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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Ok, I'm really sold now.
Ok, I'm really sold now.
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BluTed
11 posts
Feb 22, 2009
12:09 AM
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Always been a tinkerer and completely fearless when it comes to delicate machinery, so when I found out how to tinker with my harps a couple of months ago I immediately made some basic tools and dabbled. It took me a bit to get the techniques down - how much and how hard to burnish the slot, using a .002 tapered shim to set and clean the side gaps, and getting the tip gaps right. Wrecked a couple of spare plates in the begining.
Once you feel ready go, it's a daunting task lining them up to get the treatment - a lot of work. Just finished the A, with only the G remaining. Thing is, this-stuff-works. So much less air required to make it sing, and improved control - wow. Once all are finished, the single occasional new harp will not be a problem.
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Andrew
133 posts
Feb 22, 2009
2:15 AM
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Yeah. I'm a bit too impatient to be generally good at precision tinkering, but at least I'm good enough never to ruin a gapping job, which is something. I haven't done as well as you, and my older harps got so mucked about with when I was a rank beginner that if I re-fix them they might fall to pieces (lol, but seriously), but I'll keep trying anyway.
At the moment the hardest thing is getting the 4B, 5B, 6B gaps right - overblows are easy, but I've only got one harp where the straight 4B and 5B are as easy as the overblows. Do you use a feeler gauge for those, and if so, what thickness? I especially hate it when the 4B won't sing properly, so currently I'm retracing my steps with some of my harps and re-opening the 4B and 5B gaps - it's more important for a beginner to be able to play these straight than to be able to play the overblows.
Same can be say for 6B, of course, but somehow I find it less sensitive than the other two.
Last Edited by on Feb 22, 2009 2:18 AM
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BluTed
12 posts
Feb 22, 2009
5:53 PM
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Must confess: 4/5B are giving me some trouble too. Get silence when attacking them with any kind of force. I'm setting gaps simply by eyeballing - that is, gap approx the thickness of the end of the reed. Isn't the rule of thumb increase gap to increase response to harder attacks?
Yeah, overblows. Pretty sure initial overblow attempts on 5-6 are what killed at least two of my SP20's in recent months. Been kind of reluctant to try them since.
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