Re: [Harp-L] re: Chomatic tech

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

George is a good tech in that part of the country, and so is Mike "bloharp" Easton. Either one could get your G-48 playing sweetly again.

But maintaining your slide and valves is a survival skill for playing the chromatic harmonica. You might want to consider working a bit more on those tasks and improving your skills. If your slide jams up or valves start braying just before a gig, you won't have time to send your harp away.

SLIDE and MOUTHPIECE

If yo've cleaned the slide and reassembled the harp, several things can go wrong, but they're mostly easy (if a bit fussy) to fix, especially if you follow a good set of procedures:

1. Lay the slide on the plastic face of the comb (the G-48 has no metal backing plate) and make sure that the spring is poiking through its hole in the slide.

2. Thread the screws through the mouthpiece holes and slide the soft plastic bumpers over the screw shafts.

3. Insert the screws in the holes through the slide and into their sockets in the comb.

4. Bring the mouthpiece down so that it fits over the slide, i.e., the slide is nestled in its groove in the back of the mouthpiece.

5. Hold the mouthpiece down firmly in the middle and tighten the screws until they're almost snug.

6. Check the alignment of the mouthpiece to make sure that the back surface of the slide is parallel with the front surface of the comb.

7. Now it's time for final tightening. You want the screws tight enough for unimpeded movement of the slide but not so loose as to leak air. You can start by tightening until the slide won't move, then backing off by quarter-turns on each screw until you find that optimal combination of airtightness and free slide travel.
 
VALVES

Choose a replacement valve that's long enough to cover the entire slot plus an mount equal to the length of the pad at the base of a reed.

Use a glue that will adhere plastic to metal and will set quickly, but not instantly. 

Put a tiny dab of glue on a piece of paper or other sacrificial surface.

Take the base of the valve (which may have a dimple in it to clear rivet ends), and brush the bottom of the base of the valve agains the bead of glue. You need enough glue to effect a mating, but not so much that it squishes into the reed slot and impedes the swing of the reed. If you get too much on the valve, scrape the base of the valve on the paper to remove the excess. If you've got gluw traveling

Press the glued end of the valve down 

Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Harmonica Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance


________________________________
 From: Warren Bee <wbharptime2@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>; Bob Cohen <bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 3:45 PM
Subject: [Harp-L] re: Chomatic tech
 

George Miklas has taken care of a few of my chromatic friends. He is in PA
and using USPS small priority box can make it as fast of a turnaround as a
local!

George Miklas <harmonicat@xxxxxxxxx