Re: [Harp-L] Huge achievement! Who's buying me drinks?

[Pierre <slavio@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Great news, I'll buy you a beer if you show up in Montreal!

Tim is right, but I really wonder if its worth the trouble, you just set up
your harps and this (I believe) will completely undo all your work. Also you
may need to retune as embossing may scratch the reeds (not sure?). My
teacher plays OB/OD style professionally and does not emboss, he sounds
great.

I tried gently embossing one of my old special 20s using a canadian penny
and I did not notice any fillet being created. Guess I did not press hard
enough although I pressed fairly hard. Maybe canadian pennies are soft.
Anyway, I gave up for now. Please let me know if you have better luck.

I am wondering how well set up your harps are by the way, if they are well
set up you should be able to play OB hole and non OB note quickly and with
the same length note for both blow and draw notes. Until you can do this,
your work is not complete.

Pierre.

PS: I hate doing OB setup, hope you're better or more patient than me. I am
now using Turbo AXs Special 20s from Antakamatics, they just need a light
tweeking to get right. No embossing required. Saves a lot of hours. I'm not
hard on my harps so they last a long time.









----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tim Moyer" <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2004 10:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Huge achievement! Who's buying me drinks?


> Jonathan Hill wrote:
> > Chris Michalek wrote:
> > > To emboss a reed take a penny and lightly drag it over the reed
> > > slot.
> > > Be careful not to do it too much or the reed will not sound.
>
> > Umm....maybe I'm a moron. Why would that be helpful?
>
> Embossing the reedslots narrows the clearance between the slots
> edges and the reeds, which in turn reduces air leakage there and
> makes the reeds more repsonsive.  It serves a secondary (and perhaps
> more important) function, which is to push the reeds down into the
> slots up near the base.  If you then gently arc the reeds to the tip
> so that they curve VERY gently upwards you will further improve
> their reponsiveness.
>
> I'd argue that slot embossing on modern harps (for example, Hohners
> made since 1996) stands a better chance of harm than good, since the
> tolerances are already quite good, and as Chris points out,
> overembossing can make the reed stick quite badly in the slot.  It
> also can brighten the tone dramatically, which some (like me) find
> objectionable.
>
> -tim
>
> Tim Moyer
> Working Man's Harps
> http://www.workingmansharps.com/
>
>
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