*** My store is not taking any orders today due to health reasons which limit to my productivity.
***
My custom harmonicas, combs and tools are made to order. If items are out of stock on my website, it's likely due to my workload is at the limit. Please see my dealers for all items I offer.
Maximum production times may be up to 16 business days for combs and tools. Current production time for custom harmonicas are shown on the top of the custom page.
It hadn't occurred to me to make a video showing the process of installing a new comb until now because it's just so straightforward. But Rockin Ron pointed out to me that he gets asked that question quite a bit and it would be a good idea to do one.
I'm very thankful for my dealers because they help me so much. Thanks Ron!
This kit provides what you need to work on harps anywhere.
Use this kit to:
-Adjust reed shape and gap
-Fix tuning troubles without having to take apart your harp!
-Fix Reed Centering
-Replace lost screws
Here are a few thoughts on overblows and harmonicas. These ideas are relevant to both setting up and playing overblows on the diatonic harmonica.
- Overblows, overdraws, overbends are just like regular bends. The same thing that causes a regular note to bend causes the note to overbend.
- Air flow makes the reeds move and resonance affects the frequency (pitch). This is basic to how the harmonica works.
- Resonance can make a reed stand still. Resonance is kinetic energy and it can greatly affect the frequency of a reed.
- Resonance has a strong effect on both reeds when regular bends are played. Regular bends are double reed bends and overblows are single reed bends - they have a different behavior and sound.
- Resonance has a weaker effect on the closing reed than the opening reed during an overblow. If you can't hold and overblow note, it's likely because the reed that's supposed to stand still is not standing still.
- There are several kinds of overblow. Which is your favorite?
- It’s technique, but it’s also the harp. You need technique to play overbends but you also need a harp that will respond to your playing.
"...Here's how you do it: Only emboss half the slot...."
Embossing is SO misunderstood.
Embossing decreases the amount of space between the reed and the slot. It's as simple as that!
Why do it?
- You want to improve response
- You want a little more volume
- You like a bright sound
Why would you not want to emboss?
- You don't like bright tone
Embossing doesn't fix anything!
Do not ever try to fix a problem with embossing. If a note doesn't play well, spending 30 seconds embossing won't help. And when you are not happy with the result and decide to emboss some more - this time with more force - you will probably overdo it and end up damaging the reed plate.
To fix a misbehaving reed, make the harp airtight and fix the shape of the reed. Once you have done that, you can try embossing to add a little extra juice.
Embossing isn't just for overblows!
It would be a challenge to set up a harp for overblows without embossing, but that doesn't mean you can't take advantage of the benefits of embossing on a general-purpose harmonica.
Also, in of itself, embossing doesn't make your harp play overblows any easier. Not to any useful degree anyway... Again, the shape of the reeds counts for a whole lot more.
The Dark side of embossing
Embossing can cause problems. If you overdo it, your reeds will start to sound thin and the high overtones will become more present. As you continue to emboss, you will start to hear the reeds buzz. If you continue further, you will make the reed seize.
None of this causes permanent damage; you can undo embossing. But if you force the reed while trying to fix the damage, you can wreck your harp.
Embossing a harp is a job that takes a few minutes. If you are spending more time fixing the damage than you are spending time embossing, you are doing something wrong! I'm not saying you should rush your work but if you are spending hours embossing, you should probably re-think your process.
Less is more: Get the advantages without the drawbacks!
Gentle embossing can offer you a lot of the advantages of embossing while avoiding 99 per cent of the drawbacks.
Here's how you do it: Only emboss half the slot.
Find a round metal object like a 10mm chrome-plated socket driver, or the tip of one of my pin vises.
Hold the object halfway down the slot and press down. Press about as hard as you press a touch screen phone. Move the round object towards the free end of the slot (towards the reed tip).
You won't be able to see the little ridge you have created on the inside of the slot just by looking at the reed plate. Feel the inside of the slot with your fingernail. Pick at the side to see if you have created a little ridge on the inside of the slot. If you feel nothing run the round object down the slot again, this time with a little more force.
Do it until you have used just enough force to create a ridge (or burr) on the inside of the slot. Repeat the process on all the other slots one at a time starting from the halfway point and going to the free end.
On the weighted low reeds, you may need to position the reed plate over the edge of a table so that the tip of the reed can "peek" out the bottom of the slot as you move your round tool towards the tip.
