Ask Harp Tech Expert Kinya Pollard

I have a Suzuki Chromatix 64. I lost the little spacers on the screws holding the mouthpiece. Is there a generic product to replace these? 

Thank you!!

Hi  continue reading...

Arg!

I have been trying to learn how to work on my own harps with the aim of setting them up for easier overbends. My harp of choice is the basic marine band, so yeah nails are annoying, but as I've been fiddling with harps of all flavors... it's like a 50/50 chance that I make them worse. I've gone through Richard Sleigh's videos twice and much of Andrew Zajac's content on Youtube, but...I just seem to be missing something. Reed shaping makes sense, and I seem to be able to do it, but gapping really just baffles me. continue reading...

Fellow harpists who follow Kinya's thread here, a totally unsolicited endorsement:

If you're thinking at all about a custom harp, think hard about Kinya's HarpSmith harmonicas. I now have three, and they're all great. And Kinya pays attention to how YOU play in figuring out what sort of customization will work best for you. continue reading...

Hello Harp Techs, by popular demand, my website now stocks the Bushman Game Changer 10-Hole Slide Harmonica.

https://harpsmith.com/harmonicas/ols/products/bushman-game-changer continue reading...

Hello Everyone, for your listening pleasure, check out our edgy version of the classic Beatles song, "Ticket to Ride"

https://soundcloud.com/user-678833265/ticket-to-ride-by-the-pollard-brot...

• VOX | Kinya Pollard
• VOX | Colby Pollard
• Guitars | Jeff Leeds
• Bass | Colby Pollard
• Drums | Terry Carleton
• Harmonica | Kinya Pollard

Your HARPSMITH, Kinya

Hello Harp Techs, initially for me the task of tuning the harmonica was my least favorite thing to do ... but now, a few thousand reeds later, I find learning new tips, tricks and the physiology of harmonica tuning extremely satisfying.

WHY IT MATTERS

You folks can benefit from my experience and leap frog over the trials & tribulations phase of learning harmonica reed tuning. 

For example; when doing your rough and final tuning (on the comb), be mindful of the following conditions: continue reading...

I have a new Lee Oskar A blues harp and, as an exercise, I measured the gaps on all the reeds with a set of feeler gauges. Both blow and draw got progressively narrower as the pitches got higher.

But I was surprised to find the 1-hole blow was .37mm, while the draw was only .07, the narrowest gap on the harp. Kinya made a point of adusting the pairs of reeds together in his video, so I was wondering if this is normal, or if blow/draw pairs should be about equal, or what the relationship should be. continue reading...

HEADS UP Harp Techs!

For all new HOHNER (Diatonic) Harmonicas, you will need to add one more tool to your bench.

Up until recently--to avoid stripping the screw heads--the cover plate fasteners (binding post screws) required a Pozi Screwdriver (Wiha 262 PZ1 X 60).

The new cover plate fasteners--similar to those used on the new Golden Melody Harmonica, require a six-lobe TORX screwdriver. Specifically the T7

This is easy to locate with your internet search.

Your HARPSMITH, Kinya

Kinya I love your instruction videos well done. I have a set of Maji that I really like and have had them for years. They are very durable with great longevity but are starting to age. My Low F harp has developed a broken 5 blow reed  (why is it always the 5 blow). Do you have any suggestions on how to harvest a reed from another Manji reed plate and fix it to the low F. As you know they are not connected via screw or rivet. I am of the opinion it's a set of reed plate replacement and that would be a pity.