MN
1 post
Oct 20, 2010
1:27 AM
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I've read through the archives about half-valved diatonic harps and would like to try 'em. I'll likely pick up a valved Promaster at some point.
But I'm also wondering how doable it is to valve some of my old harps myself? I just ordered a couple packs of valves from Seydel. Any tips, guys? What sort of adhesive do I use?
Also, among my stash of harps that I'd be trying this with are some Hohner MS harp that I gave up playing once I started overblowing. Are these decent candidates for valving?
Many thanks in advance.
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MrVerylongusername
1303 posts
Oct 20, 2010
3:04 AM
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From the Hohner USA site:
"Any all purpose household glue should do the trick. Hohner uses PLIOBOND marketed by W. J. Ruscoe Co., available through major hardware stores."
I think super glue would work too, as long as your careful not to let it run into slots.
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MN
4 posts
Oct 20, 2010
3:33 AM
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Good deal. Thanks.
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PT
53 posts
Oct 20, 2010
4:35 AM
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I would suggest that you also consider ordering a half-valved diatonic from Seydel. They will do this service on any of the 10 diatonic models they make. If you purchased the valves listed as PT Gazell Method you are getting what I researched and use in my harmonicas. You can also purchase any Seydel product or service by going through my website which helps me recoup the cost of my R & D on half-valving. Here is the link and good luck with your experiment.
http://www.ptgazell.com/Seydel_Harmonica_Shop.html
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"Life...10 Holes & 20 Reeds At A Time"
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jim
417 posts
Oct 20, 2010
7:29 AM
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just glued the Gazelle valves to my HighG. They don't stick, no additional noise. Good job, PT!
A question to you: I have fully halved my High G (it's in an alternative tuning that does not need any bends/overblows...) - but the top 4 holes don't have valve bends. The reeds just go from full sound to no sound when trying to bend them. Is it because it is a super-high key?
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www.truechromatic.com
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MN
5 posts
Oct 20, 2010
9:31 AM
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PT wrote:
"I would suggest that you also consider ordering a half-valved diatonic from Seydel. They will do this service on any of the 10 diatonic models they make."
I plan to in time, PT. Definitely.
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PT
54 posts
Oct 21, 2010
5:11 AM
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Jim...when you say fully valved what do you mean? If you are using the standard method of 10 valves it is most likely the fact that a High G has very short reeds and they are going to be difficult to blow bend regardless of valves.
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"Life...10 Holes & 20 Reeds At A Time"
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jim
418 posts
Oct 21, 2010
6:08 AM
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PT,
the one that I valved is as follows:
G Bb D F A Db E Ab Bb D
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
A Db E Ab Bb D F A Db E
this is my tuning called "Arabic" - if you start with 1 draw and climb all the way up you'll have 2.5 octaves of an arabic scale without any bends/overblows (A Bb Db D E F Ab A - arabic scale in A).
For that reason I used all 20 valves (no need for regular bends anyway). I guess the top reeds are just very high...
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www.truechromatic.com
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mr_so&so
366 posts
Oct 21, 2010
7:49 AM
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@PT, I recently watched your Bluesharmonica.com interview where you discussed half valving. It seems there are many ways to achieve chromaticism from the diatonic, and half-valving is beginning to intrigue me, because of the bending inflection that can be put on every note. Are there any drawbacks to the approach in your view? E.g., with a standard Richter-tuned harp, half valved, I expect the 3 draw bends are not all there. Are those notes then achievable through blow bending? Sorry if this is hijacking the topic.
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jim
419 posts
Oct 21, 2010
9:10 AM
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all your bends stay the same.
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www.truechromatic.com
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wheezer
170 posts
Oct 22, 2010
1:45 PM
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Valve adhesive.
I recently had to replace valves in a Hohner XB40.
Could find no info so I asked Dave Payne (The Guru)
and he recommended Superglue Gel (not the ordinary stuff).
I only did this a couple of weeks ago so it is too early to say how well it will hold up. (The origional glue let the valves go two weeks after buying the harps)
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wheezer
171 posts
Oct 22, 2010
1:45 PM
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Valve adhesive.
I recently had to replace valves in a Hohner XB40.
Could find no info so I asked Dave Payne (The Guru)
and he recommended Superglue Gel (not the ordinary stuff).
I only did this a couple of weeks ago so it is too early to say how well it will hold up. (The origional glue let the valves go two weeks after buying the harps)
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PT
55 posts
Oct 24, 2010
9:40 AM
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Mr. So & So,
The only thing I would call a possible drawback to half-valving would be that the tone of the harmonica is a little different than a non valved diatonic. Now having said that, I prefer the sound since I am a pucker player who does mostly melodic single note playing. The full chromaticism and the emotional content that is available more than offsets the change in tone.
PT
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"Life...10 Holes & 20 Reeds At A Time"
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barbequebob
1387 posts
Oct 24, 2010
11:42 AM
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The sound of a valved diatonic, to my ears at least, is sort of somwhere between a chromatic and a Hohner XB-40. What the valves also do is dampen the upper harmonic overtones, and the vast majority of those overtones tend to bee odd-numbered, and if the harp is tuned to ET tuning, it will actually help to mellow out the inherint harshness of an ET tuned chord.
It's like anything else. If you retune to a diffferent temperament, scale, altered tuning, or anything else, whatever else you get that you cannot normallly do in something you're used to playing on, there's ALWAYS going to be some sort of a tradeoff that you do have to learn to live with and/or adapt to, just like if you were used to using a guitar in its normal tuning from lowest to high string E-A-D-G-B-E to a tuning like open D, which would be D-A-D-F#-A-D or even what Albert Collins used, which was tuning to an open Dm chord, or anything else and so you have to get yourself familiarized with both its advantages as well as its drawbacks.
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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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PT
56 posts
Oct 24, 2010
1:47 PM
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Well said Bob...I think your exactly right about placing the sound of a valved diatonic somewhere between a Chromatic and an XB-40. I tend to tune my instruments in ET from hole 5 up through 10 and leave the first four as a compromise tuning. Just a personal thing. While I don't often play chords I do like the sound of them on the first octave from time to time.
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"Life...10 Holes & 20 Reeds At A Time"
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