Re: Jr Bliggins' handmade all-bender (long)

["Jr Bliggins" <JrBliggins@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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 <<
the pictures tickled my curiosity - how does this harp work?
Ludo
<<
Ludo,

Thanks for your interest.=20

My harmonica was made as an educational experiment and I learned a lot =
making it.  I think of it as two separate harmonicas, mounted one in =
front of the other.  The front one is a standard C tuned half valved =
diatonic, the back one is a standard Bb tuned diatonic gapped with zero =
offset and no valves.  The back harmonica (I call the enabler harmonica) =
is used to provide the enabler reeds.  I do not use all of the back =
harmonica reeds as enablers.  I use only the top four blow reeds and the =
bottom six draw reeds.  These reeds allow me to bend and obtain the =
bottom six blow bends and the top 4 draw bends.  I don't use the other =
reeds because instead I use the normal front harmonica reeds for bends, =
as they are found on any diatonic.  Since I am not using the bottom six =
reeds on the blow enabler reed plate, I removed the reeds from the plate =
so that the plate lays flat on the comb. =20

The comb is designed so that the front harmonica mounts in a normal way. =
 The back harmonica is mounted over slots in the comb that are cut =
almost -  but not all the way through the comb material.  The back =
harmonica slots are not cut all the way through for several reasons:=20

  1.. I wanted the chamber to be as air tight as possible.   Since I =
don't use the blow reeds on the bottom 6 holes of the enabler plate, an =
opening is not needed.
  2.. I wanted the extremely long teeth of the comb to be as strong as =
possible.  By not cutting all the way through the teeth are stronger.
  3..  I wanted to keep the chamber volume as small as possible, =
especially in the upper reeds.  If the chamber is too large the upper =
reeds become difficult to play because the natural resonance of the =
chamber and the reeds pitch don't match.  The slots that I cut get =
increasingly shallow in the higher pitch holes.  =20
 The rear part of the slots where the enabler plates are mounted is =
skewed at an angle of about 15 degrees.  This is for two reasons:

 1. Aesthetics, I thought it was more pleasing to look at and more =
balanced to hold.  At the base end, the harmonica is wider then at the =
treble end.  It reminds me of the shape of a mini grand piano.

2.  I wanted the slots to be as short as possible.  By slicing the reed =
plates off diagonally, the slots become shorter, especially at the high =
end.  This helps with the resonance issue which I discussed above.

 I made the long slotted comb from Poly Carbonate which is known by its =
brand name Lexan, it is what we all call bulletproof glass.  I did this =
because the material is very tough and will not break even with the long =
slots.  It is a bit challenging to mill because it is slightly flexible =
and a bit rubbery.  It polishes perfectly clear and looks like glass.  =
The cover plates are made from black acrylic.  Because they are so wide, =
and especially at the bass end some volume is lost and the harmonica is =
noticeably quieter then a normal diatonic.

 The system works so that the front plate plays normally.  It works like =
any diatonic when you instigate blow bends on holes 1 through 6 or draw =
bends on holes 7 through 10.  The zero offset of the enabler reeds =
insure that they don't interfere with normal play.  When you instigate =
the enabled bends on holes 1 through 6 blow and 7 through 10 draw the =
valves on the front plate defeats the sympathy between the opposing reed =
of the front harmonica, the zero offset enabler reed which is not =
defeated by the valve begins to sound and becomes the functioning =
opposing reed.  =20

The enabler reeds in my design are one whole step below the standard =
reeds.  This means that each enabled bend will stop at or near one half =
step below the un-bent note.  I did this because my desire was to use =
the instrument to obtain all of the missing chromatic tones.  My design =
does not have all of the enharmonic notes that the real XB-40 from =
Hohner does, but this was my choice; I could have used a reed plate a =
half step lower and it would have allowed for the complete whole step =
bends like Hohners model.  For my style of play I prefer having the =
reeds function according to my design.

 Challenges:

The hardest part was cutting the reed plates diagonally along an =
imaginary line following the angle of the heels of the reeds, as each =
reed gets short from bass to treble.  I did this by building a wooden =
jig that holds the plates at the correct angle and then removing all the =
material up to the face of the jig.

 Results:

The harmonica plays surprisingly well, however I do have a loss of =
response in the highest chambers, and it is slightly quieter than I =
prefer.  The non standard bends all work smoothly.  The harmonica I =
built was in the key of "C".  The next one I build will be in a lower =
key, perhaps "A", I believe that the lower pitch will help to increase =
the responsiveness in the higher reed chambers.  All told my project =
took about 40 to 60 hours to complete.  Most of the time was spent =
building tools and jigs, the plastic materials that I used cut very =
quickly.

During the weekend when I get some time, I will post pictures my jigs =
and tools on our web site. http://www.musicmakersnetwork.com/ =
bligginsandgoines/ =20

Although I haven't been using this harmonica as part of my act I will =
bring it with me for those intrested to see - I will be playing at: The =
Cocoon Coffee Shop and Lounge , 41 E. Washington Street, Washington, NJ =
(Warren County at Routes 31 & 57) (908) 835-8001 on: October 17 from 8pm =
to 10pm.  I also hope to make the Garden State harmonica festival.

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