Stuck Windsaver on 3 draw (without Button) on Super Chromonica?
Fri, 05/01/2015 - 09:24
The 3 draw on my Chromonica (button out) sounds muted and buzzy. I'm guessing that it's the windsaver that is getting stuck. What I find odd is that if I remove the cover plates and/or the mouthpiece and do nothing else, the problem goes away immediately. When I assemble the harmonica again it comes back.
I'm guessing that the stuck windsaver is inside the comb on the top group of chambers. If I'm correct, what can I do to solve the problem?
The valve for the draw notes are on the inside, as the reeds are on the outside.
Valves usually buzz for three reasons:
Why removing the mouthpiece or covers would stop the buzzing is not so obvious.
A reed can also sound muted and buzzy if it isn't centered over its slot or its motion is otherwise partially obstructed.
The Hohner 270 Super Chromatica (12-hole, wood block) or its derivatives, the Toots Thielemans (Hard Bopper and Mellow Tone) or Larry Adler models, has reedplates that are nailed onto the wood comb and have to be pried off to closely examine the inside valves. Some very experienced techs can remove and install valves blind, without removing the reedplates, but I'm not one of those and I'm guessing that neither are you.
THE OUTSIDE VALVE
Before going there, examine the outside valve. Inhaled breath pulls this valve down to seal the blow reed slot. If it doesn't make a clean seal, the sound of the draw reed can be weakened. So examine the valve.
If it doesn't lie flat, or if the two layers are stuck together, try cleaning the valve. First, gently pry the layers apart with a moist toothpick in case they're sticking together and let the valve settle to see if it lies flat. If it's twisted or creased, you may need to replace it.
To clean the valve, take a piece of sturdy, slightly rough-surfaced paper, moisten it with clean water, and slide it between the valve and the reedplate. Lightly press on the top of the valve and pull the paper out from under it. This helps clean the bottom of he valve. Discard the now soiled bit of paper and start frest with more moistened paper, using the same procedure to clean between the two layers of the valve. Once you've cleaned the valve, try sounding the note with the covers on.
THE OUTSIDE REED
If servicing the outside valve doesn't solve the problem, I would next examine the draw reed itself, also on the outside of the reed block.
Try plucking the reed. Does it vibrate freely and continue to vibrate momentarily after you release it? If it mutes immediately without really sounding, or if it sounds dead, it may be misaligned. Here, your best tool is a swage, an extremey thin metal shim. Most feeler gauges are too thick for this purpose unless you can find super thin ones. The best swages are found un anti-theft tags glued to product boxes. Inside the white plastic tag are two or three layers of thin, flexible steel that are perfect for inserting betwen the reed edge and the slot to feel for excessive tightness and for cutting away burrs and other obstructions (Seydel actually sells these specifically for harmonica repair, but you can usually salvage them from packaging material for things like electronic gadgets expensive enough to steal.
if you insert the swage between reed and slot and run it along the edge of the reed, you may notic that it's tighter on one side or the other, or can't even be passed between the reed and the slot near the base. You might also feel burrs protruding from either the reed or the slot. You can use the swage to wear away burrs, but a truy misaligned reed needs to be nudged toward the center. You can do this with a reed wrench such as those provided in Richard Sleigh's and Hohner's tool kits, or you can insert something thiker than a swage, and lever the reed towards the center by small nudges (it's easy to go too far).
REMOVING THE REEDPLATE
If none of this works, you may need to pluck up your courage to remove the reedplate, first make sure it's the right one. Look inside the mouthpiece and determine whether the problem reed sounds when the upper reedplate is sounding or the lower. You can tell this by whether the top half or bottom half of the holes is open in that hole when the notes sounds.
To remove the reedplate, find a long knife (longer than the harmonica) with a broad, stiff blade. Work the edge of the blade under the back of the reedplate (where the sound comes out at the opening in the back of the covers) and gently pry the back up. Then do the sides. Alternate among the back and each side until you've worked the reedplate up off the block without marking the block or bending the plate. Keep the nails in their holes, then remove them and lay them out in formation (maybe on the sticky side of a piece of tape) so that you can reinstall each in the same hole it came out of.
INSIDE SERVICE
First, examine the valve. Foe inside valves, you also need to determine whether they may be:
If either of these problems exist, you need to remove the valve, scrape the glue off the reedplate (and the base of the valve if you're planning to re-mount the same valve) and either replace the valve with a new one using something like Duco cement or re-using the existing valve.
if the valve does not appear to be mis-mounted, then clean the valve and check that the reed is correctly aligned and unobstructed.