[Harp-L] Which Dremel Tool?

[Independent Entrepreneur]

"Fitness--if it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body." -
Cher c.1987.

My dear friend, Smokey Joe,

Cher's quote here has an overarching meaning that applies to your mention
of Slidemeister and your angst as an "explainer." Simply put, if getting
fit were easy, or if you didn't have to work hard to maintain fitness, then
everybody would be fit, including me. The same concept applies to your
account of people's laziness and failure to search for answers on their
own. Some people access a discussion board and ask questions as if nobody
has ever asked that question before. A simple search would reveal the
multitude of responses with various methods for success. But which method
is right for you? Frankly, the only way to learn is practice. First, one
must make a mistake, i.e., breaking a reed when gapping for the first time.
Then, second, you learn how to fix the mistake, i.e., replace the reed. But
then this forces one into a spiral of sequential learning episodes. Right?
This is called getting hands-on "EXPERIENCE," and believe me, when you get
your experience "hands-on," you remember it for a long time. But Joe, as
you pointed out, some people are still lazy and expect a miracle answer or
a miracle cure while sitting in the comfort of their armchair. There is a
reason that I don't publish my business phone number, and this is it. Some
people will keep me on the phone for hours without a conscience that they
are taking me away from paying work; meanwhile, they expect my consultation
for free. I have posted this on my Facebook page (and soon to be added to
my website) not to be mean, but to say, "don't take advantage of me":

Why I Charge Fees for Performing, Teaching, Repairing, Consulting, and
> Appraising.
>
>    - Harmonica performances, teaching lessons, and repairing other
>    people's harmonicas constitute my career. I have invested 5 decades in
>    learning my craft and trade, paid for college degrees in harmonica
>    performance and education, paid to attend seminars, and paid to visit the
>    Hohner Harmonica factory and museum in Trossingen, Germany. This is how I
>    have learned to do what I do.
>    - Experience and expertise come from research, training, and practice.
>    I have been in this business for nearly 50 years. I have made mistakes, and
>    I'll guide you to avoid the same ones.
>    - I have established relationships and connections with suppliers,
>    manufacturers, and other vendors worldwide. I can acquire hard-to-get or
>    unusual harmonicas for you, or custom-build them myself.
>    - Harmonica Lessons are always face-to-face, either in person or
>    online. During each lesson, I conduct formative assessment, which helps me
>    focus on preparing your next lesson. Your lesson fee includes
>    preparation time before your lesson, so your lesson is well thought out and
>    meets your current instructional needs.
>    - Harmonica Performances often require many days of preparation,
>    especially when special songs are requested. If these new songs are not in
>    my current repertoire, I write them by hand and pre-record the
>    accompaniment tracks.
>    - Harmonica Repair requires knowledge, skills, tools, and parts
>    inventory. I began repairing and retuning my own harmonicas in high
>    school, and I've been buying specialized tools and parts ever since.
>    - Harmonica performances, teaching lessons, and repairing other
>    people's harmonicas are my career. This is how I earn my living; please
>    don't ask me to do my job for free.
>
> As a dear old friend, performer, and harmonica repair tech has often said,
> "My time is my stock in trade." - Dick Gardner, former bass harmonica
> player of Jerry Murad's Harmonicats.


When I joined the Harmonicats for the first time in 1984, when I was 19,
Dick Gardner set the boundary right away. I hoped that he would have mercy
on a poor teenager, a broke college student. He was kind but very clear
that I would pay for any repair work he made to my harmonicas and
microphone. Dick and I have been friends ever since, now 40+ years.

Yours truly,
GM

On Sun, Oct 11, 2026 at 7:54 PM JOSEPH LEONE via Harp-L <harp-l at xxxxx>
wrote:

> From 1/1/00 till about a year ago, Slidemeister dealt with tuning on a
> grand scale. Mainly because they were (mainly) a chromatic site, which
> require far far more maint than diatonics.
>
> Unfortunately every new person who visited the site seemed to require
> their own personal explaination of things that were already heavily covered
> in the extensive archives.
>
> We, the 'explainers' would occasionally hint to the fact that the subject
> had already been covered numerous times and where they could find said
> info. But, verily, to no avail. Several of us, after 25 yrs., just got
> tired explaining. So sad.
>
> smojo
>
> > On 10/11/2026 1:43 PM EDT Gary Lehmann <gnarlyheman at xxxxx> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Harp-l is an oldie but a goodie.
> >
> > On Sun, Oct 11, 2026 at 10:58 AM Tin Lizzie <TrackHarpL at xxxxx>
> wrote:
> >
> > > We have ignition!  (So to speak...)
> > >
> > > I had an X-Acto knife on hand, so I tried that first.
> > >
> > > The harp is disassembled.  The reed plates are marked so that I'll get
> > > them back on correctly.  The reed plate screws are laid out on a piece
> of
> > > cloth in the order in which I removed them.  I have unrolled my old
> repair
> > > kit and gotten out my shims, my plinker, and all the other goodies.  I
> have
> > > plugged in and turned on my Peterson strobe tuner.  (I was ambitious
> about
> > > maintaining my diatonic harps, back in the day.)
> > >
> > > I have tuned one reed!  Huzzah!  And the rest, as they say, is Green
> > > Stamps.
> > >
> > > I'm a klutz, so this is going to be slow going, but I have traction and
> > > encouragement, which is what I most needed.
> > >
> > > Thanks to all who replied, on and off the list.  I know I've been
> mostly
> > > just lurking, these days, but I value this community very much.
> > >
> > > Tin Lizzie
> > >
> > >
> > >
>