chromatic harp harmonica windsavers valves

Following the advice of Sissi Jones ("Sissi Jones Interview – Hohner Chromatic Service Tech" on the Equipment Page) use a small strip from a brown paper bag and place the strip between the lower and upper windsavers. With slight pressure from your thumb, push downward on the windsaver sandwich as you pull the strip out. This strip works as a slight abrasive and cleans the material causing them to stick that was between the two windsavers that was. continue reading...

Today's tip is a simple one... warm up your chromatic harmonica before you play. continue reading...

Let's first be clear on what wind savers do and how they're installed on the chromatic harmonica. The chromatic harmonica has many more parts than a diatonic harmonica, including a side assembly that can have up to five parts. All of this equals an instrument that has issues with air leakage. This is helped by the use of windsavers. When playing the draw reed of a given hole, a valve (windsaver) closes over the blow reed slot to stop air from bleeding in. When playing the blow reed of a given hole, a valve closes over the draw reed slot. continue reading...