Nov 30'14 Tip of the Week: "The Best Tool For Tuning an Assembled Harmonica"

Happy Holidays Harp Techs!

I didn’t want 2014 to end without recommending a “must have” tool--the Richard Sleigh Reed Draw Scraper tool.

With the cover plates assembled onto your harmonica, this tool is indispensable when performing the final tuning process, as well as quick tuning “touch-ups”, before the gig (eliminate those annoying beating octaves)!

The design premise of the RSDS is to enable the user to surgically (maximum control) remove minute amounts of reed material on the draw “pull” stroke. Remember, removing material near the free end of the reed will speed up the vibration, and sharpen the pitch. Conversely, removing material near the rivet end of the reed, will slow down the reed and flatten the pitch.

Don’t wait, contact Richard at <rrsleigh@gmail.com> and order your draw reed scraper now! You’ll thank me in the morning.

Made of super sharp machine tool steel

Easy to insert the tool into the mouthpiece to tune the blow reeds

Even easier to access the draw reeds from the rear of the harmonica

Here I’m flattening draw reed #7 by removing material from the rivet end.

Your Harpsmith, Kinya