[Harp-L] Low Maintenance Harp

[Gary Lehmann]

One year warranty on Suzuki harps bought in the US from an authorized
dealer.
Sadly, your warranty is no longer valid.
Fortunately, in addition to the KMC warranty work, I do "the others",
including Hohners--in fact, I get more of those than anything.
$35 to clean and examine a chromatic, $15 to ship it back to you.
I certainly do not need another harmonica, but if you want to trade it, I
do have too many harmonicas, including a variety of alternate tuned ones.
Hello to SmoJoe, hope all is well. I remember our last encounter on the big
stage in Tulsa.
Gary

On Thu, Aug 7, 2025 at 8:03 AM Steve Hayes <bigbandrhythm at xxxxx>
wrote:

> The rattling and percussive noise in my new Sirius 64 was disturbing, so I
> put it in a box for 10 years and didn’t play chromatic. If I didn’t like a
> $700 harmonica, why would I like a cheap one? Well, a bought a Boogie Man
> chromatic at SPAH last summer.. I like it and I get it. 👍
> Steve
>
> > On Aug 6, 2025, at 5:51 AM, JOSEPH LEONE via Harp-L <harp-l at xxxxx>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Rick, Hi Vern (good to hear from you again Vern) :)
> > Vern beat me to it. Had to mow grass. lol.
> >
> >> On 08/05/2025 3:21 AM EDT Vern <jevern at xxxxx> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> To me, windsaver “maintenance” means replacing the ones that
> misbehave.  IMO, cleaning is a useless half-measure.
> >
> > Agree.
> >>
> >> I don’t know of a factory chromatic that won’t eventually have
> sticking/popping problems…sometimes very early in life.  There is nothing
> that you can do to the design of an expensive chromatic that will overcome
> the problems endemic to factory windsavers.
> >> You are blowing saturated air into a cooler harp.  Condensation is
> inevitable. Wetting of the plate and windsavers follows and surface tension
> holds the windsaver against the plate. Any solution must break that
> condensation-wetting-surface-tension sequence.
> >
> > Very true.
> >>
> >> Warming to avoid condensation is unsatisfactory because the effect
> wears off in a few minutes as the harp cools down.  Bonfiglio uses a
> heating pad to warm several instruments and changes them frequently. Few of
> us can afford the luxury of multiple harps.
> >
> > I can afford it. :)
> >>
> >> I make my own windsavers that have the following features:
> >>
> > I also use ultra suede.
> >
> >>    Using heat and pressure plates, I compress about 2/3 of the length
> toward the rivet.  This stiffens the ultrasuede which    otherwise tends to
> droop when used on the bottom side of a reed plate.  P. T. Gazell was the
> first to use Ultrasuede on    half-    valved diatonics...but only on the
> top of the reed plates so he doesn’t have the droop problem.
> >
> > P.T. is not the first to use ultra suede. Been around a long time.
> >>
> >>    Ultrasuede will absorb moisture.  To avoid this, I apply fabric
> guard to the fuzzy end towards the tip. This prevents    condensation from
> wetting the wind saver.
> >
> > Yes. The best method. And while on the subject of METAL on valves, small
> wires, about the guage of 'Hi E string on a guitar) were ased on accordions
> and concertinas. Then were called 'Lentilli'. They kept the pig skin (goat
> in Muslim countries), flat on the reeds so they wouldn't droop. I had used
> 'cat whickers' (actually paint brush bristles), to do the same thing. As
> they are not as stong..and adequate.
> > Spcl note: valves on accordions lay horozontally to the ground..BUT on
> edge. On harmonicas they are hoirizontal but on the FLAT. So..it would only
> be necessary to use them on the reeds on the bottoms of the plates. As the
> tops would be nil. Basically due to gravity.
> > I found that the squeeze wasn't worth the juice. As todays valves are
> much better.
> >>
> >>    When replacing a wind saver, I apply a very thin coat of canauba
> floor wax to the edges of the slot where the wind saver    touches the
> plate.
> >
> > This is the sort of 'ovr-kill' that has convinced me over the past 30
> some years that Vern is (arguably) the most knowledgeable harp tech in the
