Blogs

My tools are expensive!! I put a lot of work into each piece. They are the exact same tools I use on my workbench when I customise harmonicas. I know they work well and will last a long time.

I've added a minimalist kit to my tools so that you can make your own choice about what you need and save some money.

The Essential kit is my Basic Kit with fewer add-ons and it doesn't include the Grobet file.

Tuning is an important aspect of harmonica maintenance but it may be less important to some players. For those folks, I offer a method that uses easily obtainable 120-grit sandpaper to make tuning adjustments using my reed support tool.

As with my other kits, email support is provided with the purchase of these tools. Within the first 90 days of purchase, I will answer any question about using the tools, just email me your questions.

See the Essential Kit page.

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I will be holding some online live sessions in January.

Please see the links for date and time as well as to register.

Placed are limited so please register to save your spot!

1- Basic assessment of an out-of-the-box harmonica. How to see the defects objectively. How to prioritize your work to correct these defects and be able to get the most improvement in the least amount of time.
Session #1
January 13th at 11:00 EST, 08:00 PST, 16:00 GMT
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2- Maximise power. Get the most decibels out of the flow of air from your breath. Demonstrate the important foundational work of the instrument, enhancements and reed work.
Session #2
January 13th at 12:00 EST, 09:00 PST, 17:00 GMT
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3- Tone. Your instrument shapes the sounds you create. Here's what you can control to get the tone you want.
Session #3
January 14th at 11:00 EST, 08:00 PST, 16:00 GMT
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4- Control. Regular notes, bent notes and overbends. We will go through the details of making reeds play stable, musical, responsive and easily initiated overbends.
Session #4
January 14th at 12:00 EST, 09:00 PST, 17:00 GMT
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I look forward to seeing you in a session!
Z

If reed work seems like an occult art or weird science, or if embossing feels like a dangerous idea, maybe you aren't looking at things the right way. Maybe you don't understand what you are seeing or what you should be seeing?

Here's a hint. Tilt your phone.

If you aren't reading this on a phone, print it out!

See also this post from a few years ago around the same subject. It has a video!

Question:
"I play ... blues, simple jazz, little country. I play single tone, multitone, chords, arpeggios (triades, 6th; 7th), different modes (or positions). Tongue blocks, splits,
What kind of tuning is optimal for my style of playing?"

Response:
"Hi ---,

Since you play single, multiple, chords and arpeggios but you also play in different positions, the answer is not straightforward. But the problem may not be too big, either...

If you have played both stock Golden Melodies and Stock Marine Band or Special 20s, you have experienced both temperaments. And if you don't have a strong preference at this point, then either temperament should work for you - the question is which do you prefer? How important is it to you? Is this really a big problem?

If we focus on the reeds that are tuned as major thirds, that's the most noticeable difference. So holes 2, 5, 8 blow and 3, 7 draw are tuned about 12 cents flat on Marine Band type harmonicas. When playing in positions/modes/scales where those holes are the tonic or the fifth, I feel like that's where it's the most noticeable. The single note is flat and if that's your tonic, the whole scale may seem unstable. Or for example, the major scale in third position - the second and the sixth note on the bottom octave feel a little off. They would feel better in equal temperament.

But if you tune those notes to be equal, the major triads and even the splits can offer less power, less harmonics. One of the features of a custom harmonica is the precise tuning which provides powerful harmonics if you tune for harmony. The sound from the major triads in harmony can fill the room (as Joe Filisko says, little instrument, big sound!)

I am sorry but you can't have both! Not on the same instrument at the same time, anyway. So the choice is a matter for you to decide. But I hope I have given you the information to make that decision. Please let me know if you need me to elaborate further.

Best,
Z"

I offer two harmonicas that are not listed on my Custom Harmonica page. They are variations of my custom harmonicas.

BASIC CUSTOM
CAD$55 less than my Full Custom
Order a Basic Custom

RECONSTRUCTED / NRW harmonica™
Special 20/Rocket CAD$150
Marine Band Deluxe CAD$175
Order a Reconstructed N.R.W. harmonica

It's a little bit like going to a restaurant and ordering something that's not on the menu.

