Re: [Harp-L] Bad reed I think

["Steve Shaw" <moorcot@xxxxxxx>]

It's always the 7-blow that goes south first in my harps, but that's because 
I play a lot of first position stuff in Irish music.  The longer I've played 
the longer I've got my reeds to last.  I have a dead 7-blow to replace at 
the moment in a SP20 low D that taken some hard knocks in the last year as 
my main session harp.  Reeds aren't so hard to replace in SP20s thankfully 
if you have an old harp to butcher, and any of several reeds can be re-used 
if trimmed to length and retuned.  A drunk (nice chap who I'm friendly with 
- but drunk!) once grabbed one of my harps from the table at a pub gig and 
blasted just once into it before I rescued it - and he'd blown out a reed 
completely beyond redemption in one fell swoop.  It don't take much!

Steve


http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/trad_irish_harmonica
HEAR my CD clips: http://www.gjk2.com/steveshaw/cd.htm

> It may have nothing to do with your playing, as fjm said, although that is 
> one of the more common reeds to fail, especially if you're new to playing 
> or still working on technique.  It's virtually impossible to be assured 
> each and every harmonica reed coming from a manufacturer will be flawless 
> in metal purity, crystalline structure, what have you.  Brass is an alloy, 
> and by default, may just have built-in flaws that won't appear until you 
> notice something as you have done.

> Bobbie