I've been having a lot of fun with my new Hohner Super 64 Chromonica, but the slide is getting a little sticky. What is the recommended lubricant? (Something about the juxtaposition of "sticky" and "lubricant" makes me know that I'm going to get a few answers more appropriate to a Savage Love column, but still: I need answers.)
Also, what is the recommended protocol for, ah, lubricating a sticking slide? Should I unscrew the hole-plate (whatever it's called; I'm a newbie) and lubricate the entire slide, or can I simply spray something in the end where the button is?
The lady from hohner's chromatic service area recommends keeping it clean, playing with a clean mouth, having a glass of water with a little lemon juice while you are playing, not using mouthwash, and not lubricating the slide. She says if you really can't stop yourself, you can use maybe some instrument lubricant, like valve lubricant made for brass instruments, but very little, and applied with a cloth. She says lubricants actually attract deposits and it's better to use none. Apparently sticky saliva is the culprit so solution is to have wet saliva, hence the water. Also, helps to let the harmonica dry for a while before putting it away, and to push the button before you put it away. I used to have some trouble with the wind savers sticking. Now I prop the slide partly open with a match in one of the holes, and leave it to to dry out for a while, and I've had no problems since..
There have been a number of opinions on Slidemeister and Harp-L about using lubricants or not. Many suggest that lubricant will collect dust and cause more problems, others report no problems. I have played for years without lubricant.
If you have disassembled the mouthpiece at any point, check that it is properly reassembled and that the bumper on the screw on the spring side is correctly in place. Then be sure you haven't overtightened the mouthpiece screws. You can try a small partial turn to loosen the mouthpiece, but not so much as to make it leak more.
If you have not disassembled the mouthpiece and it is not an issue of overtightened slide screws, it is probably dried spit. When saliva dries it is almost like glue, and the slide will begin to stick. Different people report varying problems with this. Apparently it is different for everyone.
One often suggested solution that does not require any disassemblng is to place the harmonica with the mouthpiece down in a shallow plate of water, making sure that the wood comb doesn't touch the water. Work the slide gently. This dissolves and cleans out the dried spit. Some recommend doing this every time after playing. Let the harmonica dry face down on a towel, don't let the water run into the comb.
I have seldom done this. If it is not a screw tightness adjustment issue, and the slide continues to stick, I have on rare occasions disassembled the mouthpiece, making sure that I support and do not bend any parts. I gently use a small amount of toothpaste and scrub the sliding parts with my fingers. I then thoroughly rinse away the abrasive toothpaste, and reassemble.
If you take the chromatic apart to do this, the disassembling will seem complicated at first, and you want to take note of how it is put together and don't want to lose any parts. Since the screws go into wood, this should only be done rarely, when really needed, since wood screws can strip out the holes. Do not over tighten.
I usually just gently work the slide some. If it gets really sticky, I do the toothpaste approach. The shallow water approach is the easiest with least risk, as long as the wood comb stays dry.
I usually find a little water will loosen things up.
I've heard of people using Vaseline, but that sounds kind of gross to me. I think if went that route, you want to periodically clean it all off and start over to avoid crud-in-the-Vaseline buildup.
You know some of those other, "specialist" lubricants might work - non-toxic, available in flavours and water soluble... just a thought. Would look quite odd in you gig bag though!
I have a 64 and played 270s for years. I advise against lubrication. You have to clean the slide to keep it smooth running. Watch out for little plastic tube around screw you can loose it easily. When you put it back together put the plastc tube on the screw first makes it easier to get back together. ---------- Emile "Diggs" D'Amico a Legend In His Own Mind How you doin'
Last Edited by on Mar 16, 2012 10:29 AM
I've been playing chromatic for 35 years. I don't use lubricant. Here's a suggestion for you, in case this is the issue:
Make sure the two front screws that attach the whole slide apparatus to the body of the harmonica aren't too tight. Whenever I reassemble my chromatics after home repairs, I turn those screws tight (never forcefully tight), and then back off 1/4 turn. That 1/4 turn unscrewing seems to hit the sweet spot where the slide movement is precise but unhindered.
