Re: [Harp-L] Replacing MB nails with screws

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

For the covers, use something more substantial, such as 2-56. That's what most customizers use.

For reedplates, 0-80 is good, while 1-72 is favored by many customizers. using 0-80 does allow you to drill narower holes which can help in the area where the longest slots are cut into the comb.

The two-screw construction of the Blues Harp makes it leakier than it should be. 

Drilling through the tooth of a wood comb is a very risky operation, But it's not that hard to drill out the comb for the additional screw holes that exist along the backs of the reedplates. Why Hohner doesn't do this for a harp as expensive as the Blues Harp is beyond me.

Using four screws along the back for Marine Bands seems to be the most common customizer practice, though Hohner gets good results with three screws on the marine Band Deluxe.. Using the screw holes at the front of the reedplate for the covers, and bending the covers so that the front edge produces maximum pressure, helps seal the front of the harp to the comb.

And drilling behidn the longest slots is also risky operation with the original pearwood comb. Drilling through acrylic or composites such as Dymondwood is less likely to break the comb into two pieces. 

For instance, looking at a Filisko marine Band in A with a Dymondwood comb, the hole placement, measuring along the back of the comb with the high notes on the left, the screws are at 1 1/16, 1-11/16, 2-5/16, and 2-13/16. Filisko uses 1-72 screws. 


Looking at a Marine Band Deluxe in C, the screws are at 1-1/16, 2, and 
2-3/4. These harps use the same metric, self-tapping screws as the MS line (Big River, Blues harp, et al).

Of course you also want the screws placed as close as possible to the back of the air channe in each instance. So the screws will be farther from the back of the reedplate for the highest notes.


Winslow

Winslow Yerxa

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

Resident expert at bluesharmonica.com

Harmonica instructor, jazzschool.com

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