HarpHero
1 post
Feb 02, 2013
11:44 PM
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Hello, guys. I got a vintage Golden Melody (C) from ebay for my birthday and I'm have issues with the sound and playability. The sound on both blow and draw notes is very weak throughout all holes, 1-10. Bending is near impossible too. I tried all the techniques like back pressure and proper emboucher but the harp just won't play loudly. I've tried arcing and gapping the reeds but to no avail.
The harp has cover screws but has pins inside. Maybe I should replace them with self-tapping screws for better airtightness...then again the harp wasn't playing well before I opened it up.
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Kingley
2286 posts
Feb 02, 2013
11:59 PM
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Sounds like a leaky comb. Get a new comb from Tom Halchak www.bluemoonharmonicas.com that should sort it out.
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arzajac
975 posts
Feb 03, 2013
4:07 AM
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Hello HarpHero. Happy birthday!
Not every vintage harp is a good harp.
Bummer.
Hohner went through a bad period in the late 80s. If this harp was manufactured in that period, you have a harp that will never perform very well, I'm afraid.
If you make the comb and reedplates airtight, adjust the reeds so that they are perfectly set for quick response and emboss the slots a little, you may end up with a harp that plays okay. Nothing stellar. And if you overdo it by heavily embossing the slot, you will have a lovely Kazoo.
You can't make chicken salad out of chicken poop.
Now, if there is an obvious leak such as the reedplates being loose or something, then you may expect a better outcome as the result of your efforts, but if everything seems secure, I don't think any effort you put into improving the harp will pay off. Sorry.
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Last Edited by on Feb 03, 2013 4:08 AM
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GMaj7
177 posts
Feb 03, 2013
5:02 AM
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Arzajac is correct. Hohner had a period in there where those harps just didn't play well at all. We've all been there.
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Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
1623customharmonicas.com
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HarpHero
2 posts
Feb 03, 2013
5:42 AM
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Thanks for the advice, guys.
I'm hoping there something I can do but it seems like arzajac is correct about my GM. That's a real bummer because I spent the little money I had on it for nothing. I was so excited to play it too. At least I have a junk harp to practice tweaking on.
Just to be sure, how large should the reed gaps be on a GM?
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Kingley
2288 posts
Feb 03, 2013
5:48 AM
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Gapping reeds is dependant on the players individual style. A general rule of thumb though is to set the gap no wider than the thickness of the reed. Use that as a starting point and then alter it to suit your style. Making sure it plays well at both soft and harder (not too hard) breath pressures. When gapping do the draw and blow reeds on each hole together as they each affect how the other responds. Watch Joe Spiers gapping videos on YouTube to see how it should be done. Just search for "choppajoe gapping"
Last Edited by on Feb 03, 2013 5:49 AM
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Thievin' Heathen
144 posts
Feb 03, 2013
10:05 AM
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I am pretty sure it was mid 80's Golden Melodies that sent me over to Lee Oskar.
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Littoral
760 posts
Feb 03, 2013
10:41 AM
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hmmm, my low F and low Eb are getting refurbished right now. It's no small feat giving them a new comb. Matthew Smart is doing the work. Their both pretty amazing harps, especially the low F. I didn't know but evidently one of them has silver reeds. I'll post a detailed report when I get them back.
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groyster1
2151 posts
Feb 03, 2013
2:53 PM
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did not realize goldens had been around longer than about 30 years...I sold some old ones in the white cases that had nails...think I sold one to arzajac...they were all out of tune but did not consider them inferior atall
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arzajac
976 posts
Feb 03, 2013
3:24 PM
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Groyster: Yes, you did. That one played fine from the day I got it. I converted it to screws to be able to clean it up and tune it. I assumed it was made before things went downhill at Hohner.
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Last Edited by on Feb 03, 2013 3:29 PM
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ElkRiverHarmonicas
1492 posts
Feb 03, 2013
6:00 PM
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Hang on there. There's plenty of stuff you can do. First thing you ought to do is tap all the nails in. You need to lay it on a board and then lightly tap the nails with a small hammer. Having it against a board is key, the sharp end of the nails go into the board and the pressure from the board gets the reedplates to lay flat. You have to watch bending the reedplates if you remove the nails to take it apart. There's a specific process you need to do to do it.
With that warning, just try to tighten it up.
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David
____________________
At the time of his birth, it was widely accepted that no one man could play that much music so well or raise that much hell. He proved them all wrong.
R.I.P. H. Cecil Payne
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David
Elk River Harmonicas
 
Last Edited by on Feb 03, 2013 6:01 PM
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Todd Parrott
1096 posts
Feb 03, 2013
7:04 PM
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@Littoral - Silver reeds? Sounds really cool! Please let us know more about it when you get it back. I know that they made chrome plated reed plates for Golden Melodies at one point, which was an idea of Howard Levy's so they say. TJ Klay has a few of them like that, but I've never heard about silver reeds. Perhaps BBQ Bob could tell us more also.
