Re: [Harp-L] eed tuning questions

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

In my experience a reed can be tuned down 3 semitones by removing material from the base without weakening the reed - I have reeds that have lasted for several years after having been returned this way. I use a sanding wand and remove metal gently from an area about a quarter of the length of the reed starting from the base.

I've never noticed any dullness from reeds tuned down either with material removal or solder.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa

Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5

--- On Sat, 12/19/09, sam Blancato <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: sam Blancato <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] eed tuning questions
To: "Harp-L" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Saturday, December 19, 2009, 11:41 PM

Doug asks:

"1. How far up or down can I expect to easily tune a reed before I wreck
it?"

Others will disagree with me probably but I say 2 semitones, or a full step.
Beyond that you are probably going to damage the reed unless you are
EXTREMELY careful and you use a consistent method that's easily repatable.

2. "I've heard that solder can be used to lower the pitch - is that required
to
get just 4 semitones?"

Yes adding solder to weigh down the reed and then tuning back up to the
pitch you want is the way to go; you can also remove material from near the
base of the reed (the dog) but you are weakening the reed a lot and it won't
last.  But soldering is not as easy as it sounds and you have to be careful
about staying near the end of the reed and not letting it drip too far
toward the middle.  And then there's the issue of cleaning up the sides
after adding solder - it's a pain in the first place but 4 semitones is 2
full steps - like from A down to F.  That's a lot.  I've tried it and it
worked but I was left with a very dull sounding reed.  It plays but it's
much darker than the adjacent reeds.

You need to replace the reed with one of the proper pitch, which may have a
lot of solder, but done properly and cleaned up and pitched already.
Better, I think, to develop your reed replacement skills.

3. It would make sense for me to set up some kind of 'tuning station'. Best
not
to reinvent the wheel so any info or direction on this would be helpful."

I've never done this on a large scale so I got nothin' on this one.  But
good luck.  I hope you're able to accomplish what you want.  Which is what,
by the way?

Sam Blancato, PIttsburgh


_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l