Subject: [Harp-L] Tuning and gapping. Gapping and tuning.

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

I've watched many harmonica customizers work and the one thing they  had in 
common was absolute Zen-like patience during the 'plinking' process. No  
such thing as a finite number of plinks. So when you say you plink 4 or 5 
times,  do you mean each time you return TO the reed after each pass of the file?
 
As with all skilled work of this type - I think the more you do it - the  
more time you put in, the better you'll eventually get. No short-cuts,  
unfortunately.
 
The last time I watched closely while some customs were being gapped and  
tuned to MY embouchure the pro must have plinked and retuned 10 or  more 
times on each after each tiny adjustment. There was a rhythm to  the whole 
process. When one harp seemed recalcitrant despite his best  efforts he calmly 
put it aside and worked on another instead. It  took nearly 9 months to get 4 
custom harps made for me - and then more  hours to 'fine-tune' (on his time) 
since the gapping had to be fit  exactly to me. 
 
This is why the great customizers have to charge as much as they  do for 
their expertise and why no customizer ever gets rich doing their  work...the 
amount of time put in doesn't come close to being actually  compensated for. 
They do it for the love of the instrument more often  than not. 
 
Listen to Winslow.
 
Elizabeth
 
Winslow Yerxa for SPAH President!
 
"Message: 2
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:00:17 -0800
From: Toni Macaroni  <macaroni9999@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Tuning and gapping. Gapping  and tuning.
To: harp-L list _harp-l@xxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx) 

Hi Harpers

My chromatic harmonica technician skills are improving  but I am often
frustrated by tuning and gapping. My tuning procedure often  changes the
reed gap and my gapping procedure often changes the reed's  tuning. If after
a few iterations my tuning/gapping procedure were to  converge to my
targeted tuning and gap then I would be happy. But, to date,  that has not
been happening often enough. Too often my tuning/gapping  procedure
converges to a tuning/gapping which is close to what I want but not  close
enough.

Any ideas on how to extricate myself from this vicious  cycle?

My basic tuning procedure is to place a Hohner reed lifting blade  under the
reed while I am working on it. I then sand the tip of the reed with  a
sanding wand to raise the pitch or scrape the reed (with the  Hohner
scraping tool) near the rivet to lower the pitch. I then plink the  reed 4
or 5 times and check the tuning with the coverplates and reed  plates
hand-held in place.

My basic gapping procedure is to use the  Hohner hook tool to push the reed
near its tip.

I have decided to  always tune the blow reeds with the reed plates off the
comb. This helps  reduce the gap change after a tuning but does not
eliminate  it."


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