chromaticblues
104 posts
May 26, 2009
8:40 AM
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Is there such a thing as braking in a new harp? Does it matter all if you buy a new harp and just start wailing? I've heard people say you have to take it easy for a week or two and I've heard the exact opposite! From personal experience I never noticed SP20's needing it, but with marine bands it takes awhile for the leakiness to seal up with good old gunk!
Here's my problem. When I build a custom marine band if I break it in for a week or two then take it apart and build a custom harp. They seem to last longer than if I just test it to make sure nothing is wrong then take it apart. Am I just imagining this? Did I just get a few bad harps?
I built 2 harps in "C" and both of them went flat within 2 minutes of playing! That sucks!
I'd like to get some feed back before I do another round of harps. I never broke them in before and didn't seem to have to? I don't know anymore!
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Preston
375 posts
May 26, 2009
10:16 AM
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I don't know either.
But I do know that when I hot rod a harp, I usually have to go back and re-adjust a reed or two after I've played it a couple of days. I don't know if that is from the reeds moving/breaking in, or if I just get more in tune with it's nuances after a couple days of playing and listening to it's details.
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jonsparrow
356 posts
May 26, 2009
10:58 AM
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iv thought that i was breakin in new harps, but then it dawned on me that they were differnt keys so i had to adjust my technique. like with higher keys you have to be more precise with bends. but at first i didnt realize i was adjusting my technique i thought i was breakin in the harp. kinda like a subconscious thing. but with marine bands in general they do feel like they have to be broken in a bit. or maybe its anouther subconscious thing cause its not a sp20. i donno.
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oldwailer
741 posts
May 26, 2009
12:59 PM
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Here's how I break a harp in in about ten minutes.
Do the following at low volume:
0. Remove the harp from the box--warm it up and make sure all reeds work.
1. Play "Mary had a little lamb" starting on 3 draw about ten times
2. figure out a cool ending that incorporates the 2 draw bending down a full step--ending on 1 draw--and play that ten times.
3. Just riff on bending the 4 and 6 draws--get up to an 8 blowbend a couple of times.
4. Doing a full Major scale from 1 blow up to 10 blow, including the 10 blowbend about ten times is good.
The harp is broke in for me. Very important to do it at a low volume. If you overblow--you probably already know what you need to do in addition to this.
In my opinion, it is best to let the reeds sit there without playing for a few days after any major embossing, tuning, arcing, or whatever--or they will return to a "remembered" previous state very quickly.
It can take me a couple of weeks to properly set up a harp. Just an opinion from a newbie customizer. I like to start work on a new harp before the old one fails--then there's no hurry. . .
Last Edited by on May 26, 2009 1:03 PM
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MrVerylongusername
329 posts
May 26, 2009
1:19 PM
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Never bothered myself. Out the box, untweaked, full tilt from the word go. Never a problem.
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