Reed hole 10 Marine Band Crossover
Hello Harpsmith! I have a problem with my new, out of the box A harmonica.. (marine band crossover) It was really hard to draw hole 10 so i opened it. The free end of the reed was upward, really really bad, so i followed your instructions here https://www.bluesharmonica.com/harp_tech_study_6_reed_sizing#TB_inline?i.... but it is still hard to draw hole 10. I don't have a photo of how the reed was but i do have of how it is! I think i have destroyed it..At least i have tried to fix it!What do you think?
Here is the photo. https://ibb.co/t3dvjHR on the left is the draw reed plate with the problematic reed.
Thank you!
Hello Elsa (and Rob!) bummer about your #10 DRAW reed.
Based on the side profile of your photo, it does not appear to be damaged. The Gap on this free end should match your BLOW #10, which is .002"
Rob brought up a good observation--the Zero Point (rivet/tail end of the reed) could be too low (@ 0.000") and should be .001" to .002"
Also, I am a tad suspicious that the reed may not be "centered" within the reed plate slot. Check it out and let me know how this looks to you, then get back to me.
Your HARPSMITH, Kinya
Thank you both Harpsmith and Rob for yor answers!
Let's see what i have done! I raised [ i think :-) ] the zero point using a shim .002 but i believe that the free end of the reed is still upward a little bit! What do you think?
https://i.postimg.cc/V5Q0Chy3/Reed-1.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/0N2njz07/Reed-3.jpg
Result: I am still unhappy with the sound of the 10 draw :-(
Harpsmith here is a photo of the reed using my phone as a lightbox
https://i.postimg.cc/7PpK9Yqy/Reed-2.jpg
Any suggestion???
Hi Elsa, I would still like to see:
- the free end Gap of DRAW #10 lowered more--matching the Gap I saw in yesterday's photo of the #10 BLOW reed
- straighten out the curvature, by massaging (flattening) the hump out of the high point of the reed
Reinsert the shim--like you did before, then apply gentle downward pressure onto the tip of the reed (about 1/8" from tip) ... until it matches your #10 BLOW
If your plates were on my bench, I would Gap both your BLOW and DRAW:
- .007" for Reeds 1,2
- .006" for Reeds 3,4
- .005" for Reeds 5,6
- .004" for Reeds 7,8
- .003" for Reeds 9
- .002" for Reeds 9
Based on the angle of the photo, your DRAW reeds appear higher than required for your breath pressure--probably making it a tad more difficult for you to achieve good Bending results.
Your HARPSMITH, Kinya
Thank you Harpsmith!
I 'll do my best!
Hello Elsa, the smaller reeds of the upper octave can be challenging--to play and repair.
If you are uncomfortable with the operation, don't hesitate to contact me at kinya@harpsmith.com
Your HARPSMITH, Kinya
Elsa: I'll be interested in Kinya's tips on this. From the photo I'm going to make a wild guess that it's a "zero point" issue, i.e., how quickly the reed gets off the deck on the fastened end. I had a similar issue with other holes on two Hohner Blues Harps, where volume and reponse was less than on other reeds. On Kinya's advice I bought an automotive shim set and lifted the reed using a very thin (.002) shim, and it cured the issue. If there's one person in the Whole Wide World who can cure harp issues via this Forum and his website (https://harpsmith.com/) it's Kinya.