Chromatic question
Hi David! I apologize in advance because I already asked this in another thread but didn't got any response from the experts over there so I'll ask you directly: How do you clean your chromatic harmonica? My CX-12 is already too sticky and I want to practice comfortably with it. It's OK to soak the reedplates gently in water for cleaning the valves? Thanks
Hello Norlo28. Thanks for your solid advice Rob. I personally only clean the outside of my harmonicas with a damp cloth. If a windsaver gets extra sticky, I use the method Sissi Jones outlines here: https://www.bluesharmonica.com/sissy_jones_interview_%E2%80%93_hohner_ch...
P.S., I believe Winslow is out of the country at the moment... he'll get back to you when he gets back.
Thanks UkuleleRob65 and David for your responses!! Winslow has answered my question :) now I can clean my harp confidently.
Hi David,
I too had a sticking slider on my Kongsheng KB-12 Chromatic, so I took your advice and listened to the videos by Sissy Jones. She definitely is knowledgeable and gives some good advise. I ended up soaking the slider mechanism in warm tap water for a minute or two. I made sure not to get water on the wide savers. I left it out overnight to dry, and voila, it works good a new!
Thanks for the lead.
Geoff.
Fantastic, great to hear Geoff.
Do NOT put your windsavers through water, unless you want to have to replace and/or remove them. Sinking plastic valves (the ones in the Hohner 270 and CX-12) in water will make them lose their flexibility and therefore be useless.
Use the brown paper bag strip method Winslow has described in his chromatic forum to gently remove any gunk from these valves so they don't stick, https://www.bluesharmonica.com/windsaver_tips#comment-1274 and, if you happen to break any in the process, there's this link to Kinya's method to replace them on a CX-12, https://www.bluesharmonica.com/installing_new_windsavers_hohner_cx12_chromatic_harmonica
I found the replacement wind savers were often not available when I had to replace mine (I did so to a used Hohner 260 I got from eBay), but maybe now their availability is better?
Norlo:
Sorry to see that Winslow hasn't gotten back to you after you posted this question in his thread a couple of weeks ago. I get a sense that he's been a bit busy of late. Lookng forward to David's response, and how he handles the issue with his 270s.
If you search the topic of cleaning CX-12 reedplates and put "bluesharmonica" in the search terms, you find a lot of info here in the Forum. E.g., Winslow from 14 years ago: https://www.bluesharmonica.com/chromatic_maintenance . (And posts from some sorry folks who've put chromatic reedplates into an ultrasonic cleaner and watched the valves drift off!)
In theory, warmish water and care in drying should be OK, but you might want to do more research. I've never done it with either of my CX-12s, but I've avoided valve sticking issues with this routine:
On a surface in my practice area I have an inexpensive electric heating pad, covered with a small towel. Before playing any chromatic, I put it on the heating pad (set to low) to warm it up and potentially dry out any moisture inside. Then after playing, I put it back on the heating pad for a bit, and then leave it out for an hour or more with a matchstick in one of the holes so that the slide is in an "in between" position, allowing airflow to both sets of reedplates.
I wasn't surprised when I met Ross Garren (www.rossgarren.com) at Harmonica Northwest last October, and found that he used the same method.
Performing with chromatic, I use the "underarm" warming method, and set it out on the heating pad when I get home.
I don't spend as much time playing chromatic as I do diatonic, so that also may be a reason for not having valve issues.
As I said, looking forward to David giving you some great tips.