Re: [Harp-L] custom lee oskars

[David Payne <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Matthew Smart has a few Lee Oskar wood combs. I bought one a couple days ago, so I've not actually seen them yet. 
As for the Just tuning, it is time consuming, it's going to be very time consuming if you haven't done it before. You're going to have trouble getting a reed at exactly minus 14, for instance. Secret: it doesn't have to be -14 exactly, a well-tuned harmonica is more about the relationship between the pitches.

There are people more scientific than I, certainly, but I tend to trust my ear. I'd suggest if you have a harp in just, listen to to that chord as a reference.
It will probably take a while for you to tune that 1-3 blow chord. But, the upside is, that's the only chord you're going to have to make from scratch on the blow plate. Tune the 1 blow first and set it to your reference pitch, then tune the 2 and 3 for the chord. Then, tune the four to the one, so that when you blow them both at the same time with a tongue-block octave, you get no beating. Tune the 5 with the 2, the 6 with the 3 and so on. 

On the draw plate, tune the 1 draw and make sure it works with 1 blow, tune 2 and 3 for the chord, then tune the four draw against the one draw. You'll have to also tune the 4-6 draw for the chord. On the 789 draw, tune those as close as you can with the tuner, then tune that 789 draw chord, which is the same chord as 456 draw so that it sounds like the 456 draw chord. 

The 5 draw is the trickiest, I think, there is no other note to tune it against. You can tune it close with the tuner, then tune it against the 2 draw for how you want that G7 double stop to sound. 
Use your ear, use this as an experience to build it.

 _________________________________
Dave Payne Sr. 
Elk River Harmonicas
www.elkriverharmonicas.com 




________________________________
From: "jim.alciere@xxxxxxxxx" <jim.alciere@xxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 11:01:41 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] custom lee oskars

Oh well, I've been out bid on a Jason Ricci custom harp.  If I splurged and
bought a Lee Oskar tool kit, how hard, how much time etc would it take to
retune a Lee Oskar to just intonation? Can I use a cheap tuner? Will this
require a lot of competency or is it just time consuming?  Does anyone make
nice sealed wood combds for Lee Oskars?

-- 
Rainbow Jimmy
http://www.spaceanimals.com
http://www.myspace.com/theelectricstarlightspaceanimals
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