZZ
30 posts
Mar 26, 2012
9:41 PM
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Using this method waxing about 2 years. It really works well. Does not affect the adjustment of height of a reed. The advantage of this method is that it does not spoil the appearance of the plate. Wax is rubbed into the gap on the length of 1...2 mm.
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www.ermonica.com
Last Edited by on Mar 27, 2012 12:21 AM
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