Re: [Harp-L] gapping of reeds on harp

[Mojo Red <harplicks@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hey John,

Adjusting the reed gaps on your harps is a great and simple way to improve their playability, but every player has his/her own preference as to what they want in terms of the reed's responsiveness. A higher gap means a more breathy harp, but allows for more forceful playing. A lower gap means a more responsive reed, but forceful playing will choke the reed. In general, forceful players do well with higher gaps, and some fineness light-touch players prefer smaller reed gaps. In other words, gaps are a personal thing. A lower gap on blow 4,5,6 will make it easier to hit the overblows. Lower gaps on draw 7-10 make it easier to hit the overdraws.

My best advice is for you to dig out a harp that you think plays best and use that as a benchmark to gap your other harps. Start with the a harp  in the same key as your "good" harp. 

Here are some rules of thumb to get you started:
* Lower-key harps need a bit more gap than higher key harps. 

* For any given harp the lower note reeds get the biggest gap, and the gap should get incrementally smaller as you go up the harp. 
* If you sight along the reedplate you will see which reeds are gapped out of step with the rest.
* A piece of shim stock, a pin or even a toothpick will suffice for a pry tool.
* When raising the gap, stroke the reed up a away from the reedplate, ping, inspect, repeat.
* When lowering the gap, stroke the reed down into the reed chamber, ping, inspect, repeat.

My personal preference is to set the gaps on the blow reeds a bit lower than on the draw reeds. And I like draw reeds 1-4 set a bit higher in relation to draw reeds 5-10.
I would also suggest using a dead harp to practice on. You don't want to break a reed on a good harp.


Good luck!
Harpin' in Colorado,
--Ken M




________________________________
 From: John <johnatjumpjiveandswing@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2012 11:52 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] gapping of reeds on harp
 
   Hi. I would appreciarte a little help. I am about to check the gapping on my harmonicas in an attempt to improve 
   their ease of playing, obviously not all my reeds may want adjusting, but as a rule of thumb for those that may want
   adjusting could somebody advise me as to how much gap am I looking for say as a percentage of the reed thickness
   to put me in a time saving exercise and save me a lot of cussing when I don't seem to be getting it close to
   acceptable.

                             thanking you in advance  --------- John Taylor