To unstick a slide, you can use an eyedropper to drip water into the ends of the mouthpiece, or even inject saliva by mouth. (both of these courtesy of Blackie Schackner, one of the chromatic greats who also wrote a comprehensive repair guide).
Another tip, this time from Tom Stryker, is to get a tiny misting spray bottle and spray the mouthpiece (aiming to get the spray into the holes) from time to time during a playing session. I've started doing this. The trick is to find the tiny spray mister.
Eventually, though, you have to disassemble the mouthpiece assembly and clean the slide and its mating surfaces. how often depends on how much you play and how much gunk your body emits orally (which happens even if you never eat or drink before playing). ---------- VOTE Winslow Yerxa for SPAH president, with L J Atkison for vice president Winslow for SPAH President (Facebook) Winslow4prez (Youtube) Chair, SPAH entertainment committee Chair, SPAH awards committee Member, SPAH convention planning committee Staff, SPAH Convention event operation
Last Edited by on Mar 16, 2012 11:56 AM
i dont like chromatics but yeah wateron the button thingie let it drip down. if you got serious gunk and industrial toilet bowl cleaner doesnt work. use steel wool.
Thanks, all. Armed with all the good advice here, I disassembled the thing for the first time--meaning I unscrewed the two screws, one at either end, that hold down the mouthpiece.
Turns out the the screw closest to the slider button was bent. That can't help! It came from Hohner like that.
I carefully took off the mouthplate and the two sliders--whatever you call them. The slider and the non-moving plate that looks like a slider. I decided to finess the lubricate/no-lubricate issue by rubbing my fingers on my greasy forehead and giving both plates a gentle rubdown. I used my thumbnail to scrape a small bit of schmutz from one of the plates in at the button end.
Then I carefully reassembled. It works great! Problem has absolutely been solved. Thanks to one and all.
yeah thats a good tip, salty food dries my lips. forehead or side of the nose grease works great. also if youre in a desert with no chapstick. ive also used it at work to remove grease pencil marks. saves on mineral spirits which is toxic.
@kudzu Yeah I recommend never using a lubricant since eventually the substance will make its way onto your reeds, plates, and valves--and then you will have to clean it all up. Unless you send it to a harp tech, then he will have to deal with it . . . and that's why I say never. Never is, however, a long time, and there are some fantastic players who use lube--and as I said in the thread on SM, if the company that makes the harmonica sells a lubricant, it's not my place to tell people not to use it. I guess I just need to charge people more money when the harp comes to me with gunk in it. I bet that's why I like working on brand new harps!
Last Edited by on Mar 16, 2012 10:25 PM
One thing about chromatics is that they require more frequent maintenance than a diatonic does and have more places where air leaks out. I once used valve oil that horn players use and many of the old school chromatic guys used to put vaseline on the slides.
I do recommend that every few weeks is that you clean out the entire mouthpiece/slide assembly because dried on saliva and dead skin will clog the living s**t out of them.
It would be well worth your while to also have the entire mouthpiece/slide assembly completely deburred because the saliva and dead skin dries on them first and will slow the slide movement down drastically.
I personally am not fond of the cross tuned set up Hohner uses on their 16 hole chromatics and Suzuki uses this too because it's a longer and slower slide throw and much prefer the straight tuned setup like the 270 and pre-60's 64's, Hering and Seydel chromatics uses.
The main thing is to keep it clean and get the assembly completely deburred. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
adam, like i said above, try the trumpet oil. it is a VERY thin oil. it wont gather debris and lasts a long time. depending on how much you play yo could probably use a couple drops once a month and it would be smooth sliding for you. horn players will back me up on this, its not a thicker gathering oil like you would think. almost as thin as water and leave almost no film at all. i have been using it for 20 years. lubricating it is important to cut down on wear and tear. it will also help dislodge any debris that may come in contact with the slide.
"The main thing is to keep it clean and get the assembly completely deburred."
also proper screw tension has been mentioned. that said, you can use water or not, valve oil or not, and absolutely nothing will happen to the reeds. oil won't get on the reeds. zip, nada, zero, negatives on any chromatic i've had in 40 years. but, you really don't need oil anyway so why use it? ----------
MP doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
