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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Harp-tinkerer's Syndrome
Harp-tinkerer's Syndrome
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MrVerylongusername
49 posts
Dec 15, 2008
1:29 PM
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I'm noticing a new trend in harp playing. It's kind of like the gear acquisition syndrome. I'm gonna christen it harp-tinkerer's syndrome. Do we really need to gap, emboss, retune and regularly sterilise our harps? Personally I don't think the majority of players need to; I think the tinkering is born out of a desire to de-toy-ify the harmonica. Psychologically comforting, but little real value.
I've said it in another thread, In 20 years of playing I've only had 1 quality branded harp that needed any kind of adjustment (a Suzuki with a misaligned reed, before they started welding them). Harps are tuned and gapped fine for my general style of playing. I only emboss and gap to set-up overblow harps.
Of course this is just an opinion and I'm trying to stimulate a discussion - feel free to disagree, but at least give it some thought...
Peace (and Happy Christmas to those who celebrate it)
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tookatooka
49 posts
Dec 15, 2008
1:52 PM
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Yeah! but we all like to tinker, it's a blokey thing. Trouble is we all feel we can just squeeze out a little more responsiveness if we put our own individual mark on it. But then again, they are manufactured for the mass market and sometimes the tolerances aren't all they should be. If a little bit of tinkering helps to make it bend easier therefore allow you to play it just that little bit better, then I'm all for it.
I've now got a full set of needle files and screwdrivers, a guitar tuning thingy, fine tweezers and all sorts of gear for micro-harp surgery. Next stop, one of those little microscopes that you can plug into a USB port which gives a full screen view at 200x magnification. (Looking for fatigued reeds).
Once I've got my harp all specced up, I tell ya, I'm gonna crack Mary Had a little Lamb - even if it kills me.
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MrVerylongusername
50 posts
Dec 15, 2008
1:55 PM
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LOL!
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GermanHarpist
15 posts
Dec 15, 2008
7:02 PM
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Yes, definitely. I want an instrument that is in every way easy to play, to bend, to overblow with a nice loud tone (and that on all ten holes, please). I don't know very much about customizing but I know that the uncustomized harps that I have at home are all (without exception) crappy instruments. This annoyed me from the start and I can't wait to learn how to customize.
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oldwailer
370 posts
Dec 15, 2008
9:04 PM
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I put an amp, green bullet and an Alesis mixer in my little harp shop a while back--haven't done a lick of customizing since then--lots more fun to play--now I just fix stuff that needs it--like when a hair gets stuck in a reed--then get back to playing. . .
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cm16600
35 posts
Dec 16, 2008
12:23 AM
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German harpist,have you tried seydel blues sessions,or suzuki promaster/hammond.I found them really good.You have the chance to live in germany so seydel shouldn't be aproblem to get for you .
Keep posting vids on harpfriends it was great
Chris
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Blackbird
16 posts
Dec 16, 2008
12:35 AM
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I think part of the tinkering urge is to 'practice' (in the event any of us ever really needs to do some open-harp surgery) as well as to know the difference between "out of the box working just fine" harps, and the "now I've tinkered with it, how does it sound and feel?" experience.
I would never have given second thoughts to any hot-rodding or adjusting until I think I saw one of Adam's videos noting how you could play the harp octaves to see if you had one out of tune. Then, of course, how do you fix one that is confirmed to be out of tune? And there it goes - the tinkering knows no bounds as you experiment to see if whatever you can do to it will make it any better than it was.
I think it was video 16 of Adam's that showed some simple things to do, like loosening up the reeds/gaps a bit for easier playing and bending that got me curious about harp guts and what to do with them.
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Andrew
18 posts
Dec 16, 2008
1:37 AM
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"out of the box working just fine"
If only!
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Andrew
19 posts
Dec 16, 2008
1:41 AM
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I'm probably not going to emboss or retune (although I did buy a tuning fork with a ball on the end for embossing purposes), but I do need to have the gaps right (and the 6-hole overblow is useful), and I suspect I should learn how to sterilise. Someone post a link to that!
I haven't adjusted any of my 7-10 draw gaps for overdraws yet, but I think I probably will, as the technique is no harder than overblowing (I can get a couple of natural overdraws).
Last Edited by on Dec 16, 2008 1:42 AM
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Tryharp
37 posts
Dec 16, 2008
3:21 AM
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MVLU,
HTS - Harp tinkerers syndrome
"Do we really need to gap, emboss, retune and regularly sterilise our harps?"
Not interested in sterilising them, unless I get a second hand one. ( never heard of someone dying from harp poisoning ). To learn to overblow, gapping and embossing made it sooo much easier ( maybe possible ), and I think if you were persuing higher level overblow playing it would be a definite benefit ( as you mentioned ). If you are playing traditional blues type playing, and youve got the chops, you can make most harps sound pretty good I reckon.
Well....In my short time playing I've tried tuning, gapping, embossing, sealing combs, sanding, screwing, rounding, arcing & etc........OH YEAH....I HAVE HTS. I did this mainly for fun, I like tinkering, but then one day I thounght I'll try to replace a reed in one of my favorite harps that had passed away due one dead reed. I thought it would be a pretty difficult task, but ten minutes later I had the taken a reed out of a dead A harp, put it in, tuned it up and I had my old favorite Special 20 Bb alive again, I was stoked!
Anyway, for me its not a Psychological de-toyifying thing, but knowing your instrument, inside and out. I have two or three dead bodies which I use for spare reeds, but now every other harp can be easily fixed.
I have bought about 20 harps in my time, all SP20's or MB's, all pretty good out of the box. But one MB in G was a shocker, unplayable! I pulled it down, sealed it, tweaked the reeds etc, and now it plays like butter, very satisfying!
I was in a music store recently and a young chick came in with a marine band, she said it had a sticky reed, and wondered if they could fix it... ( maybe a crumb)....of course they had no idea what to do.....a harp player needs to tinker!
Anyway, thats my case for the negative!
Jamie
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GermanHarpist
16 posts
Dec 16, 2008
3:48 AM
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@cm16600
No, I didn't. My music shop mainly runs Hohner instruments. So thats mostly what I bought.
I had heard once, that the Promasters are valved (I got pretty excitet). However I forgot about it when I saw that they cost around 70€. I just don't want to spend that much on a harp (not yet, maybe later).
So what you say, is that these are better out-of-the-box than other harps?
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Preston
Guest
Dec 16, 2008
5:30 AM
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At first, I could only overblow the 6 hole and make a clear, in tune note. I could OB the 4 and 5, but they sounded terrible. When I began gapping, it was MUCH easier to play those overblows. Now that I am gapping and embossing, I can actually bend the pitch up and down in the middle of an overblow. I agree you can pick up an out of the box harp and play it beautifully, but a Harp that's been Hot Rodded offers a little more versatility. The way my style has developed, and the riffs I like to play, I have to mod my harps.
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cm16600
38 posts
Dec 16, 2008
6:15 AM
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@GermanHarpist, youcan buy promasters or hammonds that are not valved.I found them really air tight and i managed to overblow hole6,5,4 out of the box.the seudels are as good too.
Check here http://www.harmonicaland.com/index.php?langue=en
Chris
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oldwailer
372 posts
Dec 16, 2008
6:36 AM
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Andrew--here's a link on fixing and sterilizing used harps--works great--I have gotten some good harps off ebay for as little as 99 cents--clean them up--they work as good as out of the box--sometimes better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gdMe6lykdk
when you get junk off ebay--just add to your bin of spare parts. I once bought 5 harps for less than 10 dollars--used them to put together three decent ones.
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