[Harp-L] Seydel 1847 gapping

["sam blancato" <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey Folks, 

Thanks everybody for your help with the gapping.  Yeah, I can see how
stainless reeds need to be bent with a little more force.  This is what I
did.  First I tried a point gapping shim, sliding it down toward the reed
dog.  I was very gentle and after reassembling the harp I still had the same
choking problems.  So what I did was this:  I lifted the reed tip up about
1/8 to 3/16 on an inch and placed the tip of a popsicle stick there to hold
that position.  I then massaged the middle area of the reed downward toward
the reed slot.  The idea I had in mind was to bend the tip up a little
without raising the reed from nearer the dog, since I wasn't having much
with that approach.  I'm not sure if this is how an expert would do it but
it worked.  I did the 1, 8, 9 and 10 blow reeds and the 8 draw reed.  After
assembling, I found I could no longer blow bend the #10 reed so I took the
harp apart and lowered the gap a little and it worked out okay.  I can now
glissando down to 1 blow and it sounds real clear without choking.  I can
draw 1-4 split and then jump up to 8 draw and get that next octave nice and
clear.  

The riff I was fooling around with that started all of this can be heard on
the song "Rocking" by George Harmonica Smith, a swinging little 3rd position
number.  It's the opening riff of the song and it is REALLY COOL.  

Later,

Sam Blancato, PIttsburgh