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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Reed Rattle on attempted OB and OD ing
Reed Rattle on attempted OB and OD ing
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John M G
324 posts
Aug 30, 2019
5:38 AM
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My OB's and OD's are getting much better, especially using custom harmonica's.
I have found I can overblow quite a few of my stock harmonicas and also overdraw on some.
These are mostly Suzuki's but also some old Lee Oskars.
Some though make more of a mechanical rattle when you try and OB (or OD on the lower key harps)
This can't be a case of reed alignment as all the harps play well except for the OB and OD's and the Suzuki harps have spot welded reed plates.
What's going on here and what are the cures?
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ROBERT TEMPLE II
80 posts
Aug 31, 2019
3:02 PM
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I recently read of a way to find the rattle in reeds. Open the harp up all the way, go to the reeds in the slot that is rattling, both blow and draw. Using a Sharpie marker, mark the edges of the reeds. You may want to raise each reed with a shim so as to be able to mark as much of the reeds' edges as possible. Reassemble, blow and draw, hear the rattles. Disassemble and look at the edges of the reeds. If you see metal showing anywhere on the sides of the marked reeds, that's where the hot spot is, maybe. The vibrations/rattle wear away the paint. I suppose one could also mark the edges of the slots as well for further testing.
I have had great success using tiny bits of dental wax at the corners of where the reed and slots are, closest to the rivet, reedside up. A tad over the rivet proper also seems to help stablize the vibrations and allows for very smooth ob/ods.
I also recently read mention of people using Blu Tac, a putty used to cleanly hang posters on walls with, instead of dental wax. $1 worth of it and the dental wax would be a lifetime's supply.
Maybe a third way to quell rattles might be to use Brendan Power's idea of using "nail art pens." It is like coagulated nail polish, can tighten the gaps along the reeds, like embossing does, and is totally reversable. See the links below for more info.
I hope something here helps. I, too, have tried many, many harps over the years, since 1973, and am only in the past two years using ob/ods. Having learned that has opened up the world of music to me like never before. I am enthused, to say the least. Knowing so much more about the workings of the harp has been quite an interesting study so far.
This first link is a series of tips for customization. Very good. I use a lot LESS wax than this guy does, as little as possible, mostly in the very corners, as I mentioned above.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL005A97136A274450
The next link is for the nail art pen application. If you do use the nail art pen trick, let us know how it worked out, please. I have yet to use the pens but may soon. i found mine at a dollar store. Online has them, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQP6tZRXbTU&fbclid=IwAR37hWvUg_3_PtZymuet5OSOlGYHH_YKUmZEYnSCEJsPEWe-p2e4S8DzHpM
Here's an old post from this forum regarding nail polish vs chapstick. I NEVER put nail polish on my lips, EVER.
https://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/board/board_topic/5560960/918608.htm?fbclid=IwAR1gV6-aB1AVRr0KXCpRJYWy_6xTpoFcY8i61TVo_exFTfhG8mx2fQ_IwyE
Finally, an article all about harmonica squeals and other noises. If none of this helps, well...have fun and good luck anyway!
https://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/board/board_topic/5560960/918608.htm?fbclid=IwAR1gV6-aB1AVRr0KXCpRJYWy_6xTpoFcY8i61TVo_exFTfhG8mx2fQ_IwyE
Last Edited by ROBERT TEMPLE II on Aug 31, 2019 3:11 PM
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SuperBee
6137 posts
Sep 01, 2019
2:22 AM
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The term ‘rattle’, to me implies something is hitting something. That could be happening I suppose but I’m not sure that’s what you mean. More often the noises of protest from overblows are to do with reeds flexing in an unhelpful way, I think.
The treatments which involve wax etc, all prevent the air flowing around that fixed end of the slot.
So what is going on there? I’m inferring that this stabilizes the reed, as in an overblow it’s operating in a way which is not designed.
In an overblow you would normally be stalling the blow reed and forcing the draw reed to operate with the air coming at it from the inside, blowing toward the rivet end. In normal use that reed operates with the air coming in over the reed and in towards the free end.
I’m thinking it’s the direction of airflow toward the rivet end which may cause more than usual amount of pressure going through the rivet end, where the reed is less flexible, and setting up torsional flex which results in buzzing and maybe also sees the end of the reed clipping the slot sometimes.
I could be way off beam. This is just what I think goes on. I’ve never really been very interested in overblows so I haven’t made much of a study of building harps for that application.
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