Sticky 3 Draw
Hey, Winslow, hope all is well.
I just recently bought a Hohner Rocket in B in order to record one song but I find the 3 draw sticks in unpredicatble ways. I'm slapping and drawing but all I get nothing until a moment passes and then it works. Unfortunately, this delay is enough to completely break my timing.
A few days ago, I started another song on a Rocket in D, a harp that has been little used since I bought it, and noticed the same sticking for a bit, although it was no where nearly as pronounced as on the B harp. I persisted and soon enough the stickiness went away.
Since the stickiness on the B is much more pronounced, I find I can't really play it in order to break it in. Unfortunately, I really delayed in trying it out so my return period is expired. I've never had this experience with my other Rockets before and have been playing enough to know this isn't technique.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance,
Ace
I had a problem where one reed was slow to play at first, but once I started playing the reed would be fine. If I set the harmonica down for a few minutes the reed would stick again when I went to play. Warm most air always freed the reed. The problem was saliva drying in the reed gap. Warm water over the reed plate (not hot) fixed the problem and of course let thing dry.
Brian in Tennessee
I tried running water thru the hole but didn't see any improvement. I'll try again, but am thinking I'll need to open the gap a bit. Never done this before, but guess it's better than buying a new one. I'll post my results afterwards.
Dried saliva can be a problem. If it is, it might also be necessary to clean the reed and slot edges more directly than just running water through the hole.
Also, too tight a fit between reed and slot, even if they're not touching, can promote surface tension between moisture and both reed and slot, leading to sticking.
So, in addition to water and gapping, perhaps running a thin metal swage along the slot edges could help.
You might also ask this in Kinya's forum.
I'll repost now on his forum.
This happens to me sometimes when I slap a lot on some harmonicas,.
I'd try opening the gap on that reed. You can do that carefully with some thin paper, like a supermarket receipt, inserting it between the reed and the reed plate and pudding it up slowly a little bit. Kinya must have some article on that.
A slightly bigger gap ensures that moisture needs to accumulate in higher amount to get the reed stuck.