[Harp-L] XB-40

[jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Jon Harl writes:

"I've not been able to find a Hohner XB40 in the key of D. They make a Low D that is available. Do they make a D?"


No.  The nature of the comb and how it interacts with the pitch of the reeds and the bending function made a high-D not viable, IIRC.  You could modify a C XB-40 by retuning it (or have it retuned), but you will probably find that the highest holes don't work very well.

Another idea I've had is to change the tuning scheme by a hole to get around this.  Say, you want the majority of a standard D, but you don't particularly care about the highest couple of notes.  Well, does the tuning scheme have to start at the first hole?  Ie, does the tonic have to be the one-hole.  This links to the tremolo thread because in tremolos (and octaves) often the tonic is not the first hole, rather the tuning scheme starts on the third--sometimes even the fifth.  So, try this for a standard D:

blow:   A  D  f#  A  D  f#  A  D  f#  A
hole:    1  2   3   4  5   6  7   8   9 10
draw:   *  E  A  c# E  G  B  c#  E  G

This avoids the problems associated with high pitched XB-40s while giving you the majority of the range of a standard D tuning, as oppossed to a low-D.  I've considered doing this before as I was thinking about amassing a set of XB-40s.  

*  There is no set note here--the pattern doesn't dictate anything in particular, perhaps the c#, but you could argue for other notes as well.  It depends on what you want: deep bends; a particular note in the pattern; easily controlled bends; a chord choice.  I might go with c# for the chord, but I could see other possibilities.  

Of course, the simple answer to your question is no, but with retuning it's quite possible.  That said, retuning an XB-40 is not easy, but I've had a few done for me by Pat Missin with more than a lot of success.  The above scheme would be doable from an A XB-40, for instance, though perhaps another key might be easier (an A would need retuning of well, I stopped counting at 11--over half the notes is a lot of retuning for any harp, moreover an XB-40 with the responder reeds).  But, if you want it, it can be done.

Hope this helps.


JR "Bulldogge" Ross
& Snuffy, too:)