[Harp-L] Re: Hohner replacement reed profiles

[Steve Baker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Harvey Berman wrote:

Some time ago, I bought a bunch of Hohner reeds for the handmade  
diatonics directly from Hohner USA.  When I started looking at them  
recently, I noticed that they were the old profile, where the ground  
portion of the reed is square cut to the pad at the rivet end, rather  
than tapered down like the newer reeds, which I think leaves a shear  
line for possible breakage.  This, in my mind makes these reeds at  
least 12 years old, I think, since they have been using the newer  
profile since they started stamping dates on the plates around 1987.   
Again, I think I am right about this.

Has anyone out there bought any reeds from Hohner which are the newer  
profile?   Maybe Steve Baker knows the answer.  Steve??.  Am I right  
on my dating of these reeds.  Are there any advantages of using these  
older reeds?  I think I heard once that the newer reeds, especially  
in the first couple of holes have a lot of flex, because they are  
thinner, and that sometimes it was hard to get the reed not buzz.   
Apparantly the older vingage reeds did not have that problem.  Am I  
correct, or is reality escaping me.

Thanks for any answers.

Steve replies:

The current reed profiles for Hohner Classic harps were introduced  
around 2005, not in 1987.  As far as I remember, Hohner USA didn't  
start offering replacement reeds until about 10 years ago. One of the  
reasons for tapering the conjunction of rivet pad and milled reed  
surface was to reduce the possibility of breakage at that point.  
These reeds last very well and actual breakage has been virtually  
eliminated. However, as you mention quite a number of players prefer  
the older reeds, among other reasons for their greater lateral  
stability, even though they don't always last as long as the current  
ones. If you want replacement reeds with the new profiles you could  
always try Harponline.

Hope this helps

Steve Baker
www.stevebaker.de
www.bluesculture.com