Re: [Harp-L] Solder retune - practical limits?

[Vern <jevern@xxxxxxx>]

The manufacturers have had almost 100 years of to empirically work out the optimum reed design.  A reed thicker at the base and heavier at the tip will be stiffer and less responsive and maybe a tiny bit louder once you get it going.  

If two reeds of the same length vibrate at the same pitch and amplitude, the thicker one will have higher stresses in the metal. There are other factors involved but the thicker reed won’t necessarily last longer.

I would pick a new reed as close to the intended pitch as I could get.

Vern


> On Aug 3, 2015, at 7:06 AM, Blunt White <playharp@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> A professional guitar playing friend is learning harmonica (plays in first position, G harp), he has problems with blowing out blow note 7 (I've explained why no bending down on blow 7).  My last repair used a replacement reed from a Bb harp tuned down 1.5 steps with solder.   This replacement retuning scheme was based on measuring reed thickness near the rivet end, the Bb replacement reed was significantly thicker than the G reed.   The result seemed to last longer.  This time I'm going to replace G blow reed 7 with a blow reed 7 from a C harp, a drop of 3 steps with solder (a bigger hammer).   Seems like a big drop?   
> 
> Interested in your thinking.
> 
> All the best,
> Blunt White
> Stonington, CT USA
> 
>