I try to tailor each instrument to your needs and I keep the Basic custom or NRW options open for specific cases.

I'd rather start the discussion with what a Full Custom can offer and suggest a Basic Custom if the player would not benefit at all from the extra customisation.

I used to feature my Basic Custom harmonicas along with my Full and Overbend custom harmonica as a budget friendly option. It's a great choice for a player who only ever uses second position.

But the truth is, I have found it difficult to start from a Basic custom harmonica and try to meet some extra needs beyond its intended scope.

I usually end up creating a custom harp that's an awful lot like a Full Custom, and that means I have spent the same amount of time and effort customising it as a Full Custom.

I'd love to keep doing things that way, but it's not sustainable.

It's not easy to tell a player who is really set on a Basic custom that I feel they would best be served with a Full Custom because it feels like I'm up-selling.

So my Basic Custom harmonicas are now an off-menu item. They are CAD$55 less than my Full Custom.

The other off-menu item is new: A Reconstructed or NRW harmonica™.

A Reconstructed NRW harmonica™ is not a custom harmonica because it does not feature high-performance reed work.

Whereas a custom harmonica does most of the work for you and is played with little effort, an NRW harmonica™ is played with regular breath force. As such it is the best choice for players who cannot use breath control.

Every player secretly hopes to "win the lottery" and get a "really good one" when they buy a new stock (non-customized) harp from the music store.

A Reconstructed NRW harp™ exceeds that expectation because attention is paid to every detail of its foundation as it is rebuilt. But it does not feature custom reed work (reed shaping). It aims to be powerful, consistent from top to bottom and in perfect tune.

My Reconstructed NRW harmonicas™ are CAD$150 to $175.

See more information about my custom harmonicas here (The Menu)
Order here.

"Surely, there's one secret thing you do?"

Well, it's not that simple....

When two Hohner Affiliated Customizers talk shop from Andrew Zajac on Vimeo.

When two Hohner Affiliated Customizers talk shop and all you want to do is play a nice harmonica.

The size of the top four chambers are significantly smaller in a Short Slot Dark comb™ than a Long Slot (standard) comb. This helps you match your embouchure to the resonance required to control the first semitone blow bend on the ten hole.

If you are struggling to hit that note cleanly in a higher key diatonic harmonica, don't be hard on yourself. It may not be your technique. It may just be physics.

The smaller overall space of the slot decreases the amount of compressible air in the system.

More importantly, the depth of the slot can affect what frequency is reinforced by the channel. The reed dimensions and weight distribution determines the frequency obtained when air flows through the slot and past the reed. But the slot itself can want to behave like a pan flute and the column of air can compress and expand at it's favourite frequency.

On the top end of the harp, it's difficult to compensate for that using your own embouchure alone.

The back wall of Short Slot combs' holes 7, 8, 9 and 10 are closer to the opening than those of a long slot comb. This changes the frequency that is reinforced to one that does not compete with that first semitone blow bend.

You can't change the laws of physics but you can change the slot sizes so that physics works in your favour!

See more about my Dark Combs™ here: Dark Combs

See here for more information.

Spiral tuning has the notes of the major scale alternating between the blow and draw notes. It provides draw bends and overblows from holes 1 to 10.

It also provides a lot of chords. You can add a major or minor seventh to many of the
chord triads shown here.

You can alter the tuning of a Standard Richter harmonica to Spiral Tuning.

Here is a visual aid to the modification:

Shown above are the offsets in semitones. You only need to lower the pitches. And you only need to modify 12 of the 20 reeds.

You can use solder. You can also use BluTak which is a very effective and stable way to lower the pitch of a reed by several semitones. It's the easiest method, too!

Second Position Spiral is another alternative where the tonic is the 2 draw.

The chords available are as follows:

Here are the modifications. You need to alter an extra reed:

You can find them here: Reed Plate Claws Prototypes