[Harp-L] Re: Basic cleaning

[Michael Easton <diachrome@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

It's amazing how clean you can get your reed plates by just using  
liquid dish detergent.

I tried Brasso and other products in the past but I don't like the  
lingering smell of petro based cleaners.
You have to rinse the parts a long time to remove the scent.

I use colorless, scent free and aloe free detergent.

It's important to use this type otherwise the perfume smell will stay  
on the reed plates and other parts.
Aloe is hard to clean off and will leave a tacky film the next time  
the plates become wet with moisture.
This is a big problem when you clean chromatic plates with soap that  
has aloe in it.  It will cause the valves
to stick to the plate whether original or newly placed once they  
become damp.

I lay the plates on a cutting board over the sink. Then squeeze a good  
amount of the detergent on the plates.
Rub the soap in with a tooth brush to spread it .  Let sit about 3 to  
4 minutes then scrub with a tooth brush while rinsing.
This is more then enough to clean the plates.  It won't remove stain  
or patina but it will remove oxide and crud.
You can do the same for plastic combs and cover plates.

Wood combs can be gently scraped to remove crud from inside and around  
the partitions.

For heavy duty cleaning in restorations I use Naval Jelly brand cleaner.
This stuff is caustic so I wear gloves and goggles and clean the  
plates outside.
After cleaning I pour baking soda on the plates to neutralize the gel  
and rinse.
Don't use this indoors or it will eat your plumbing.

Greening on reeds is a big problem and one of the reasons to clean  
harps whether you are a clean freak or not.

Greening or patina on the reeds will affect the way the reed  
responds.  Over the past 12+ years of repairing harps
I noticed that every time there is greening (or worse yet blackening)  
of the reeds you are going to end up with
dull sounding tone from those reeds.  While the reeds around them  
might sound bright the green reeds  will have a dull muted tone.

I'll let others chime in on tuning. I use expensive professional and  
custom made gear.
There is cheaper gear that can get the job done.

Mike


On Apr 30, 2011, at 10:15 AM, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:


Message: 3
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2011 06:17:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: todd allen <soundguyaudition@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Basic Cleaning
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <646270.56565.qm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

After reading the threads on hygiene I realized I have way to many  
harps....

Here are my questions:
1 Has any one had any bad results using Brasso?
2 Seems like when i run through the reads to make sure they plink (if  
thatâ??s the
right word for it) some of them sound dead or they donâ??t ring out  
like the
others. does this mean the read is gone?
3 whatâ??s the best tool to use to make sure there in tune?
Thanks
Todd
Only 24 more to go...

Michael Easton
www.harmonicarepair.com