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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Single reed replacement update
Single reed replacement update
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wheezer
18 posts
Jul 25, 2008
5:19 AM
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Well I finally took the plunge. A few words of encouragement from Dave Payne of Elk River Harmonicas in so far as I was going about things in the right way and I am now able to repair my own harps.
If you want to have a go yourself, this is what you will need:
A 1.4mm drill bit (to drill the reed plate for a 10BA tap)
A 1.8mm drill bit (to drill a clearance hole in the reed for the 10BA screw)
A supply of 10BA screws (I use brass)
A 10BA screw thread tap
10BA washers (optional)
10BA nuts (optional)
A supply of old reeds from old reedplates (because it seems to be impossible to purchase individual reeds. If anyone knows where you can get them I would be extremely grateful)
A small hammer
A centre punch
A small sharp file
Some form of tuner (I use the one in a Behringer V amp)
A piece of metal with a small hole drilled in it (to rest the reed plate on while punching out the rivet)
The 10BA nuts are optional because I find that the thread cut in the reed plate is sufficient to hold the reed firmly in place. If you do not have a thread tap, drill the reed plate with a !.8mm drill and use the nut and bolt method.
The washers are optional because if you place them on the screw they restrict access to the reed with the reed alignment tool. Again, the reed is o.k. without a washer.
Method;
Remove cover plates and reed plates from the harp
Punch out rivet from offending reed. Remove reed and throw it away.
Drill the reed plate rivet hole out with 1.4mm drill
Run the 10BA tap through the 1.4mm hole.
Now the fun starts. You have to sort through your old reed plates to find a reed of comparable size and tuning. If you go to the Coast to Coast Music website you can print off a chart of all the Richter tunings for diatonic harp. For example i used the 4 blow from a C harp (note of C) to replace the 4 draw (D note) on a C harp. I have found that it is best to try and select a note that is below the one you require because i think it is better to tune up (filing the free end of the reed) rather than to tune down (filing the fixed end, thereby weakening the end that gives out when a reed goes flat). It would be so easy if you had a supply of new reeds. WHY DO THEY APPEAR TO BE UNOBTAINABLE?!!!!
You may find that you have to use, as the donor reed, one that is longer than the one you wish to replace. This can work o.k. Just carefully cut the new reed down to size with a pair of scissors and finish gently with a file.
When you have selected your new reed drill out the rivet hole with the 1.8mm drill. What you have to watch out for is that the rivet hole is not always central in the heel of the reed. The extra dia. of the hole you have drilled in the reed should allow you to compensate for this.
Now you can screw the new reed to the reed plate. Alignment is all important. The reed has to move with total freedom in the reed slot.
When the reed is a good fit you can do the tuning by very gentle filing, all the time ensuring that the reed moves freely in its slot.
In this way I have managed to repair 5 dead harps.
First an A Susuki Bluesmaster. The 5 draw had gone.
A pre MS Hohner Pro Harp (the old type with the reed plates recessed into the comb) 3, 4 & 5 draws had all gone
An A Hohner Cross Harp (again pre MS) 4 & 5 draw gone
A D Hohner Pro Harp (again the old type) 3 draw
AN MS Pro Harp in C 3 & 4 draw
An old type C Special 20 3 draw
I also have two failures. And old type Special 20 in A that had 2 draw gone and I've tried 3 different reeds and I still cannot get it right. The same applies to an MS Bb Pro Harp, 2 draw again and I just cannot get it right.
Sill two failures out of twelve reeds I don't think is too bad for a begginer.
Was it a lot of messing about? Of course it was. All the grief comes from not having the exact reed to replace the duff one. If you had a selection of new reeds to drop in the whole process would take about 10 minutes.
Was it worth it? Course it was. The satisfaction in re-vitalising a favoured harp that you thought you would never play again made up for all the aggro. When you mic up that rebuilt harp through the amp for the first it feels great Then there is the financial aspect. 5 sets of reed plates would cost £50 to £70
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My costs were: 10BA tap appx. £4. Screws appx £2 for 15
1.4mm & 1.8mm drill bits appx. 60p each
Give it a try. You,ve got nothing to lose. If you cock up, new reed plates are not exchange and if you succeed you will not be able to play 'cos of the big smile you will have fixed to your face. Just remember the advice of Dave Payne that when working on the inards of a harp 'less is more'. In
other words do every thing a little at a time and do it gently.
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oldwailer
129 posts
Jul 25, 2008
8:55 AM
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This was a GREAT post, Wheezer. Thank you for taking the time to write this up--I have copied it into my harp notes and will use the data.
I have done some practicing on removing and replacing reeds--on old plates that I don't care about. I have only torn 1 reed off the harp so far--and have done 3 successfully. I haven't gotten down to the tuning up part yet.
For reeds try http://www.harponline.de/index.php?page=shop&lang_id=en_GB&
Then, click bluesharps on the left--then click the brand of harp you want reeds for--then find the harp you want reeds for--there will be a spare parts button--and sometimes a button for reeds & valves--click it--then you get a chart that will take your own ingenuity--I haven't dealt with this place yet--but have read here on the forum that they are very good.
Just keep trying on this site--it is very confusing and just when you think you have it--you're suddenly trying to read German--and my German skills were never good. . .
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Patrick Barker
93 posts
Jul 25, 2008
10:04 AM
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If you can't read a page because its in German, try going to google, and on the top left click on more, then even more. Then on the right hand column under "Communicate, show & share" there is language. Click there, and then copy and paste the url into the place below "translate web page" and click the language to make it german to english.
About single reed replacement- sounds really good! I don't think I'm going to try this right now, since I'm still experimenting with different harps; any time a reed blows out I try a new harp. Once I'm satisfied with a harp I'll probably start trying this single reed replacement stuff for sure.
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"Without music, life would be a mistake" -Nietzsche
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oldwailer
132 posts
Jul 25, 2008
9:58 PM
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Patrick,
Take a bit of advice here--in your search for the perfect harp--don't throw away any of the old blown out ones! Someday you might want to start a little customizing, and a heap of old harps makes a great start for parts.
I say this because, a couple of years ago, I decided to take up harp again after many years off. Well, I dusted off my old set of about ten MB's and Blues Harps--but they tasted funny no matter what I did to clean them. I got a sore throat about that time and blamed the harps--threw them out.
Now that I am refinishing combs and starting to replace reeds and tune them--I sure wish I had those old ones to work with!
Now I even save the cheapie crap harps to practice surgery on--and in Rupert Oyslers DVD, he shows you how to make tools to work on harps out of old reed plates. . .
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Patrick Barker
94 posts
Jul 26, 2008
2:34 PM
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Ya, I was thinking along the same lines when I bought my new harmonicas- I took the old harps apart (partly because I hadn't seen a harp comb without the plates out in person before and I'm a curios person) but mostly so that I'd have a bunch of spare parts ready when the time came.
Thanks again for all this wonderful information.
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"Without music, life would be a mistake" -Nietzsche
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