Garlic Breath
98 posts
Apr 07, 2018
2:19 PM
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I recently purchased a couple Golden Melody harps which were used, but looked to be in good shape. Several of mine have broken reeds, and I thought maybe I'd swap out the reed plates with those from the used ones. Upon closer examination, I realized that these were from the days before they started using two part screws to attach the covers. Back in the early eighties, I would play them till a reed broke, and then toss them away. That was back when they only cost about twenty bucks, no one I knew repaired them, and they seemed too difficult to take apart to make it worth while. Now, they're just shy of forty bucks, and the number of techs selling parts, repairs, and customs, makes me realize that they are now like guitars. A string breaks, a tuner fails, or it dosen't play well, you don't scrap it, you fix and optimize it. So please let me know how best to open them without destroying the covers. Or is it even worth saving the covers? They seem to have smaller holes than the modern ones, so the reed plates may be the only part with any potential value, in this modern era. The more I learn from those who post here, the more I see how what was once regarded as kind of a toy has now transitioned into a fine instrument, a musical niche, and a joyful obsession.
Last Edited by Garlic Breath on Apr 07, 2018 2:47 PM
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Thievin' Heathen
995 posts
Apr 07, 2018
3:06 PM
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You could make fishing lures out of them.
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Garlic Breath
100 posts
Apr 07, 2018
3:15 PM
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COOL! Spinner bait spoons with the Hohner logo. Great idea.
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WinslowYerxa
1555 posts
Apr 08, 2018
1:04 AM
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You might be able to grind down the heads of the fastening pins on one side enough to pull them out the other side. Using a drill press with a grinding bit might work.
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Winslow
Harmonica lessons with one of the world's foremost experts
Check out my blog and other goodies at winslowyerxa.com
Harmonica For Dummies, Second Edition with tons of new stuff
SPAH 2018 - August 14-18 in St. Louis
Harmonica lessons with one of the world's foremost experts
Check out my blog and other goodies at winslowyerxa.com
Harmonica For Dummies, Second Edition with tons of new stuff
SPAH 2018 - August 14-18 in St. Louis
Last Edited by WinslowYerxa on Apr 08, 2018 1:04 AM
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florida-trader
1290 posts
Apr 08, 2018
4:20 PM
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Oh Great One (Winslow Yerxa) - I hate to disagree with you, but the pins that hold those old 1970's Golden Melody covers on do not go all the way through the harp like the male/female screws that hold the modern GM covers on. So, you would not be able to pull them through one side or the other even if you grind the head off one end.
Those old pins are actually jammed into the plastic comb. If you can get a knife edge or a putty knife between the edge of the cover and the comb, you can wiggle the covers free. The pins will release.
The holes in the covers are not as large or deep as the modern covers that use the screws. So, replacing the pins with screws is not an exact fit - unless you are not particular about the heads of the screws sticking out a bit.
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Tom Halchak
Blue Moon Harmonicas
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Garlic Breath
101 posts
Apr 08, 2018
6:03 PM
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Thanks Tom! I knew you'd have worked on them before.
As I had suspected, the reed plates are the only thing worth saving.
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ridge
729 posts
Apr 09, 2018
5:17 AM
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GB,
They are a real labor of love to open up. I have one sitting on my desk right now. Some combination of prying\hammering\swearing\yanking will get the job done. I have a few more I did years ago that turned out okay.
The pinned GMs seem like they were from the darker days of Hohner quality control. Had more than one reed riveted off center from the slot.
As far as reusing the plates, I used other GM screws and slowly drove them in through the pin holes to make new threaded holes. I built up a supply of "extra" screws since I will only reassemble harps with three or four screws instead of the usual seven.
You can't see it, but there is a fourth screw just to the left.
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Ridge's YouTube
Last Edited by ridge on Apr 09, 2018 5:21 AM
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florida-trader
1291 posts
Apr 09, 2018
6:58 AM
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Well done Ridge.
The pins that fasten the reed plates to the comb can be popped out with one good rap with a flat punch. Once they are free of the reed plate to which they are secured, the pins will slide through the opposite reed plate. This is identical to the way Hohner and everyone else does screws. One plate (usuually the blow plate) has "pass through" holes and the opposite plate (usually the draw plate) is tapped for screws. The GM is the only harp that I am aware of that has screws going in both directions - top to bottom and bottome to top. That said, if you are inclined to re-use the reed plates, it is a very easy conversion to screws. The steel 1.6mm screws that Hohner uses on all their harps now will self-tap into the soft brass plates.
It is a pretty easy project.
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Tom Halchak
Blue Moon Harmonicas
Last Edited by florida-trader on Apr 09, 2018 7:08 AM
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WinslowYerxa
1556 posts
Apr 09, 2018
8:11 AM
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Hohner 280 chromatics also used to have drift pins driven from both directions to fasten reedplates to combs. They did this from the beginning of plastic combs in the mid-1950s well through the 1970s.
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Winslow
Harmonica lessons with one of the world's foremost experts
Check out my blog and other goodies at winslowyerxa.com
Harmonica For Dummies, Second Edition with tons of new stuff
SPAH 2018 - August 14-18 in St. Louis
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florida-trader
1292 posts
Apr 09, 2018
8:43 AM
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"drift pins"
Now you're getting all technical on us.
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Tom Halchak
Blue Moon Harmonicas
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