Re: [Harp-L] reed rattle or buzz

[Ken Hildebrand <airmojoken@xxxxxxxxx>]

The reed may be hitting the reed slot just a tad...

remove the reed plate and hold it up to a light to see if you can see where the reed end might be very close to the reed slot or it may have a burr, or the reed plate gap may have a burr.

A reed wrench works the best to move it slightly away from the edge.

If you don't have a reed wrench then you might want to try a very thin feeler gauge or maybe even dental floss to clear the burr, or move the reed away from the reed plate gap edge.

Best to always have reed wrenches!

Hope this helps...

Ken H in OH

--- On Sat, 3/21/09, Seth Galitzer <sethgali@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> From: Seth Galitzer <sethgali@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] reed rattle or buzz
> To: "Harp- L" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Saturday, March 21, 2009, 2:36 PM
> Hi all,
> 
> Wouldn't ya know it, I have to buy an emergency harp for a
> gig tonight
> and I seem to have a problem with it.  When I play a
> draw 1, even very
> lightly, I hear a loud buzz or rattle, like something is
> loose in
> there.  It's a Special 20, and I paid way to much for
> it at my local
> music store, but I had to have it for tonight.  I took
> off the covers
> and reed plates and didn't see anything obviously broken or
> dislodged,
> though I've never done this sort of thing before so I could
> have very
> well missed something.  I did notice the following
> detail: when I put
> the reed plates on by only fastening the two outer-most
> reedplate
> screws, the buzzing did not appear.  As soon as I
> added one more
> reedplate screw (anywhere) or the covers (by holding them
> on), the
> buzz came back.  I tried covering up other reeds with
> the covers off
> to see if I could make the buzz go away, but no such luck.
> 
> Anybody got any ideas that might help correct this before
> gig time?
> I've never done maintenance work before, so I can't do any
> decent
> gapping or embossing in a hurry.  I need this harp for
> tonight and
> will play with it in its current state if necessary. 
> I also just paid
> nearly $50 for it (!) and don't want to wreck it.  I
> know I'm asking a
> lot, but I'm desperate.  Any advice is welcome.
> 
> Thanks.
> Seth
> 
> -- 
> The beatings will continue until morale has improved.
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