Re: [Harp-L] Cleaning diatonic reed plates




Alcohol is ok for some plastic combs and metal coverplates. I would, however, avoid saturating alcohol on wood combs due to
the chances of dissolving the sealant. Alcohol can breakdown shellac (which is my sealant of choice), epoxy and silicone
sealants that some harp techs use fix or customize harps.


A customer's kid accidentally spilled alcohol on a wood comb 280 shortly after I fixed it for him. The alcohol dissolved the epoxy
sealing a crack in the comb. I find alcohol great for removing silicone from metal parts whether or not I want it to.


The best method,IMO, for cleaning harps is to break them down and clean them with liquid soap and a toothbrush or brass brush.
Lay them on a towel to dry properly if you don't have time to dry them immediately.


BTW, Jason uses the inside of his harp case as an ashtray holder. He should care so much about his lungs as he does his harps.
yeah, Jason you nasty boy;-)


mike


On Nov 30, 2005, at 5:38 PM, John Kerkhoven wrote:


Not long ago Jason Ricci posted his harp cleaning techniques using alcohol
(91%). You might want to search the archives.


A q-tip soaked in rubbing alcohol also works.

You may try also baking soda and warm water. You can use an old (clean)
toothbrush. Be careful of getting the bristles snagged between the reeds and
the slots. You do not have to scrub intensely -- gently is sufficient.


Best, of course, to take the harp apart for this kind of cleaning. You can
get the harp cleaned to some extent by letting it soak in the water with the
baking soda. (I picked this up from the Astatic JT-30 website. Tried it; it
works.) Jason Ricci also says (as I recall) that you can plop your harps in
alcohol when you don't have time to clean them thoroughly.


Happy cleaning,

john



----- Original Message -----
From: "Huffa Puffa" <huffa.puffa@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 4:19 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] Cleaning diatonic reed plates


Greetings All,
I have picked up a diatonic blues harp [Hohner] after not playing it
for a while and whoa! does it leave a yucky tang taste in my mouth.
What can I use to clean up the brass reed plates so they don't leave
me with that yucky after taste. The plates have that green corrosion
fuzz stuff on them and what look like water marks, typical stuff I
think for the inside of harps. Any suggestions?

_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l

_______________________________________________ Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l





This archive was generated by a fusion of Pipermail 0.09 (Mailman edition) and MHonArc 2.6.8.