Ask Harp Tech Expert Kinya Pollard

Hello Kinya,

I just bought some new screws for my harmonica coverplates to replace some old ones that had corroded. I am wondering if the material could be harmful in any way though. Here is a link to the amazon page where I got the screws (I bought 2-56, 1/2'').

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Hi Kinya

I have a Sirius chromatic whose 3-blow G suddenly went very flat yesterday.  It was off about 40c in the morning, then descended to F# where it has stayed.  My question is: is there any point in trying to retune it, or should I just get the reed replaced?  Is a semitone too much?  FWIW, the F# sounds very nice, not at all dead. 

Thank you

Daniel

Your Harpsmith, Kinya

Hi

I have watched your video on ultrasonic cleaners. The brand from micromark works off 120V. I live in Australia which uses 240V,

Can you recommend any other brands that may be available in Australia? There are many on ebay etc but I can not assess the quality and reputation of any of the listed products. Failing that can you tell what sort of specifications I should be looking for.

Best wishes

I want to convert some of my Crossovers to country tuned harps.  I've used the table on this web site:

http://www.harmonicaspace.com/harmonica-forum/maintenance-repair-customi...

Any suggestions for finding a similar chart for country tuning?

I don't know if Kinya has mentioned this yet but I find a magnitized screwdriver essential when installing tiny cellphone or Suzuki screws used in reed replacement. I like the Wiha brand screwdriver a lot but they don't have and magnitized screwdeivers. But they have this instead. It's fabulous... works like a charm. 

Wiha Magnetizer / Demagnetizer

Hey Harpsmith,

This is a picture of my G harmonica, Draw Reed, with the 2nd hole draw scraped almost completely. what I tried to achieve is to reach the note C and on the 3rd draw the note E to get the "Easy 3rd! Do it!" tuning, but I only got to C#, even after scraping all that metal... did I do something wrong? (although the free end of the reed looks scraped perhaps, it is not, it is scraped until the thick part)

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Hohner says this about the new Rocket and Progressive Special 20 reed plates: "Special 20 reed plates have been slightly altered to accommodate their use in the Rocket, HOHNER’s newest 10-hole Progressive harmonica.  The plates are identical except for the additional cover plate screw holes on each side needed to accommodate both models." continue reading...

Hey Harpsmith,

I got myself an SCX-48 Suzuki 12-hole Chromatic, which I really like except for when I go to the 9-12 holes, there It has softer/quiter sound, and it takes a decent amount of extra breath in order to produce that tiny sound. I tried the CX-12 by Hohner and it was "balanced" across the spectrum as you like to put it, same breath for the same tone every single note so I dont think it is mostly my embochure... are there any "treatments" I can give my 12 hole chromatic in order to make it louder and easier to play on the higher end?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Kinya,

I have a Progressive Series Special 20 and I want to remove the cover plates. Which Wiha screwdriver do I need to buy? I have the Pozi driver that you recommend for the reed plates.

Thank you, Mike