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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Youtube lessons 16&17
Youtube lessons 16&17
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RyanMortos
41 posts
Jan 13, 2009
7:43 PM
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Not just youtube lessons 16 & 17 but them included.
I took a slight attempt at embossing one reed slot. Turn it into an awful buzz. Finally was able to work it out with a shim so that it no longer buzzes but I can't tell if the embossing did anything good at all so I stopped after attempting one. Do all reed slots on both reed plates usually get embossed?
I then try my hand at the gapping displayed in youtube lessons 16 & 17. Okay, so opening the bottom draw holes (1,2,3,7,8,9,& 10) a tad didn't hurt anything. Not sure if what I did helped anything either. Then I take a shot at closing off the 4,5, and 6 blow holes. Well that just made it so I couldn't do normal blows on those holes so I loosened them a tad again.
All in all it seems my attempts at gapping/embossing are futile. There is only a little information on these techniques on the internet and youtube and I tried to follow them.
I'm curious how many harmonicas you all might have "broken" instead of modded for the good before you were able to actually do these techniques correctly? Any tips? Anyone else struggling with making an out of a box harmonica a better one? I heard of Rupert's videos but he even says that all the tips given are available on the internet as free information.
I'm find it a bit frustrating that modding harmonicas is so touchy and hard to learn to do. So little information out there. I just think it would be nice to make my harmonicas more responsive and make "hidden notes" more easily available on my own without picking up a pre-customized harmonica but I don't have a pile of junk harps to play with.
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~Ryan
PA
Ryan's Tube
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oda
5 posts
Jan 13, 2009
11:59 PM
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First of all, I do recommend Rupert's DVD, because even though that stuff is on the web he provides it VISUALLY and I dunna about you but I learn best by visual example.
I don't know why it hasn't helped you ... I did exactly what Adam does but massaging the reeds and I noticed a BIG different in the 2 and 3 draw (C harmonica) and when I did it on my A harmonica which was leaky and not very responsive it felt like I got a new harmonica (albeit still somewhat leaky on blow notes) I use Sp20's, and before that I used the Hohner blues harp which I tried to do abunch of different mods on and messed up!
Perhaps you just need to massage the reeds more gently, and just spend a little longer on them? that worked for me and helped me get those 'hidden notes' in the draws (Ie.bends... not overblows)
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Preston
89 posts
Jan 14, 2009
5:25 AM
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Ryan,
It's all trial, error, and practice. I have to say that it takes alot to really ruin a harp. Usually if you screw it up, there is something you can do to fix it. I wish I would've known some of these things, because I probably threw 3 harps away when I was starting to set up my own. That's the trouble of being self taught and not having an instructor looking over your shoulder. So from here on out, DON'T throw any away. Just put them in a box or on the shelf and come back to them later when you've perfected your craft.
I see from your post above that you closed the gaps on 4,5,and 6, but opened all the rest. You should gap all the reeds the same. It's bad enough that different bends/overblows require different embouchures, but if you throw different gapping in there, you will be constantly adjusting your technique from hole to hole.
My first suggestion to you is to analyze how you play before setting up your harp. Are you a soft player, or do you attack that thing? If you are a soft player, set your gaps closer. If you are heavy breather, open them up a bit. Adam's videos are how HE gaps his harps for HIS playing style. You may need to make other adjustments.
If you are just learning to overblow and you are a heavy breather, you may still want to gap them tight until you get the overblow technique down, and develop the muscles to do it with a wider gap.
One last thing, (and I know I've posted this in another thread, but I'll say it again so you don't have to search) overblows and bent notes are actually made by the opposing reed vibrating out of sympathy. If you have narrowed down the gaps on your blow reeds and still aren't getting an overblow, try narrowing the gap on your draw reeds. The same is true for regular bent notes on the draw. If you are having trouble, try adjusting the blow reed.
I hope this helps, and I'm not just rambling again. I get a big of kick out of moddifying these things as I do playing them sometimes. Good luck.
Preston
Last Edited by on Jan 14, 2009 5:28 AM
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Preston
90 posts
Jan 14, 2009
5:39 AM
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Whoops, I forgot about embossing. I usually don't get to carried away with embossing. I run a penny, or a socket, or something round down the reed plate a couple of times. I'm sure the more you emboss, it cuts down on air leakage, but I get pretty good results out of light emobssing. I think the responsiveness has more to do with the gapping.
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DaDoom
22 posts
Jan 14, 2009
6:52 AM
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@oda
Where can I get that DVD? And where can I find the info on the internet?
@RyanMotos
First and foremost: use caution. It's actually possible to ruin a harp, especially when playing around on the upper reeds.
I think it's difficult to teach how to do this correctly as we're speaking about very little adjustments. That's also quite difficult to show on a video. If a harp bends fine on holes 2, 3, 4 and 6 I usually leave the draw reeds as they are. Closing down the blow reeds 4 - 6 is practically required on all harps in the key of C or lower. And it really helps me a lot with OBs. They pop in more easily and I can sustain them longer. But again: we speak about millimeters. Best thing you can do is adjust, try, repeat if necessary (without putting the screws back in). I also find that certain holes are easier to adjust than others. While closing down 5 and 6 works fine all the time, hole 4 is much more tricky. I either can't pop the overblow or the reed gets stuck.
I'm still trying to emboss and arch reeds, not much experience with these techniques yet.
The whole subject of harp customization is debatable. Should you first learn to play well and then start optimizing the instrument or vice versa? I'm not the guy who buys the most expensive tennis racket when he plays tennis for the first time. But having the right tool for the right job can make life easier. And you can avoid wasting time trying to learn a technique that doesn't work because the instrument isn't setup properly.
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Preston
91 posts
Jan 14, 2009
7:16 AM
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Anybody been reading Kenya Pollard's "Harmonica Workbench"? It's not a video, but he has some good up close pictures. Here's a link to his gapping and reed arching issue. Click on Back issues and search around. He's got alot of customization stuff on there.
http://www.harmonicasessions.com/apr04/h-workbench.html
There's alot of other good material on that website other than just modification.
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RyanMortos
42 posts
Jan 14, 2009
7:55 AM
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Yes, that's my concern. While Im learning and practicing harmonica & studying music theory, blues concentration, from books I have a desire to make the best music Im built to be able to do (and then some) one day.
If making the best possible music and actually performing some of the techniques requires modification of the mass produced harmonica as we know it it seems important for one to know their instrument enough to make it better. Im not saying I want to customize like the best of them. I just want to take a mediocre-to-good out of the box instrument and turn it into a good-to-great one that can perform the music & techniques when done right.
I appreciate the discussion on the topic and the advice and shared past experiences you guys give me. It seems the real issue is that I havent played long enough to have 'throw away' harmonicas to attempt to make better then new out of the box ones. Which leads me to believe that practice and attempts to do everything (incl overblows) on out of the box harmonicas comes first and much later (years?), when you have a number of 'bad' ones lying around you learn this part.
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~Ryan
PA
Ryan's Tube
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Andrew
70 posts
Jan 14, 2009
10:30 AM
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I haven't tried any embossing yet, as I can't be bothered to prize the plates off the comb, but I have a nice tuning fork with a ball end ready for when I want to try it. Is there any point in beginning with the draw reeds, since they are easy to get at, and leaving the blow reeds till later?
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