5 draw reed fractures

Hello Anthony
Your not alone Brother. It is a common occurrence to have the #5 draw reed poop out before the other reeds on our harmonicas.

The reason for this is that there are no bendable notes on the #5 draw (a little bit for expression, but not a real note). Until we discover this, we tend to "over draw" (over stress) this poor reed until it fractures and goes flat. It's almost as if we are "willing" the note to magically appear ;o)

Ten Second Music Theory (relative to a C harmonica):
You can only bend down notes that are a "whole step" or more apart from each other in the same chamber (blow reed and draw reed). On the #5 hole, the blow reed is E and the draw reed is F. This is a natural half step (same as between B & C), not a whole step.

So let's check out hole #4, for example: C is a blow reed and D is a draw reed, which is a whole step apart. This is why you can bend D down to the note that lives in between the D and the C, which would be Db.

On the #3 hole it gets more interesting, because there are actually 1 and a half steps (1.5 half steps); G on the blow reed and B on the draw reed. This means I can bend down the G note and play: Ab, A, and Bb. Amazing isn't it!

So my advise to you is ease up your breath on the #5 draw, and/or increase the gap to around .007

Let me know how it works for you Anthony.

Your Harpsmith,
Kinya

Hi Anthony,
Don't cut yourself short by not playing the 5 draw. In second position, this note is the flatted fifth ... very important for our blues scale.

Your Harpsmith,
Kinya

Mr. Frustrated
Yikes! an amazing coincidence? I wish I could hear and see you play your harmonica ...

Are you a "brick and mortar" or "on-line" student of David Barrett? If you are a brick and mortar student, I will ask David to be my eyes and ears ...

Your Perplexed Harpsmith,
Kinya

Anthony... play softer... and use less tension in your mouth when bending... this is why your reeds are failing. No other reasons exists. This is very common to players when they're working on mastering their bending... it sure took me a while to learn not to use force in the bending process. As Kinya states, you'll also want to use less depth on your 5... it only bends a quarter tone. Bending is not hard on the harmonica, but someone learning how to bend is. This is VERY common... just work on playing as softly as possible on the harmonica... it WILL come... and you'll be a great harmonica player for it... and a less poor one!

Man, sorry to say it but those Seydel 5 draws go out on me like there's no tomorrow. To give you an idea, in the last year I've blown out 8 Seydel's on the 5 draw in two months. I usually just play Crossovers now and have Lee Oskars as backup. Haven't had any blow outs on those with the exception of a Lee Oskar that had heavy use for a year.

I'd like to know whether Ward was playing a brass reed Seydel or the Steel reed. Also where are you located... Rupert is very willing to make things right. I wouldn't say Seydel are any more prone to reed failures than Hohner. I've played a set of Seydel 1847 since 2007 and have not had a reed fail yet. Better than that I service and customize Aki's harps and just got a harp that he's played since 2007 that has had it's first blowout. It's an A. However that said Aki does blowout harps. He's a hard blower and plays a lot and expects to have reeds fail. It comes with the territory for hard blowers. Any makers harps will last longer if you play softer. If you set your harps up correctly it shouldn't take much force (wind pressure) to get your harp to play. And extra force on a custom harp is the kiss of death. With soft pressure your tone will be better and you have more dynamic range. Let your embouchure do the work and not wind force.

As for any manufacturer (Hohner) being slow on warranty repairs... here in the USA they only have 3 techs to work on all the harps that come through their facility. I've found them to be very helpful and get the work out faster than say ME. If you want it fast learn how to do your own reed replacements. Kinya's lesson on this site are fantastic. Work on junk harps before you work on your nice ones. Get the tools and give it a go. Hohner is moving towards the player taking care of their own harps... thus the new videos with Steve Baker. They have reeds and parts available very easily. Seydel has spare parts direct on their website as well as reeds. Of course you can mine reeds form old harps too. The Crossover, Special 20, Golden Melody, Marine Band , and Marine Band Deluxe are all the same reeds. Also, Seydel has a very nice set of tools and so does Hohner. They're pricey but better than buying a new harp every few weeks. As for Lee Oskars you have to remember they're tuned Equal Temperment just like the Golden Melody and are not necessarily a blues harp. I hope that doesn't stir up the soup. it's just my opinion.

By the way I only work on Stainless Steel harps. There are several reasons but the big one being the SS reeds take different techniques to get the reeds adjusted and when I work on Brass reeds it's like working on a noodle.

If anyone wants to talk with me you an call me at 408/531.5755 or e-mail me at jon@jonharl.com. My website is getting rebuilt (sometime) by my son Andy. There is contact info there: www.customseydels.com. Andy's busy working on this site and doesn't have time for his dear old dad. I love him anyway.

The Harpaddict,
Jon Harl

Hi, I have a problem with my 5 draws, my 5 blow and 5 draws produce the same key which is A marine band classic can I repair this? 

I'm now working on both Seydel 1847s and Hohner Crossovers. FYI; Seydel has a great website and buying reeds for their harmonicas is easy. You can also get all the parts they make for all their harps. Hohner also has a website that you can buy parts from. If you don't find the parts you need you can call the Hohner service depatment and they can help with parts. I haven't contacted Hohner since the USA distribution changed but it's worth a try. Additionally Rockin Ron's Music for Less has harmonica parts. They also sell Crossover reed plates if you don't want to buy a new harp or change a reed.