[Harp-L] How far can you tuna a reed?

[Harvey Berman <cscharp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There has been discussion for years about how far you can tune a reed, up or 
down, and how to go about doing it. Well, last night, I tried an experiment. 


I have replaced all my Low Tuned Big Rivers with Low Tuned Marine Bands, 
Optimized, of course, and I decided to make a Low C Big River out of a Low D Big 
River. I actually like the Low Big Rivers, because the reeds do not hit the 
cover plates, as the do in the Marine Bands, so you do not have to alter them. 


Now, as you probably know, the two ways to do this are to add weight to the free 
end, such as Blue Tak or solder, or to remove brass from the rivet end. I chose 
to remove brass, which has the additional benefit of more responsive reeds. The 
amount of tuning necessary is Two Semitones, which is very achievable. 


However, I had a fractured 10 draw, and I did not have a donor reed to put in 
it. So, I took a reed from a G and transplanted it to see if I could lower the 
pitch by the rivet end method by the necessary 7 semitones. Generally speaking 
the thought is that it would not work, but I tried it. Accidently, however, I 
transplanted the 10 Blow, instead, which would have to be lowered by 10 
Semitones. No way, but, I tried it just for kicks. 


I did it, and it works good. The Big Rivers I had were some of the mid 90s ones, 
with very thick, stiff reeds, and the big rivet heads, so I has a lot of brass 
to work with, and and the tool I used was a very soft, but aggressive bit that I 
put into my Dremel. I learned this Technique from Smoky Joe Leone, so you will 
have to ask him about what it is, since I never give away anyone else secrets.

The harp had been customized by me and it is now way more responsive than 
before, and I can actually bend all the notes that you can normally bend, 
including the 10 blow bend. The 10 draw is very thin, so I do not know if it 
eventually will cause me trouble, but if it does, then I will put in the reed I 
meant to put in originally, which will only have to be lowered by 7 semitones. 


I plan on changing out the plastic, stock comb, with a Brass Reynolds Comb that 
I have had for years, it should be great.

HarveyHarp