I've got a fairly reliable little Db harp that I've had for a while. It doesn't see heavy playing, but I picked it up today and got a buzz on the 3 draw. I took it apart and the alignment seemed alright (light on both sides of the reed) and I poked it a bit and tried again. The buzz was gone, but so was all sound from the reed. Picked it apart, tried again and it sounded fine. Ran up and down the scale and it was out again. Tried plinking it and it wouldn't sound, and then after some jostling it plinked just fine. Barring an expert disagreeing with me, this has lead me to believe I might have a problem with the rivet being loose. This is a mighty pretty sounding harp (even if I almost never get to use it) and I'd hate to screw it up. My first inclination is to get out some needle nosed pliers and gently squeeze on the rivet, but I wanted a second opinion before I did anything rash.
Also, what is the turn around and going rate on harp repair these days. I've got 3 or 4 of my good harps that are out of the rotation right now. I haven't been playing out much and I've got enough to keep in practice but my and my bass playing friend are hoping to get playing out again soon.
I wouldn't rule out a rivet issue, but before I messed with the rivet I would try reed floss... sliding a strip of thin shim material down each side of the slot.
Rather than an alignment issue you might have a burr or a loose piece of something that occasionally jams the reed. Tap it to get any debris out. Floss again.
If it is a plastic bodied harp you might give it a quick rinse and dry, or disassemble and clean thoroughly/carefully. With wood, even "sealed" wood, probably better to take it apart and clean it.
This next below is what I would try, using a tool I bought from Richard Sleigh, not a screwdriver. If the flossing and cleaning hasn't done it, you could try this, but first seek professional opinions from the official harp techs who frequent the forum, not me, the amateur dabbler.
TRY THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK! Unless the reed is easily sliding back and forth I wouldn't work on the rivet. If all of the above hasn't worked it may be the way the reed is seated. You could try to use a thin screwdriver the width of the reed base or slightly wider (slotted, not Phillips or Pozi-drive) to gently press the base of the reed toward the reed plate around the rivet. However, when you start re-seating a reed you may have to re-tune.
Check for other suggestions from pros before trying this last intervention. I may have overlooked another possibility or given less than adequate advice.
Most of the time when I have an intermittent reed, it is due to contamination. Many times rinsing the harp with warm water fixes the problem. Buzzing that is not alignment related is not something I have encountered.
Since the problem is not visible when the plate is off the comb, I would suspect the draw reed plate is bowed front-to-back.
Off the comb, the tip of the reed clears the side of the slot as you look at it. When you screw in the reed plates, the bow becomes flatter and the distance between the tip of the red and the slot also shortens and your reed now touches the slot.
I think it very well could be a loose rivet and I'm seeing this more and more lately, but most of the time a loose rivet is on a chromatic.
It is super easy, safe, and simple....to check and fix. Lay it on a flat anvil like surface and put a dimpled nail punch on the rivet head and tap it a few times. You can use a non-dimpled punch if that's all you have.
If this doesn't work, I bet the reed has sunk down below the edge of the plate.
The only other thing is that the plate might be binding when it is screwed down. Loosen the screws and see if it plays. In fact, I would do that first. Also, try playing it like I do in the video below. See if that works.
---------- Greg Jones 16:23 Custom Harmonicas greg@1623customharmonicas.com 1623customharmonicas.com
Thanks for offering your professional suggestions, guys! Nacoran, please let us know if any of this helps.
Those are good points about possible tightening or over tightening of the screws causing the plate to distort and bind the reed, or maybe a warped plate. I hadn't considered those possibilities. Also, a good question about whether it had been embossed, which might increase the chances of binding.
And it could be the rivet... I didn't rule that out. I would check other things first, but then would tap the rivet to see if that does it. I would use my Romel reed removal tool with the flat anvil if I were working on my own harp, but Greg's description of how to do it would work just as well or better. ----------
Yup, those would be my three steps, in order: 1) Check for reed alignment and obvious blockages, 2) Use a shim (little piece of metal from an anti-theft strip) to make sure that there are no burrs. 3) Check for reedplate flatness. 4) Tap the rivet with a nailset on an anvil,a nd recheck alignment. 5) Consider more radically altering the reedslot or chamfering the edges of the reed.
Pro-tip: you can get a nice little hobby anvil from Harbour freight that is the perfect size for this. While there, pick up a cheap nailset and small hobby hammer! :)
BTW, you haven't told us the model of harp. That info could be useful, as some models are likely more prone to have loose rivets? Just a guess.
Thanks for all the responses. After another 30 minutes of messing around with it it this morning it seems to be working again, but I'm going to let it sit for a bit to see if it stays that way and I have no idea what I did that got it working. I tricked me a couple times last night too though, so I'll see if it stays fixed.
I think I went through the whole checklist0 I flossed the reed and slot (or rather bank slipped it) but that didn't seem to help. There is no embossing on this harp, but giving it another look it looks like both reed plates are a little bent end to end but seem okay back to front; at some point it got redrilled to fit on new comb under less than perfect circumstances. I didn't do a great job on that; it's never sat quite perfect. It's got a ridge on the front of the plates so it must have started it's life out as a MB.
Greg, your video needs a warning! Had a bit of a mustache emergency... I tried again with a comb in the mix to keep the mustache out of the way and that seemed to work. It's interesting, at first it didn't want to play that way, but then I got it working, but it stalled again when I remounted it on the comb. It took a few more tries. Right now the plates are only being held on with 2 screws, but it's working.
Harvey, give me a day or two to see which harps I can get working with my new found magic powers. I've got at least two though that need help beyond my skills. Do you offer service to drill MB's out for new combs?
Isaac, I'll get over to Harbor Freight, but I think I may wait until I actually have to go outside to do it. The high for today is supposed to be 10 degrees and by the time I get bundled up today the temperature will already be dropping. Do you have a link to that video for the DIY riveter of yours handy? As long as I'm making the trip and I've got some beaters to practice on I might as well give it a shot. I'll start on Piedmonts and work my way up.
One last thought... I recently tried to mount a set of low F# MBD plates on a short slot D Crossover comb (after I broke a Corian comb when drilling for cover plates). It wouldn't play, and I saw that the reed was hanging up on the comb. I then made the crucial slots longer and remounted the reed plates to get it working.
It all came down to how far forward or back I remounted the plates on the comb. Too far back, no sound, because the reed hit the comb. Too far forward and the comb was recessed.
You might check and see if the alignment of the plates on the comb is putting the reed so far back that it is hitting the comb. ----------
Doug S.
Last Edited by dougharps on Feb 13, 2015 2:19 PM
Nate. Never did make a video on that tool. Its a grommet setter. You have to file the nub down to the size of a rivet, but it works well after that. There was a thread a couple years back with a good picture of it.
10 degrees, eh? It was 84 here today. Yeah, don't miss them polar vortexes! ----------
