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beginner forum: for novice and developing blues harp players > Advice on Hohner Blues Harp / Bending
Advice on Hohner Blues Harp / Bending
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Whole lotta love
1 post
Aug 19, 2017
2:29 PM
A warm hello all you good people first.
And now to the issue at hand ,I had a cheap harmonica at first in the key of C and i could pretty much bend on it with effort though but still

Now i just bought a Hohner Blues Harp in the Key of D and for the love of my mother every time i go try bend the 3 hole draw ,it makes screeching sounds ,so i heard you put a dab or a drop of nail polish on the rivet and tiny bit ahead of it ,so i did
But now when i go to bend ,there is no sound ,the 3 hole draw works but makes no sound when you bend it ,im just pulling in air ,almost like sucking through a straw ,just air

What do i need to do to it ,do i need to gap blow and draw reeds in some particular fashion or way ?

Any advice would be very helpful and a big thanks in advance
SuperBee
4892 posts
Aug 19, 2017
3:43 PM
Very difficult to be confident about identifying the problem. If I could see your harp I reckon we could sort it out.
I'm not sure why nail polish would have changed anything in the way you've described.
The squealing you mentioned is likely due to the blow reed though.

First place I'd look is the assembly. Did you reassemble the harp correctly? Are the reedplates mating up to the comb as they should? Did you over tighten the screws?
Then I'd be looking at the reed offsets. Be aware that it takes both reeds to work together to make a bent note. It's not actually about 'bending' the reed, it's about 'bending' the sound and that happens by getting the blow reed working as well as the draw reed. When a draw bend is really difficult, often it's because the blow reed is set too high. That's not always the problem but it's one of the most common

If you have to make a big effort to bend, that can induce the buzzing sound, which is really about the reed twisting. Short slot harps like many Suzuki (not manji) and hohners from Db up, seem rather prone to this. Sometimes it takes a slight change to embouchure to sort it out.

Good luck and if you can post some photos showing detail of reeds and gaps it might be helpful
Whole lotta love
2 posts
Aug 19, 2017
4:44 PM
Hey,thanks for your reply, honestly i appreciate it

I'm posting the reed images below for you to see and yes i made sure not to over tight and assemble properly and the nail polish thing could just be maybe my wrong technique or it all could just be me playing wrong

Nonetheless hence i am here for expert guidance
You can examine the reeds in the pics below

Blow Reed - http://i.imgur.com/FCRavCD.jpg

Draw Reed - http://i.imgur.com/TrAFaav.jpg
SuperBee
4893 posts
Aug 19, 2017
8:48 PM
Cool.
The blow reed looks maybe set a little high but not much.
The dollop of nail varnish is probably not helping. That's way too much. If that harp was on my bench, the first thing I'd do would be to clean that off.
If you clean it off and find the harp plays as before, that's good.
From that point I'd be looking at the action of the reed and how it closes the slot.
You need to view it a few different ways.
But particularly with this squeal, Look at it end on and see if the reed is level when it closes the slot, or does one side dip in first.
Watch some video if you can, where people demonstrate how to check reed action. Andrew Zajac's website is one good place to look
Whole lotta love
3 posts
Aug 31, 2017
8:53 AM
Hey ,Thanks for all your advice ,i did some research on gapping and reed action as you suggested and after some tinkering with it ,now its perfect.

All the bands are smoothly there and with ease

Again thanks a ton ,much appreciated


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