Painting the reed plates, Oh yah, I want it to look cool. Real cool.
Professor Pollard,
Once again, I find myself in search for your great wisdom. I believe I have an allergy to metal that has put a halt on my playing the harmonica. Now that my hands have mostly healed, I am about to try playing again. I installed some powder coated covers I purchased from Blue Moon Harmonica and they have made a bid difference, however, the webbing of my hands, where they touch the reed plates, are not healing very well. I’ve tried painting the exposed edges of the read plates, but the paint does not stay on. I would like to try baking on a powder coat finish (reed plate edges only), but I am concerned the heat may affect the tuning of the reeds. The heat required, is to bring the parts to 400°F (204°C for the rest of the world) and keep it there for 20 minutes.
I would assume I would have to let the reed plates cool down to room temperature before I try to play the harmonica to keep from damaging the reeds and my tongue. Do you have any wisdom to offer on this matter?
Thank you,
Brian in Tennessee
Oh Brian, that's terrible! Reminds me of my friend who loves cats, but is allergic to the cat dander ;o(
I'm assuming your mouth has not suffered from the allergic reaction?
I believe you play Hohner harmonicas with brass reeds-right? Might be a good time for you to try playing a Stainless Steel Seydel harmonica?
For different reasons than yours, I wear the $8.99 ProKennex Goat Skin Racquet Ball gloves when I play the harmonica. It wicks the perspiration from my skin and improves my grip when I hold the bullet mic (read: fattens my sound). This might be an inexpensive solution for you.
https://www.racquetballwarehouse.com/descpage.html?pcode=PKSHADO
Maybe after the CDC gives us the "The Coast is Clear" sign, you could visit your local Allergist to determine exactly which materials your immune system is adverse to. I would recommend at that time, to bring your harmonicas. They may scrape it for samples...Please keep us informed. We want you to return to your beloved harmonicas!
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Thanks, Sanshinboi for the reply.
I wish I would have known about this problem before I started learning to play harmonica. I think I might have chosen to learn to play a plastic kazoo instead. I also did not realize the Special 20’s had the reed plate covered, that would have been nice to know too.
Unfortunately, I now have a complete set of Crossovers and I really like the Crossovers, so I need to try to make them work.
I was wearing nitril gloves until I saw a dermatologist, who said to stop wearing the gloves as they are bad for the skin. I don’t like the feel of gloves, but they were working. Also, before Covid-19 I was paying $7 a box for the correct size gloves, now they are $21 for the same box of gloves. Although I don’t agree with my dermatologist, I am paying him for his experience, so I need to listen to him for at least the short term. Of course, my dermatologist also told be to stop playing the harmonica, which I have done for the past month and a half, but I’m ready to get started playing again.
Oh, and most important. A blue harmonica looks a whole lot cooler than blue hands.
Thanks again for your ideas. I think I resolved to buy a couple of $10 harmonicas to experiment with before I make a souffle out of my Crossover.
Brian in Tennessee
Thanks, Kinya for your glove recommendation. I may give them a try. The gloves I purchased to wear instead of nitrile gloves still did not breath very well, so I was disappointed in them.
I looked into getting tested to find out which metals are causing the problem and I’ve learned a great deal about his problem. For example, most people are likely allergic to most metals and a whole lot more things, but our skin oils help protect us from the metals. My dermatologist says my extra washing my hands, indirectly due to Covid-19 has removed the skin oils that protect me from my eval harmonicas. He might be right about this, so I’m hoping that once my hands get completely healed, I can return to playing the harmonica without worry.
I also found out there are very few doctors who test for metal allergies other than using the T.R.U.E test, but it only tests for the 3 most common metals used in surgical implants. I also found out that getting cured for a brain aneurysm would be cheaper than getting tested for metal allergies, as my insurance won’t help pay for it.
Anyway, for now I just want to make my harmonica look as cool as possible and hope that the coolness factor alone will solve my problem.
I think I’m going to purchase a couple of $10 harmonicas to bake and see how it affects the tuning. I will also give your glove recommendation a try.
Thank you for your ideas.
Brian in Tennessee
Kinya, it looks like the right and left glove are sold seperatly. For the highest coolness points, I assume I should just order one glove.
Damn straight Skippy! Coolness is paramount ;o)
Not mentioned before, but the top part of the ProKennex glove has a breathable micro mesh, which keeps my hand (left) from overheating.
On the subject of Hohner Crossover, which was modeled after the famous Marine Band 1896 harmonica, in addition to the recommended Hohner Special 20 with non-vented cover plates (terrific for amplifed playing), it's 1st cousin is the Hohner Amp. If you prefer the vented cover plates of the Crossover (great for the acoustic voicing), I strongly recommend the Hohner Rocket.
Both models use the indexed ABS composite comb and cover up the brass reed plates pretty well. FYI: the reeds for Hohner Marine Band 1896, Marine Band DeLuxe, Marine Band Thunderbird, Crossover, Special 20, Rocket, Amp, Golden Melody are EXACTLY the same.
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
I sure wish I knew about this allergy before I purchased all these Crossovers. I successfully painted my reed plates on my C Crossover. My first attempt at painting the reed plate was a failure even though I did a little sanding and cleaning. I did some study and found when painting metal its best to use what is called an Etching Primer as the first coat. I really think the Etching Primer did the trick, so I don't think I'm going to have to bake my harmonica. Only time will tell.
I also ordered the gloves. I traded in my cool card and order two gloves so I would have both hands protected.
Thank Kinya for your ideas.
Brian in Tennessee
Brian, please send us PICTURES of the painted reed plates.
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
p.s. purchasing any of the Hohner harmonicas that I listed above will never go to waste, because it is always a good idea to build an inventory of "donor" reeds. Remember many of the pitches (reeds) can be swapped. For example, if you need to replace a "C" reed on your Bb harmonica/4 draw, you can remove the "C" reed from a C harmonica/4 blow and swap it!
I'm no artist, painting or music, and the purpose of painting the harmonica is to protect my hands. I really miss the chrome covers, but the harmonica is useless if I can’t play it. So here is my finished version. I wish I had some good calligraphy skills.
I also included a picture of the back so you can see I did not paint the reed plates near the reeds. I only painted the exposed edges that might touch my hands.
Good job, I certainly hope this strategy works for you. The back view photos did not show ;o(
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
The orginal post shows the second picture if viewed in a Chromium browser, but not in Firefox. Not sure why. Anyway here is the second picture.
Copy Brian. I'm not certain why, but I'm thinking about Prince and Jimi Hendrix at the moment
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Brian, we're all curious about your solution. Is it working for you?
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
I think so, but I don’t' know for sure. The paint job seems to be holding up. I made the mistake of buying a new grill and forgot to put on gloves when putting it together. My hands are all messed up again from handling a chrome ratchet.
This is going to take a long while before I know anything for sure.
oh man, that is such a bummer for you...
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
H Brian
Sanshinboi here, why don't you wear some nitril gloves. Also you could use Hohner Special 20's they hace a plastic comb and the reed plates aren not exposed. I actually prefer Special 20. Heating up brass may change the gain structure of thin brass reeds not positive also for the price and time to powder coat you could buy a Special 20 I bet. Just throwing my two cents in to your problem.
Good luck
Sanshinboi