TheATL
52 posts
Aug 10, 2013
12:48 PM
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Hi all,
I was playing last night and experienced my first harp blowout and would love some explanation as to what in the world happened. The five-hole draw on a relatively new (1 year old) standard MB all at once went about a 1/2 note low. Now if I had stuck the reed, it would not play. If I had somehow worn the tip off, I would expect it to play high. But a half-step low? Any ideas? Other than putting a new reed on, is the harp shot?
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fred_gomez
143 posts
Aug 10, 2013
1:25 PM
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hmm a year old.... i have bic razors older than that. ok heres what i do. good thing its a draw reed, you only have to pop off the bottom plate. i dont use a pocket knife for this as it bends things slightly up. i use an exacto knife blade and come in behind so when it pops up the tabs bend down not up like with a pocket knife coming in on the ends. clean the plate and spit crystals, then take a dulled single edged razor blade and stick it under the 5 draw reed. then i using a small hair scissor as a chisel i start shaving off metal from the tip about 1/8 down. shave lightly across then test it. keep doing this till it sounds right. when you get it right stop go no further. put the plate back on. after this operation i use it only for 1st position to get the high end life out of it. if you use it for 2nd it will last a few songs then blow out again. 5 draw is a reed you wail alot on. 4 and 5 draw eventually become blues toast.
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Pistolcat
488 posts
Aug 10, 2013
1:50 PM
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If it suddenly went half a note flat then my guess it that it has fractured at the base due to metal fatigue. You can always try to tune it up like Fred suggested but I bet that it'll either come right off or just won't keep the tuning. You'll probably need a new reed.
My two cents...
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Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
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MP
2889 posts
Aug 10, 2013
2:16 PM
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welcome to the club. :-)
once a reed goes a 1/2 step lower in pitch it is toast. i've replaced a couple hundred five draw reeds. It is as Pistolcat suggests, stress fracture near the base of the reed. like a rotten tooth, it has got to go. If you manage to tune it back up to pitch it'll go flat again even if you look at it sideways.
here is the test. remove the bottom cover plate and plink the reed hard over and over. eventually the reed will crease at the fracture point or snap right off.
the five draw in 2nd position is that gorgeous b7th all blues harpers know and love.
you didn't do anything wrong. you just wore a reed out. i don't know of a single blues harp player who hasn't broken reeds.
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MP
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Last Edited by MP on Aug 11, 2013 12:09 PM
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groyster1
2334 posts
Aug 10, 2013
4:46 PM
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I cannot tell a lie....Ive blown out 5draw reeds.3 times....but I am obsessive with 45 draw warble....
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jbone
1327 posts
Aug 10, 2013
8:28 PM
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Possibly my hearing is not so good to notice a slight flatting out. I DO notice 1/2 step and have killed a lot of 4 and 5 draw reeds. It's a replace deal. I've seen microscopic pictures of fatigue brass reeds and there is just no fixing them.
I use Suzuki Manji, which has replacement plates so that's what I do. Once one reed fatigues others are likely getting tired as well, so I go for all new.
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fred_gomez
144 posts
Aug 10, 2013
8:43 PM
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hmm i bet the harp was an A or a D harp. those get used the most. what i used to do is save the harps only the As and Ds. i got a collection of plates with just the 4 draw cracked and ones with just the 5 draw cracked. i would cut these plates at work and make one good plate and fill in the cut with silicone rubber. if the 4 and 5 draw wereblown out id just ditch the plates. keep the covers comb and screws. get enough brass you can cash it in i think.
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nacoran
7021 posts
Aug 10, 2013
8:46 PM
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Okay, this is not a suggestion, or even a theory, just a question about metallurgy-
If you had a reed, just sitting there on the table because you'd popped it out because it had a fracture in it, and that table happened to be a high temperature safe science table, and maybe a teflon no stick pan, and you happened to have a blow torch-
Someone has to have tried that at some point, in the history of harmonicas haven't they? Remelting a crack and recooling it?
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Nate
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bluemoose
910 posts
Aug 10, 2013
11:49 PM
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Well maybe... but as soon as you start talking about crack and blow torches and science aren't the DEA, NRA or Feds or something gonna be busting through your door and doing cavity searches or something?
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nacoran
7022 posts
Aug 11, 2013
5:24 AM
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Bluemoose, it's okay, I'm already on the watch list- I'm a Coca Cola fan, and in Mexico they make it with sugar instead of corn syrup. Some people import small amounts for resale, so I'm already in the database for searching for small amounts of Mexican coke.
Hmm, come to think about it, coke causes cavities... hang on, someone is banging on the door...
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Nate
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The Iceman
1078 posts
Aug 11, 2013
6:40 AM
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5 hole inhale reed is usually the first to go when the player uses excessive force, especially bending it down past it's "floor".
Perhaps a technique check is in order?
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The Iceman
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The Iceman
1079 posts
Aug 11, 2013
8:21 AM
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oops, mentioning Mexican Coke, crack, blow torches, etc, you've put this forum in the cross hairs of the NSA internet information gathering program.
It only took 30 years for our government to catch up with that great book "1984".
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The Iceman
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Buzadero
1108 posts
Aug 11, 2013
11:53 AM
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That's OK. As soon as Nate used the word "cavities", they knew he was no stranger to searches.
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~Buzadero
Underwater Janitor, Patriot
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Thievin' Heathen
239 posts
Aug 12, 2013
11:16 PM
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Hey now! Y'all cut that out. The NSA is trying to protct me and y'all are going to fill up that new building in Utah with erroneous keywords before the paint even dries.
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SuperBee
1358 posts
Aug 13, 2013
3:35 AM
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Especially with a character called "the iceman" on board
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ridge
454 posts
Aug 14, 2013
4:03 AM
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Breaking Bad... Reeds
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