[Harp-L] RE: Bad reed I think

[Snaruhn@xxxxxxx]

Hi reed killers,

that problem Todd Johnson may have caused by his playing style is of course
the most serious one among the lot of others. But reed problems are always
worth to talk about again and again. 

Some time ago I wrote "On reed problems" and mentioned that almost 50%
of the reeds are excentric. I come back to this point because someone
commenting the subject mentioned something like:

<.....pluck the reed and if the reed is broken it sounds dull ...> 
  
Sorry, I deleted that post but if a plucked reed sounds dull or muffled a 
broken
reed is the rare exception though the harp friend is right, of course.

Recently, a harp teacher!!! gave me his instrument (I forgot the brand :)) 
claiming
that a certain blow reed is sometimes choking, sometimes playing, anyway, 
isn´t working correctly.

Bobbie wrote.

It's virtually impossible to be assured each and every harmonica reed coming 
from a manufacturer will be flawless in metal purity, crystalline structure, 
what 
have you.  Brass is an alloy, and by default, may just have built-in flaws 

Yes, and the latter point is debited to the factory´s account.

It took me some time to find out the mistake of that HTH (harp teachers harp,
never heard?). The respective reed of the .... (sorry, I forgot the brand 
again) 
was one of the 50% excentrics, but this time the default was really exotic.

The reed was excentric in its whole length, simultaneously twisted around 
the rivet, additionally flat by some 30 cent and if it had been broken too, 
the
reed had been suspective for the Guiness Book.

The "trick" was that one tip edge was in such an ingenious position that it 
touched the slot just occasionally. It was only when I asked the translucent 
light for a help that I recognized the reason. However, the rivet was so 
slack 
that the usual wrench was the unsuitable tool in this case, so, I wedged a 
razor blade between reed and slot, as Tim will surely recall :))
    
Well, to detect a broken reed for the first time isn´t that easy for a 
Newbie.

Vern mentioned the most significant detail of a reed "fatique":

A bad reed usually goes flat and when retuned, goes flat again.
                    (Ahaaa, bad = broken)

Upshot:

The factories spent much time to develop the proper reed alloy, the 
sufficient
reed profile or the "best" way of fixing the reeds on the plate. However, the 

relative prosaic point of the reed position is apparently a tricky question.

Keep on reedin´

Siegfried