Re: [Harp-L] Re: New wind saver valve leather




On Feb 18, 2009, at 12:36 PM, Jonathan Ross wrote:

As for when I first heard about these from Pat it would have been when he was working on my 280. That was probably sometime around 2000. I might be able to get a more exact time, but my emails from then are currently inaccessible. I don't know when Pat first started using this stuff.

Ok, no prob. I was just wondering :)

Some guys lay them on a side. That's bad for the 'other' side.<snip>The better way is to set them on an END. And with a chromo, it would be the non spring end. This way, the valves are sideways and won't droop.

Hmmm...the only problem with this is that it doesn't allow for just laying it on a table, and for me if the harmonica isn't in plain sight and easily reached, it doesn't get played. But, this might be a good excuse to build a small chromatic cabinet thing.

Murad used to have chromos lying around. They were always on their BACK. I asked him why he did that and he said it was because if you laid them on either side, the opposite windsavers would droop away from the plates. I didn't have the heart to tell him that even with the chromos on their back, HALF the windsavers were pointing the wrong direction and would droop anyway. He countered with "Yeah, but if they were lying flat in the first place, they wouldn't pull away from the plate so fast while the chromo was on it's back. Lying on a SIDE leaves half the windsavers vulnerable". This logic isn't too bad, when you consider all the ramifications, but I think a stagger reeded chromo would be more succeptable than a straight reeded model.


In any case, I made him 2 racks out of scrap mahogany & plexiglass that held a chromo on END.

BEST solution is to use a spring backer. The very fine 'E' wire from a guitar is still too strong. But you can beat it on an anvil or vise (or chunk of railroad track lol), and with practice, flatten it and get it to where it equates the little bear's porridge....just right.

I've been meaning to try a spring backing for some time. I have access to significantly thinner springs than guitar strings, just haven't gotten around to it yet. I find only the lowest few valves of a 280 need anything like this, and even then it's not major, this the delay. All the others work fine.

Right, only the long windsavers are touchy. Hohner used to make 'vaulted' ones for the low octave. You 'could' try this (which I suggested to Vern Smith). Very fine wire from the carriage cables in the tuner of a radio. This cable is only about a milimeter and has several 'hair' sized strands. Once unravelled, the individual wires will STILL have the curls in them from the braiding, BUT this won't hurt the installation.


There, I've let out a another secret. Shame on Joey

smo-joe (former adjutant officer to Capt. Louis Renault)



JR Ross








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