|
Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Koch Slider Questions
Koch Slider Questions
Page:
1
Hollistonharper
217 posts
Feb 26, 2011
6:04 PM
|
I just picked up an older used Koch Chromatic harmonica--10 holes, key of G with a button. It looks the same as pictures of model 980/40, although it came in a cardboard box and had no model number . I knew it was a slide and not a true chromatic, but it was cheap enough to take a chance on it.
It was pretty filthy but I took it apart and cleaned it up. Looks good but it is very quiet and very leaky. One reason is I can't tighten the mouthpiece enough without stopping the slider from moving.
I had read that it would bend easily, like a regular diatonic. But it is completely unbendable. The reeds are great, when plinked they ring out and they are very closely gapped. Anyone have any thoughts on what might be wrong?
Also curious for any advice on tightening the mouthpiece but allowing the slide to work.
Thanks for any feedback!
|
MP
1454 posts
Feb 26, 2011
6:45 PM
|
i have one i bought many years ago because since it is set-up like a diatonic, and i played diatonic,- i thought it would be an easy way to learn chromatic harp.-
i think hohner even advertised it that way.
well, i think it is harder than a regular chro.
mine, like yours, is leaky, and never had much life to it. it lives in a drawer.
i have a 1925 hohner chromatic. it had no coverplate screws so i pirated the ones from my koch.
oddly enough, the 1925 chro is not really a chro at all. it's a koch. exact same note set-up.
actually, now that i think of it,dave payne might be able to help with some advice. he seems to know something about everything harp repair wise.
----------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
ElkRiverHarmonicas
572 posts
Feb 27, 2011
10:25 AM
|
They are all leaky, a great deal of work is needed to make them remotely playable. When you play one of those, you learn right away why chromatics have windsavers. Even if you emboss all the reefslots, that makes little difference, the amount of air that leaks out is incredible. If you look on the slidemeister archives, you should be able to find stuff to do to it, Ive written about it there enough times... Look for stuff to do to make the slide tighter, thats where the air leaks from, making a silicone gasket out of aquarium silicone is one, but regardless of how much work you put into it, the best you can hope for is to make it remotely playable, unless you are somebody like Harpwrench even when they were new, they sucked, but people in cold climates sware by them cause they dont have the valve problems.
You can tighten the slide down farther if you take a file and flatten the slide by filing down the high places, slides are never flat because they are stamped out. Just dont file too much that you elongate the holes, that is bad. What is happening when the slide catches, ir catches on a high point filing those down flatter will help and you can tighten the screw down more.
"There are only two things money can't buy - true love and homegrown tomatoes." - Lewis Grizzard
Last Edited by on Feb 27, 2011 10:32 AM
|
groyster1
885 posts
Feb 27, 2011
10:30 AM
|
I own a 10 hole Koch I bought at an estate sale for $5.00 glad I got it cheap I flat out cant bend it but can play melodys on it thats about it
|
MP
1455 posts
Feb 27, 2011
11:47 AM
|
ah, dave did weigh in.
one thing i've noticed about hohner chromatics(only some of them, but enough to notice) is that the mouthpieces tend to be bowed like a banana. this makes the middle of the mouthpiece the lowest contact point and both the screw ends are up in the air. no matter how you adjust the screw tension, you are screwed. the slide catches in the middle.
i have no idea how to remedy that.
----------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
ElkRiverHarmonicas
573 posts
Feb 27, 2011
1:05 PM
|
You could bend them, but they are supposed to be like that. If you cant get it down, there's another problem, like your screw doesn't grab or the slide is bent, or maybe the high points on the slide need filed down.
----------
"There are only two things money can't buy - true love and homegrown tomatoes." - Lewis Grizzard
|
Hollistonharper
219 posts
Feb 27, 2011
5:36 PM
|
Thanks all for the responses. I'll try filing down the slide but I think I just bought myself a cool paperweight.
|
MP
1458 posts
Feb 28, 2011
10:44 AM
|
what i say about dave. i didn't know they were supposed to be like that.
----------
MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
|
Post a Message
|
