Ask Harp Tech Expert Kinya Pollard

Kinya,

I have a Hohner Crossover in (Key A) which is about 6 months old.  I purchased it for the courses here at bluesharmonica.com and I’m now just starting level 3, so It has got a lot of use. continue reading...

Hiya again Kinya,

So I've started tuning my project harp (this is just as hard as I thought it'd be haha;P).

So the plan right now is to tune by octaves. This week I've worked at putting 4 blow right on 0 and I've been tuning 1 blow up (it was lower) and 7 blow down (it was higher).

I've noticed that with my phone tuner I have about 1 or 2 tries to look at the note's cent before it acumulates humidity and moves down. Just not sure how to 'know' for sure my 4 blow is tuned properly. Been thinking of finding a pitch generator and checking against it... continue reading...

How much is too much?

Hello Harp Techs, many of you over the years have asked me, “How much torque should be applied to the fasteners (machine screws) that hold the harmonica reed plates together”? As a fabricator for about 60 years, I’ve developed a “feel” for tightening fasteners of all shapes and sizes.  continue reading...

Hello Kinya,

I'm still hard at work on my mule (My trusty marineband is getting better and better).

This is the new situation I have. So I've got 1-2-3-4-5-6 gapped and profiled pretty well. I might do some slight adjustments but overall I'm very happy with them except hole number 5.

So I've gapped all these holes as tight as I can but not so tight that they'll choke when I play chords or with a bit more enthusiasm. And I've set hole 5 the same way as the other but now I'm debating if that was a good idea.

so here's the problem. continue reading...

Tonight at 11:59pm is the close of MicroMarks Summer Sale (up to 81% off normal pricing)

If you need to restock on small fasteners and invest into precision tools-don't hesitate!

https://www.micromark.com

Your Harpsmith, Kinya

Hello Kinya.   Do you have any experience with the Tuner as part of the Garage Band app.  It seems to be one of my options in lnstead of purchasing an analogue Seiko.  Your opinion?  Thanks. 

I am new to the harmonica. I have a new 5 harp set of the Special 20 harmonicas. I have been working a couple of weeks with lessons on this site, mainly with the A harp. I can not draw air on the 2 hole. I do not have this problem with the other 4 harps; so I think there is a problem with the harp. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Tom

Hello Kinya.  I had great success with reed gaping my Special 20, Key of A.  when i worked on my Crossover Marine band Key of A, it sounded great with the side clips holding the plates on.  When reassembled it did not sound as good.  After several times of playing with gap with same results the problem seemed to be with the screws on the reed plate screwed too tight.  I loosened them to barely finger tight and it now plays well.  Should all the reed plate screws be barely finger tight?    

Hello Kinya.  I am finally getting more serious about adjusting my harmonicas.  Recently completed adjusting the gap of the reeds on my first Special 20 Key of A harmonica which was not playable (purchased 5 years ago).  I cannot beleive the difference.  This is now my favorite harmonica and can't wait to work on my other keys.  Thank you for being so organized in your lessons.  Question:  What sequencd should I use in tuning my harps.  Should I follow the sequence of the lessons or should I gap the reeds first.    

Hello All, moments ago I received an email from Jim Antaki of TurboHarp. He wanted our members to know that he just received his order of Ozone Sanitizers and is ready to ship to customers.

https://www.turboharp.com/harmonica-bug-blaster

Your Harpsmith, Kinya