Re: Feasibility of machining harp plates

[Pierre <slavio@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks you all for your feedback, I guess I felt the tighter the harp, the
easier it would be to choke the reeds. But as Vern and Pat explained there
are limits and gapping remains the real issue.

Pat mentioned that visual cues are not the way to gap, I have to agree, my
eyes are just not that good. What bugs me is that when I apply pressure to a
reed to 'bend it' I have no way of knowing if I've done anything until I try
it. So it goes a bit like this:

too little
(check)
too little
(check)
too little
(you get frustrated and f....)
Woah! way too much
too little
...

I hope I soon get good at this, hey they did say overblows were work.

I will try the following next time: one Bourbon, one Scotch, one beer, one
reed ...

Thanks again,

(this is making me thirsty)

Pierre




- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pat Missin" <pat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2004 10:46 AM
Subject: Re: Feasibility of machining harp plates


>
> Some comments on some of Pierre's thoughts:
>
> >The ultimate goal would be to create a harp so tight it
> >would be trivial to set up for overblows.
>
> As Vern has already said, airtightness is not the major factor in
> setting up a harp for overblows. It is important, but not as important
> as correct reed adjustment - something which varies from player to
> player.
>
> > Most musicians buy good stock instruments and just play them,
> > why can't harmonica players do that too.
>
> Just about every good guitarist will refit their instrument with their
> own choice of strings, adjust the action, perhaps adjust the neck
> angle and adjust the pickup height, etc. That's not too different to a
> harp player setting their reed gaps to suit their own taste.
>
> >I have considered custom harps but I don't like wood combs.
>
> Not all custom harps have wood combs.
>
> >Also good custom harps are really expensive and I can't be
> >sure the harp will be set up to my taste so I may have to fiddle
> >anyway and I may mess things up rather than improving the
> >thing, then its trial and error again.
>
> The whole point of a custom harp should be that it is customised - ie,
> it is set up to meet the needs of a particular player. Obviously, it
> can be hard to do this if the player and the customiser are hundreds
> of miles apart, but even so, you should have to do much less adjusting
> of a good customer harp than any stock harp. Most customisers are also
> happy to readjust the harp until the customer is satisfied (within
> reason, of course!).
>
> >The main problem is converging, since when you bend a reed you
> >don't know if a) you did anything at all because you can't see micro
> >adjustments and b) you bent too much or too little.
>
> There are areas where visuals are only a rough guide. You know that
> you have adjusted a reed properly not when it looks right, but when it
> plays right. Likewise, you know you have over-adjusted it when it no
> longer plays right.
>
> >Ok, I realize a tight plate does not fix the reed setup problem but
> >having a tight harp would probably make it easier.
>
> It can also introduce other problems. As Vern mentioned, decreasing
> the space between the reed and the reedplate can increase the
> likelihood of getting foreign material caught in the reed. Also,
> reducing the clearance around the reed tends to brighten the tone of
> the harp somewhat and many players do not care for this. On my
> workbench at the moment I have a customised Marine Band which is
> considerably brighter in tone than a stock Lee Oskar.
>
> >Anybody have any idea how significant the results could be? How much
> >does embossing help when its well done?
>
> Reducing those clearances certainly improves the responsiveness of the
> reed, but that is merely one factor in the equation. Reeds would still
> have to be adjusted to suit the individual, or in the case of
> mass-produced harps, adjusted to some sort of average to give a good
> proportion of happy customers. For overblowing, reed adjustment is
> even more critical.
>
> >Is this feasible and would it improve the harp enough to make it
worthwhile?
>
> That depends on the cost of producing such an instrument. Someone
> recently said that most harp players want a thousand dollar instrument
> for a hundred dollars. Actually, I think most of them want a thousand
> dollar instrument for ten dollars.
>
> Having said all of the above, some of the stuff that the Turboharp
> company has in the pipeline will address some of the above points and
> their initial offerings have been very promising, as well as
> competitively priced.
>
>  -- Pat.
>
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