XB40 problems.

["M. Erickson" <erickm@xxxxxxxxx>]

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I hate sending this. I've been an enthusiastic fan of the XB40 (and I still
am), but I have a problem. I've apparently blown a reed on my "C" XB40. Blow
5 went out. I "broke-in" the harp, per the instructions and played it softly
for more than a week. I'd been practicing the bends on it since then.
Nothing too dramatic, just working the bends up and down the harp -- I was
doing a riff with a half step bend, and then a full step bend on the
adjacent hole and working the same riff up the harp hitting every hole. BAM!
I wasn't even working blow 5 and it just stopped responding. The hole was
blocked. You could barely move air through it. I removed the covers and
carefully tested the reed -- it was stuck and I gently loosened it. It will
now respond but sounds like a kazoo. It's odd though, because you can still
do full, rich blow bends off of hole 5. Hit it unbent and it's a party toy. 

I am so distressed. Not only because these harmonicas are way expensive and
the reed blew out way too fast, but because I love the harmonica.

My next step is getting it fixed. That oughta be real fun.

(Note: My oral hygiene is excellent and I brush before playing. This was not
a "gunk blockage".)