RE: [Harp-L] out of the box



From: "Blake Taylor" <taylorb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] out of the box
Date: Thu, 05 May 2005 22:30:15 -0400

I mentioned in a post a while back that I got a Golden Melody (my first
in a number of years) that was, to a sp20 player, stiff and airy - in
other words, bad / sluggish response.  I also mentioned that I know next
to nothing about harp tech work (disasterous attempts at tuning...random
success with gapping..generally timid about the whole process).

Anyway, what are some basic things one can / should do when your out of
the box harp is, like mine, stiff and airy?  Please speak in simple
terms to me...I was raised by a pack of academics, and have few tool
skills, but I do have a LO repair kit.

No controversial topic here....just asking for advice. Thanks!!

As one non-expert Lee Oskar kit-user to another: response problems are mostly caused by incorrect gapping. "Incorrect" can mean badly set up in the factory, or badly set up for your needs. The diagrams with your LO kit show what is basically meant by gapping. When I first started to follow these instructions to alter gaps I found I was going about it too gingerly and not actually doing anything at all. You have got to see a difference when you hold the reed-plate up to the light! Be bold but go easy. The gapping should appear consistent along both plates, with a gentle gradation from slightly larger gaps for the lower-pitched longer reeds to slightly smaller ones for the shorter reeds. The gaps of the two reeds in each hole need to balance each other for both reeds to respond properly. If the response problem is a weak sound, and not much is coming out unless you blow hard, then the gap is probably too large. On the other hand, if when you "attack" the reed (try saying "duh" as you blow or draw the note in question) there is a momentary hesitation before the sound comes out, the gap may be too small. I've found that the latter problem is far commoner than the former for out-of-the-box Hohners and Lee Oskars, but then this possibly relates to my rather forceful way of playing. Downright inconsistent gapping is, sadly, quite common - most reeds OK but a few needing adjusting.
None of this applies if you're hell-bent on doing overblows by the way, but I don't do 'em. You can get other problems like reeds catching the side of the slot and buzzing, but with me this has nearly always been because I've upset the position of the reed or created burrs whilst tuning, and not an OOTB problem, at least not with decent quality harps. Also, if you get into replacing individual reeds, the new reed needs to be the correct length for its slot and not too short.


Steve



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