Re: [Harp-L] Chromatic customizing

[David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Slide work is tricky. Especially on an older piece. You could 'Jewel'  
the slide.

smo-joe



Joe, 

I could jewel the slide. What's that? 

Chromatic customizing isn't something we talk about a lot on Harp - L, so about all I know is what was on The Great Rupert Oysler's video and what I figured out myself, so I'm really interested in how other guys tackle chromatic problems. 

I polished it all, of course, but What I did was, and yes it was tricky, tighten the tolerances a little between the slide and slide carriage. I --- carefully ---- sanded the carriage down to almost, but not, flush with the slide to make the slide fit a bit tighter. It seems to have worked pretty well. I sanded the side of the comb a little flatter for the reedplate mate and I embossed and arced the reeds up to hole 6. I tried putting windsavers on it, that doesn't work on the inside cause the chambers are to narrow. The chambers are not much wider than the reed itself.

On the other hand, tightening the tolerances did give the slide a tendancy to sometimes hang up when I pushed it in, cause the external spring doesn't just push the slide out, it also pushes up. I CAREFULLY bent the spring slightly so it wasn't pushing up as much. That seemed to work. 

The harp plays now. Before, I couldn't play it, it was so leaky. Now, it plays pretty well, it's just not very loud. I'm having a lot of fun with it, it looks really cool. I'm considering making an external spring and putting it on a 270. I don't think the external spring works better, it just looks so cool. 

Dave
_____________________
Dave Payne Sr. 
Elk River Harmonicas
www.elkriverharmonicas.com