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barbequebob
2184 posts
Feb 04, 2013
7:48 AM
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Silver reeds is sort of a new one on me unless they're a custom setup of some sort. The main metals that have been used over the years have been brass Including phospher bronze), stainless steel, beryllium copper alloy, and even for a short time for kids, plastic, but never silver.
BTW, the Golden Melody and the Special 20 were both introduced for the first time back in 1974.
A big problem for leakage with those two, especially from the time they were first introduced thru the 1st half of the 80's (and for GM's, also for part of the late 80's to early 90's) was that the reed plates and the comb were held together by first aluminum nails then later brass escutcheon pins and when they weren't nailed together properly, they would leak just as bad or worse than a poorly done wood combed harmonica would and getting those nails out and then back in were frankly a real bitch if you didn't have the right tools to do it and PATIENCE, because the plastic combs could actually crack even quicker than wood from too much force from a hammer from someone that's too impatient.
Nickel plated and chrome plating on reed plates makes more sense that silver on the reeds themselves and that's been done.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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HarpNinja
3170 posts
Feb 04, 2013
8:52 AM
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The pics on FB that Matt posted look like brass reeds on German silver. I have a Meisterklasse from R. Sleigh that has a unique set of reeds that contain some level of lead. That's the craziest material I've heard of from Hohner.
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Custom Harmonicas
Optimized Harmonicas
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timeistight
1075 posts
Feb 04, 2013
9:37 AM
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I have a GM with a shiny silver reedplate. I bought it from Jason (who got it from Howard Levy) and he said the reedplate was stainless steel. However, the reeds themselves are just the regular brass.
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Playing music... it's a privilege.
Kim Wilson
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barbequebob
2186 posts
Feb 04, 2013
9:57 AM
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Back in the 40's, Hohner made some 64 Chromnatics using reed plates that were made of aluminum but the reeds were still made of brass. The tone of these instruments were amazing but many of the old chromatic techs often said because the plates being made of aluminum, they could be a real bitch to work on.
The highly prized pre-WWII MB's bell metal brass, which was a soft, but yet srong brass with awesome tonal qualities and have been out of production since that time does contain some amounts of lead.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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OldGeezer
5 posts
Feb 04, 2013
10:04 AM
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BBQ Bob said: 'Silver reeds is sort of a new one on me unless they're a custom setup of some sort. The main metals that have been used over the years have been brass Including phospher bronze), stainless steel, beryllium copper alloy, and even for a short time for kids, plastic, but never silver.'
Actually silver has been used for harp reeds, but not in a very long time. Koch and Hohner both used them in a few of their tremolos (marked 'Feinste Silber Stimmungen') probably in the early 1920's and/or earlier. Other manufacturers (Gebr. Ludwig, Carl Essenbach, for example) used them well before that - mostly in the 1890's or very early 1900's. I have some of these. A lot of times when the cover plates were marked as having silver reeds they were really just brass, or sometimes German Silver (Neusilber in German) German silver is a copper-nickel-zinc alloy. It contains no silver. I also have some real old harps from the 1870's that have hand filed German Silver reeds.
I wonder why silver was used in the first place? Back then it wasn't particularly valuable. The same goes for German Silver. Perhaps some modern maker might want to bring back real silver reeds, for snob appeal - if for no other reason.
Regards,
Paul N.
Tonawanda, NY
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HarpHero
3 posts
Feb 04, 2013
5:54 PM
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@ElkRiverHarmonicas
I'll give what you said a go and come back tommorrow with the results. Thanks a bunch.
My plan of attack is as follows:
Reed arching
Reed gapping
Embossing
Hammer the nails to the reedplates against a hard, flat surface.
Hopefully, this can bring my harp back to life.
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arzajac
977 posts
Feb 04, 2013
6:33 PM
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I suggest you address the airtightness first since all of the other tnings you mention will have much less impact if your harp leaks.
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HarpHero
4 posts
Feb 09, 2013
12:37 PM
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Update:
I fixed some of the leakiness, arced, and embossed the reeds a bit. I have to say, the harp seems a bit more responsive now! I can even get some blow and draw bends now. The tone is very smooth, very similar to a half-valved harp. I'll keep working on my harp to see if it can be somewhat playable.
Thank you all for the suggestions!
-James
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GMaj7
181 posts
Feb 09, 2013
12:34 PM
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One other thing that might help a bit is to polish the reeds. It will, of course, throw it out of tune but you can bring it back into pitch. Use a sanding wand or sanding stick, light sandpaper, etc and just sand the reeds down a little. Yes, this does weekend them but it also might extend the life if you sand thru. the milling marks and a thinner reed might respond a little better.
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Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
1623customharmonicas.com
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SuperBee
896 posts
Feb 09, 2013
3:00 PM
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This reminds me a little of my neighbour who had a split-screen Kombi van. He stripped it to bare metal, completely refurbished it inside, repainted it, rebuilt the engine, restored all the running gear. He spent months on it; everyday I would see him hard at work on his project.
When he finished, guess what he wound up with? An old Kombi!!!
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