[Harp-L] Re: Harp-L Digest, Vol 26, Issue 7

["JOHN AUST" <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Message: 8
> Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 07:41:27 -0700
> From: "Don Grubbs" <jgrud@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] XB-40 Harp
> To: <Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Message-ID: <011f01c5c828$897e4cd0$6400a8c0@donnewpc>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> I purchased a XB-40 some time back, and am having a hard time getting a 
> good sound out of the hi end. I've tried playing softer, centering my lips 
> over the hole, and thought maybe there was just a break-in period I had to 
> go thru. I either get no sound, a squeaky sound, or on rare occasions out 
> comes a clean sound.
> Could anyone shed some light on what I'm doing wrong?
> Regards Don
Hi Don,
 My guess is that you've an XB40 in C.  Holes 9 and 10 are very difficult. 
The reed cavities are too big for the smaller top reeds to resonate 
properly. The inventor, Rick Epping, suggests using the second harmonic to 
get then to sound! If you play around with mouth and throat cavity, (try 
tensing up your mouth and throat to make the cavity smaller) there's a point 
where they sound but I found I couldn't do it at any sensible speed.  I sold 
my C XB40 on ebay but get a lot of use from my G, A and low D ones, (they 
don't make the usual  D - guess why). The reason they have a C is probably 
that any harmonica range without a C just wouldn't sell.
                             Regards, Lurcherjohn.