Soaking and such



Hey guys,

There is a lot of junk written and you have to use your own brain to
determine what will work.  I usually don't get into taking positions on
harp issues since I figure everyone is entitled to their opinions, but when
we are talking about fact, I've just got to jump in.

First, soaking harps does nothing to the reeds.  The reeds are made of
brass.  They are mounted to brass reed plates with steel rivets and no amount
of water,beer, etc will cause them to "loosen"  (Unless you count the complete
destruction of the rivet by rusting and then the reed would fall out or
just wouldn't play.

The action taking place when a harp is soaked is that any air leaks will be
filled by the swelling wood comb on the Marine Band and other wood comb harps.
This makes them play almost like a nice plastic or aluminum comb harp ;-).
(my preference is showing) I've wanted to try a very thin coat of RTV
Silicone rubber to seal up a Marine Band and see if the response would
improve, but it would be a little messy and I just haven't done it.

If you soak a plastic harp, you will plug some of the very small
air leaks with the water, but it will soon be blown out.  Also, because
your breath has lots of water vapor, the inside of a harp is usually damp
anyway. (Unless you play all draw notes)  So soaking a plastic harp
will make no difference in the sound or its response.

If you soak your harp in ice, you will get a cold harp.  The reed material
will quickly come back to room temperature or a little above, when you begin
to play because the air moving the reed is at your body temperature when
blowing and room temperature when drawing.  I do believe that if you could
keep the reed at some other temperature than this, you might get a
different sound, but without external cooling this can't be done.  (I've
tried playing outside in the cold and the only thing I notice is that water
from my breath freezes on the reeds and they sometimes stick.

If you boil a plastic comb harp, you will get a nice lump of plastic that
used to be the comb bolted between two brass reed plates.  This advice in
Glover's book was written when the Marine Band was THE harmonica.  If a reed
is not working, open the covers, inspect the reed for proper clearance,
look for particles, adjust the action, the alignment, even replace the reed.
Lots of folks do this.  But don't soak it in boiling water unless you're
trying to make soup.  (UGHH  I can't believe I said that) %-)


Chromatics:  Just like the man said,  Don't boil it.  Don't soak it.  It is
a fine machine with tight tolerances.  Take it apart carefully and work on
it in a clean environment.  Lots can be done to fix buzzy, squeaky, leaky,
or mute notes, but the only way I know of is to work with tools and patience.

Love to talk harps,


dick....

--

Dick Anderson  CCMO New Component Engineering  Telnet                 229-3110
Hewlett Packard                                Direct Dial      1-303-229-3110
3404 E Harmony Road                            HPDESK     dick_anderson@hp4000
Fort Collins Colorado 80525                    mail  anderson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx




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