RE: [Harp-L] sp-20`s, MS, etc.

["Robert Gaustad" <robertgaustad@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've been trying to visualize your embossing technique, Richard, and I've
looked for some pictures that could show me this, so far to no avail. Do you
mean that you turn the reed plate over so the reeds are on the bottom and
then run the penny, which is perpendicular to the slot, down it lengthwise?
I guess that's the only way it can be done, but, so far, I can't see (with
my eyes) any noticeable change to the width of the slots. Should I be
putting a lot of pressure on the penny and drag it down many times?

Thanks, as usual, for another helpful post.

Robert Gaustad 

-----Original Message-----
From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Richard Hunter
Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 11:46 AM
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] sp-20`s, MS, etc.

I appreciate that people don't like to have to mess with their instruments,
whatever brand they prefer.  However, it's a rare instrument -- and I'm
talking now about anything you can bang, blow into, strike, strum, or finger
-- that doesn't need some initial and ongoing setup work to play
brilliantly.  Ask a guitarist what he or she has to do to make the thing
play right according to his or her tastes -- it's generally non-trivial.

I very rarely buy a Lee Oskar that doesn't play well out of the box and last
for a very long time.  However, any harp I buy plays noticeably better once
I've 1) dragged a penny sidewise down the reed slots to "emboss" the slots
and 2) set the gaps on the reeds.  These two steps produce a louder, more
responsive instrument, just about every time, and they take no more than
5-10 minutes of my time.   

Where gapping is concerned, the mistake most people, including myself,
typically make is to open the gaps up too wide.  That practice produces a
leaky, unresponsive instrument, and a player who needs the gaps set very
high also is probably playing too hard in general.  Set the gaps low to
start -- to where you can just see daylight between the tip of the reed and
the edge of the slot -- and open it up from there, until you're happy with
the response of the reed.  This approach also makes the instrument easier to
overblow, in case you're into that kind of thing. 

If you're happy with your harps out of the box, that's great.  Whether
you're happy with the thing out of the box or not, a little time spent on
setup makes for an instrument that's a lot more fun to play.

Regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com

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