harpdude61
716 posts
Feb 02, 2011
8:55 AM
|
I just opened a new Hohner Golden Melody in the key of Eb. I love the blister packs...at least you know any and everybody has not played the harp before you.
It was a pleasant suprise to find the harp played well. They must be doing more since raising prices and going to the blister pack.
I played octaves on both blow and draw and found the harp to be in better tune than any stock harp I ever bought.
4,5,6 overblow and the 7 overdraw are there, but I could tell I still needed to go in and tighten the gaps to my preferences.
What I found inside was that 3 or 4 of the reeds looked like they had been held against a bench grinder..pretty much in the center of the reed. You can run your fingers over them lightly and feel the gashes.
My profession is in the metal trades and I know you can take away metal with the correct texture remover, which makes it smooth and sometimes unnoticable.
I know this is part of tuning, but you would think the reeds would be close enough to pitch that very minimal grinding would be needed....and the needed grinding would be much smoother and consistent.
This has to cut down on reed life and I wonder if top customizers would even accept this harp to customize.
Maybe I'm over-reacting, but I've never seen such dasterdly gashes on a harmonica reed.
|
chromaticblues
555 posts
Feb 02, 2011
9:26 AM
|
Yeah Harpdude I have been saying this for a year now! I have noticed major differences with harps that people send me and brand new harps I buy then customize for people. The harps I customize that are brand new are SO MUCH Better. It isn't even compareable.
Now on to the "tuning"! I know!! You are right!!!
No doubt about it. I use bendable nail files. I can't remember the grit right now. I think its 320, but that works to sand down the whole area that is affected by the crazy tuning marks. If the marks are at the end of the reed. Don't worry about it, but if its in the part the bends its gotta go. Then retune. I have never discused this with anyone, but I sand more than half of it away. Sometimes the gashes are so deep you can't sand them away. You won't have any reed left. This is how I figured out how to do it. I had a draw two once that made a fluttering type of sound when I bent it down slowly with as little breath forse as possible. I noticed it had a diagnal tuning mark 3/4 of the way down the reed. I sanded it a little, retuned and it still did it but not as bad. So I sanded it a little more and it got better. I ended up sanding about 3/4 of the tuning mark away blending the sanding into the rest of the reed. I retuned it and it worked perfect.
No your not over reacting! It effects the path of the vibrations thru the reed. Its very noticable on some reeds when your bending. I threw alot of harps away untill I figured that one out. This is basic stuff! Why isn't there a book on this? I bought Richard Sliegh's book, but it was very basic! I doesn't go anywhere near stuff like this.
Last Edited by on Feb 02, 2011 9:57 AM
|
harpdude61
717 posts
Feb 02, 2011
9:43 AM
|
THanks chromaticblues....when you can feel a gash with your finger that tells me thickness is gone forever..you cannot bring it back....and yes, this has to affect how the reed vibrates and sounds.
Sounds like you figured it out, but a reed that has been ground course and then sanded smooth cannot be as strong and lasting as a reed that needed nothing or minimal fine sanding.
Seems the reeds could be manufactured closer to pitch and if anything slightly flat in pitch so removal could be done near the end.
|
chromaticblues
558 posts
Feb 02, 2011
10:02 AM
|
Harpdude if you have any that seem a little wierd trying to sustain a bend. Try sanding with one of those nail file thingys. Try sanding half of it away and then test. Just keep going till you get it. Its a real easy way of making crappy harp work the way they should!
|
isaacullah
1382 posts
Feb 02, 2011
1:38 PM
|
@harpdude: I've definitely noticed this issue on some of my Hohner harps. In fact, I once bought a set of MS replacement reedplates (in A) where the tip of the 7 blow reed had been gouged with whatever rotary tool they uses until there was actually a hole through the reed! I mean, you could see daylight through it! I just don't know how they could have let that slip through quality control. It was "in tune", but it obviously played like crap because a ton of air was passing through the reed (and I do mean THROUGH the reed!). I fixed it by filling the hole with gel-style super glue. Once it dried, a few strokes with my own tuning file (I also use bendable nail files) was all it took to bring it back up to the proper pitch.
@chromaticblues: I always wondered if those diagonal tuning marks had implications for reed travel. I suppose that is one of the reasons why top customizers always "shave" down to remove factory tuning marks. It would be nice to have the option to buy untuned reedplates from the manufacturer. The only place where this might be true (AFAIK) is Seydel. I only *think* this is true because I recently noticed Seydel offers *two* options for replacement reedplates for their Soloist Pro: 1) Reedplate Set for Blues Solist Pro. Price $24.95, and 2) Rawplates Solist Pro LS,KS Price $19.95.
I would assume that "Rawplates" are untuned reedplates, but there isn't any kind of description of what they actually are. You can't pick a key when you buy, and that worries me, since they should at least be "roughly" tuned to begin with. Maybe they are just reedplates with no reeds?
Anyway, I think it would be great if you could get replacement reedplates that were not touched after the reeds were riveted on.
----------
== I S A A C ==
View my videos on YouTube!
|
harpdude61
720 posts
Feb 04, 2011
3:47 AM
|
isaacullah
I agree. If you can tune your own harps it would be nice to to start with smooth reeds. I really don't understand why the file marks are so course and on an angle?
I sent the Hohner USA harmonica technician an e-mail about this subject.
Maybe if enough of us do the same they will revise their techniques. I'm sure customizers don't care much for the rough marks either.
Link to e-mail the tech...
http://hohnerusa.com/index.php?1872
|
5F6H
524 posts
Feb 04, 2011
4:01 AM
|
@ Isaacullah: "I suppose that is one of the reasons why top customizers always "shave" down to remove factory tuning marks."
@ Harpdude61: "Maybe if enough of us do the same they will revise their techniques. I'm sure customizers don't care much for the rough marks either."
To my knowledge, entirely removing the tuning marks is no longer the default practice for the top customisers. Often just the edge of the reed is reworked to remove stress raising marks & the body of the reed left alone. I very much doubt Hohner need/want to revise their practice here.
Yes, better practice could be employed, but I guess that if you hadn't seen the marks, then you wouldn't be aware that you had a "problem".
Last Edited by on Feb 04, 2011 4:02 AM
|
harpdude61
721 posts
Feb 04, 2011
4:23 AM
|
5F6H.....You are probably right. I may not have noticed at all if I had not opened the harp. It played great and in tune, but if you overbend you will open and adjust gaps..just part of it.
Regardless,a weak thin spot on a reed has to affect the life of the reed.
May not do any good to write but why not....
|
HarpNinja
1077 posts
Feb 04, 2011
6:21 AM
|
If you are too aggressive in sanding down a reed, you will make the reed sound brighter. I don't mean the tuning will be sharp - I mean it will sound brighter. There also comes a point where the stability of the reed as it vibrates could become an issue.
It is better to buff out some of the milling marks than to be overly aggressive in trying to erase them, IMO.
I would also throw out the idea that factors such as arc and reed slot tolerances can prolong the life of a reed if optimized. That would take stress off the reed amongst other things.
----------
Mike
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
Updated 2/1/11
|