Next, check your work. Use this hand position and angle the reed plate to look through the slots:
The shortened view of the slot is a low-tech way to zoom in and see how close the reed is to the sides of the slot. No extra equipment required (Microscope, Light Table, etc...)
Push the tip of the reed through the slot while you are looking to see if the reed touches any part of the sides. You'll also see if the reed is off-center as you do this. If you embossed with gentle finger pressure you should still have lots of room on either side of the slot.
If you overdid it in some areas, you will see it using this view. You may also notice the reed has a prickly/buzzy sound or maybe it doesn't even plink? To fix it, push the ridge of metal back. Use gentle force in the areas you need to target so that you don't completely undo your work.
Use a round piece of metal like a reed tool or a safety pin.
Since you only worked on the front half of the slot, you should be able to get your tool in position from the under side of the slot. The reed won't be in your way, it will simply be pushed up a little. Plink the reed a few times and re-check.
Now, put the harp back together and play it! You should notice more responsiveness and louder sound.
The reed shape, gap and tuning should be unchanged after embossing this way because we only worked on the free end of the slot. Not bad for a few minute's work! This method is a real time-saver!
If you are interested in embossing to the fullest possible limits, try Full Slot Embossing.
A harp player bought one of my combs from Rockin Ron's and had a little trouble getting the harp to play well. Here's why!
Just like maybe one-in-ten harps plays really well from the factory, this one suffered from defect and was the worst of the bunch.
It's fixed, now.
This particular harmonica is a Delta Frost but these defects happen with EVERY brand of harp. There are no exceptions. The only harmonica free of defects is a proper custom harmonica.
There are only two or three ways to change the shape or curvature of a reed. There are several ways to perform each of them and of course you can combine them in a million ways.
Here's a reference to doing reed work. It's a PDF file you can download for free! Click the image to download...
REAL-LIFE DEMONSTRATION:
(The black arrows indicate pressure applied with a tool and the pink round spots indicate counter-pressure applied with your finger.)
Curve the tip down:
Curve the tip up:
Lower base of reed:
This is a description of how I get the proper view of the shape of the reeds:
Reeds fracture with use. You don't need to throw away the harmonica because of a blown reed. Just like broken guitar strings can be replaced, so can harmonica reeds. In fact, you can change a harmonica reed in the same amount of time it takes to change a guitar string (maybe less!)
Reeds don't usually break off, they just drop out of tune because of microscopic fractures. If you play hard you will blow out reeds faster. Plink a fractured reed over and over and you will hear the pitch drop until the reed just stops moving - and eventually falls off - because the fracture grows to the point where it's not microscopic anymore.
Harmonica reed replacement is simple but it's not always easy. Replacing harmonica reeds is a bit of a paradox.
The chicken or the egg? Where do you start?
The first thing you need to do to a reed that has been freshly replaced is adjust its curvature so that it plays well. This is much more involved than just gapping. Re-shaping reeds takes some time and practice to learn. As part of the learning process, you will probably damage some reeds and they will have to be replaced.
That's why replacing reeds is an advanced skill.
To guarantee the new reed sounds right, there are a few things to consider:
1- Fastening a reed onto a reed plate can do some funny things to its shape. You need to be able to check and correct the shape of a reed to have success 100 per cent of the time. See this reed work reference.
2- Taking a reed off and putting one back on may also bend the reed plate if you are not careful. It's important to try not to bend the plate as you work. You must check for flatness once you are done and straighten a crooked reed plate.
3- Don't forget about tuning. The new reed will probably be out of tune - sometimes factory-new reed are out by as much as 50 cents! You will need to tune it.
Most harmonicas use rivets to secure the reeds to the plate because it's very cost-effective to mass-produce them that way. But there are other - better - ways of fastening a reed to the plate. There is nothing special about using a rivet.
A reed that's attached to the plate with a screw will not sound any different than a reed attached with a rivet. What's important is that the reed is secure, straight and centered and has a proper shape/curve.
Using a screw will allow you to get the reed perfectly positioned and won't warp the reed plate. You can guarantee success 100 per cent of the time.
Suzuki reeds are welded onto the plate. They don't use rivets. You don't need to buy a welding torch. The reeds can be removed easily by twisting the rivet pad just like rotating a reed with a reed wrench. To fasten the new reed, you drill a hole into the new reed and into the plate and secure the replacement reed with a screw.
