[Harp-L] New Tool and Method for Improving Harmonica Reed Response

[Vern]

> On Jan 14, 2019, at 11:31 AM, Ross Macdonald <pdxharpdog at xxxxx> wrote:
> 
> Vern:  I have two Joe Spiers custom harmonicas - and the process he uses in his stage 1 service includes among other techniques like flattening the reed plates and comb and shaping the reeds - embossing the reed slots.   Other great customizers do similar treatments, but my experience is with Joe Spiers. I can tell you that the performance of a Joe Spiers harp is so much better than any stock harp no matter the price - they play and bend with very little effort and at extremely low air pressure. As a side benefit, they hold up over time and significant daily use as well. 
> 
> If what you are saying is true, (and I have no reason to doubt you given that you really have nothing to gain and you did a rather difficult experiment to prove to yourself your own hypothesis)

It wasn’t difficult at all.  I urge you to do it yourself to check my conclusion. If the results were different, my hypothesis would have been disproven.  It was just a way of visualizing the amount of leakage from various sources.

> then you believe leakage is essentially uncorrectable even with embossing and with Brendan's rivet end nail polish treatment.
In a diatonic, that is true.  In a chromatic, you can reduce the clearance in the slide.  In a Hands-Free-Chromatic where the mouthpiece touches the comb, the leakage is lower than in a slide.

> So then how do you explain the significant improvements in performance from a Joe Spiers or other quality customizers' harmonicas?

I don’t know Joe’s secrets, but there are several things he could do besides embossing:
- Set the optimum/minimum gap at the tip to facilitate bending.
- Change the curvature of the reed.
- Assure correct centering of the reed in the slot.
- Decrease reed stiffness by tuning up and back down.
- Raise your subjective expectations.

I'm not alone in thinking that custom harps from an experienced customizer like Joe and others ruin you for stock harps.  Unless you think that the other treatments in Joe's process are the reason and not the embossing and rivet end reed polish gap plugging in this case?

Granting that Spiers and other customizers do a fine job of reed voicing, I doubt that  nail polish near the rivet end can have a perceptible effect.

Vern  
> 
> 
> Thank you, 
> Ros Macdonald
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On January 13, 2019 at 11:49 PM Vern <jevern at xxxxx> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> I question this method based on the following:
>> 
>> The reduction in leakage achieved by embossing or nail polish is minuscule with respect to other sources of leakage.
>> 
>> The rationales for embossing are to narrow the slot clearances to reduce breath leakage and possibly to make the pressure cutoff more sudden as the reed enters the slot...thus altering the tone. I question both rationales, but will argue to refute only leakage.
>> 
>> In a diatonic, the leakage through the opening reed in the same chamber is vastly greater than any leakage reduction achieved by narrowing the reed clearances.  In a chromatic, the leakage through the slide clearance is vastly greater than the leakage reduction achieved from narrowing the reed clearance.  In either case, it is like weatherstripping the window while the door stands open.  The reduction in leakage is an imperceptibly small part of the total.
>> 
>> The disadvantage is that the reed can be jammed by smaller particles.
>> 
>> To demonstrate this, I glued a straw to one hole of a diatonic and placed tape over the tip of the blow reed.  This left the areas under discussion along the sides of the reed open.  Then I submerged the instrument without covers in water and blew through the straw.  The stream of bubbles from the draw reed was very much larger than the stream coming through the blow reed clearances.  I concluded that  reduction  (not elimination) of the leakage around the base of a reed has a negligible effect on the total leakage. This isn’t difficult to do if you wish to check my results.
>> 
>> After a person goes to the trouble of embossing and/or applying nail polish, he wishes to and expects to experience an improvement in responsiveness…and he subjectively will.  A valid blind test would involve several harmonicas some modified and some not.  Then the player or listener would be required to record his impressions of responsiveness for many playings of randomly selected  instruments.  
>> 
>> Harmonica players can be completely confident of being able to discern effects from small differences (e.g. comb materials) but unable to demonstrate that ability under controlled conditions.
>> 
>> Vern
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Jan 13, 2019, at 2:22 AM, <bren at xxxxx> <bren at xxxxx> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Here's a video to accompany an upcoming article in the UK 'Harmonica World'
>>> magazine:
>>> 
>>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQP6tZRXbTU
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> It works for chromatics too. However, when breaking the seal, be careful not
>>> to damage the valves underneath - go slowly and more shallow with the shim.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Brendan Power
>>> 
>>> www.x-reed.com <http://www.x-reed.com> 
>>> 
>>> www.brendan-power.com <http://www.brendan-power.com/> 
>>> 
>>> www.youtube.com/brendanpowermusic <http://www.youtube.com/brendanpowermusic>
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> 
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