[Harp-L] Re: Embossing

["Jonathan Metts" <jonathan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Vern,

Thanks for setting me straight!  All this time I thought that the point of 
embossing was to add soft metal to the reed slot to make it more narrow, 
which is what I've been trying to do with copper pennies.  I think this 
method does work to some degree, because I have been able to hear a 
difference, and I can easily see the layer of copper on the slot where I 
"embossed" with this method.  But now I'll have to try it the correct way, 
which should at least have the advantage of being more permanent and 
probably has other advantages as well.  It should be easier to apply without 
harming the reed, for example, which I always worry about when inserting a 
penny down into the slot for my method.  I got the idea for doing that from 
Jason Ricci, who used a penny to emboss one of my harps earlier this year 
(before I started doing them myself) because that's the only round metal we 
had on hand at the gig he was playing, but I'm now sure that he used the 
method Vern has described rather than my weird torquing method.  It was 
dark, so I couldn't actually see what he was doing; I just knew he was 
rubbing a penny against the slot.  I should take some pictures of what I've 
been doing, it would probably get a few good laughs on this list.

To Siegfried: I was only quoting the part about Hering and Hohner reed 
plates from another poster.  I don't even own a Hering, so I don't know 
anything about them.

Jonathan Metts