> business.
> >
> >  This keeps condensation from wetting the plate.  Instead, it beads up
> and blows away. This is a    belt-    and-    suspenders remedy for
> sticking.
> >
> > But it works.
> >>
> >> I hesitate to use the word “never”, but I cannot remember having to
> replace a DIY windsaver as described above.
> >
> > Because it works
> >>
> >> Since I built some tools and worked out the process of making them,
> windsaver misbehavior is no longer a problem. If it sticks, I replace it
> and forget it.
> >
> > Harps (especially chromatics) are just another 'animal' that a loving
> owner HAS to care for.
> > Joseph XXV count of Lentini
> >
> >
> >>
> >> Vern
> >>
> >>
> >>>> On Aug 4, 2025, at 3:06 PM, JOSEPH LEONE via Harp-L <
> harp-l at xxxxx> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Buon Mattina Walter :)
> >>>
> >>> If I could agree with Slideman Slim more than 100%, I would do it. In
> my 71 yrs. playing chromatic (starting in 1954), I have never found a
> chromatic with windsavers that didn't need 'periodic' maint.
> >>> Periodic being the key word. Some seem to require more care than
> others. AND they could be the same make and model.
> >>>
> >>> The more expensive models don't have any leg up on the cheaper models.
> And at a price of $2500 cesterces, I am assuming a custom jobbie. Like a
> Renny, a Psardo, a silver concerto, etc. Even my Amadeus, which was $500
> years ago, is now only up to $1900.
> >>>
> >>> As for the winsavers, it's more a matter of WHO put them on the harp.
> The best chromatic I ever played was a $100 Caberet. SO? if'n one was to do
> a performance, the best strategy is to show up with TWO  chromatics.
> Because? I was once playing and had several windsavers come off in my mouth
> and almost choked. (I play mainly in draw keys). lol.
> >>>
> >>> I sat at a table during the break and replaced the savers.
> >>>
> >>> Just my own 12.5 lire
> >>> smokey-joe/the most unusual character you will ever meet.
> >>>
> >>>> On 08/04/2025 3:17 PM EDT Slim Heilpern <slim at xxxxx> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Hi Walter -
> >>>>
> >>>> It's not absolutely clear from your question whether you're talking
> about diatonic or chromatic harps, but based on your mention of $2500 and
> windsavers, I'm going to assume you're talking about chromatics.
> >>>>
> >>>> In my experience (and I've had quite a bit) there seems to be a
> tradeoff between response and maintenance. The really great air-tight harps
> seem to require more windsaver maintenance, and there's an interesting
> theory to support one aspect of this (related to sound pressure vibration).
> Whereas a slightly leaky harp might have occasional windsaver sticking, it
> seems to happen much less often and I never experience the rattle effect,
> which can be related to sound pressure vibration or the layers of a
> windsaver sticking together.
> >>>>
> >>>> I have been using the Hohner Discovery models for practice and
> rehearsals and while they don't respond quite as well to bending as most of
> my other harps, I rarely have to clean or replace windsavers on it. There
> are very few models that don't need fairly regular cleaning of the slide,
> the ones I'm aware of are the CX12 and the CBH (which still require
> occasional cleaning).
> >>>>
> >>>> I'm not aware of a $2500 model that doesn't require maintenance (I
> don't think there are any maintenance-free windsavers out there, at any
> price), but I'd be delighted to be corrected on this.
> >>>>
> >>>> Just my 2 cents.
> >>>>
> >>>> - Slim
> >>>>
> >>>> https://slimandpenny.com
> >>>>
> >>>>> On Aug 4, 2025, at 10:18 AM, Walter Scanlon <
> scanlon at xxxxx> wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Harp requiring low maintenance
> >>>>>
> >>>>> A few years ago one of our colleagues said his harp cost $2500. He
> said he
> >>>>> decided on this harp to avoid wind saver sticking and other
> maintenance
> >>>>> typical of most harps. Can anyone advise me what harp brand are low
> >>>>> maintenance. Thank you.
> >>>>> Walter Scanlon
> >>>>> scanlon at xxxxx
> >>>>>
>
>