Is customizing your own harps worth it?
I'm a diatonic mostly blues player (Special 20s and Rockets).I've thought about getting one of the tool sets and videos to customize my harps (gap, flatten reed plates and combs, shape the reed, emboss, tune, etc.) for better or easier playability?Curious how much of a difference you feel like a custom harp makes? (easier to play, easier to bend, etc. etc)?With a good tool set and instructions, how many harps do you feel like you'd have to customize before you started to make a significant impact on the playability, sound, etc. OR do you feel like I'd start noticing some difference on my first few harps?Does the warmth/brightness chance significantly when you emboss or do other customization?Any recommendations for tools or instructions?Thank you! Doug
Oops, I see there were some specific questions that I overlooked. I will try to answer them below:
Question: How much of a difference you feel like a custom harp makes? (easier to play, easier to bend, etc. etc)?
Answer: It's definitely noticeable - it's easier to play (less breath), easier to bend, more responsive, sounds better - notes are more in tune and less "beating" on ocatves.
Question: With a good tool set and instructions, how many harps do you feel like you'd have to customize before you started to make a significant impact on the playability, sound, etc. OR do you feel like I'd start noticing some difference on my first few harps?
Answer: You'll notice some difference on your first harp, and more and more difference as you work on more harps and get the 'knack' of the new skills. 5 harps sounds about right for really getting the knack.
Question: Does the warmth/brightness change significantly when you emboss or do other customization?
Answer: I don't notice too much change in the warmth/brightness. It's definitely louder (less breath) because you're making the reeds work more efficiently.
Question: Any recommendations for tools or instructions?
Answer: I use Richard Sleigh's tools and techniques, but Kinya Pollard has his own website (https://harpsmith.com) and Kinya is very active on BluesHarmonica.com for sure. Andrew Zajac also has a lot of content on the web, and he sells a custom toolset on his website here: Tools | Custom Harmonicas by Andrew Zajac
Cheers! -Dave K.
DaveKay.....thank you for the helpful and detailed resopnses. Sincerely, Doug
Hi Doug,
This is a great question, and one that everyone has their own "right" answsr to. Many years ago, I decided to learn how to make my harps as responsive as I could. I was switching from puckering to tongue-blocking, and I was struggling with some of the bends, so that was my motivation at the time. I also had several harps that were noticeably out of tune, and I was also needing to buy new harps (or reed plates) due to a single blown-out reed.
I started with some YouTube videos and Richard Sleigh's book "Hot Rod Your Harmonica". I then added Richard Sleigh's videos and his toolkit and that really gave me everything I needed to be "dangerous". Then is was just up to me to pracrice and implement the techniques taught by Richard.
The short answer is that every different process makes a small improvement in responsiveness. And, when you add them all up, it makes a big (very noticeable) difference. I do some embossing (nothing crazy), reed shaping, gapping and tuning. I've also replaced between 5 and 10 single reeds to resurrect dead harps. I've sourced the replacement reeds using brand new (single) reeds from Hohner and from scavenging from old reed plates. I have not gotten into flattening (sanding) and straightening reed plates (yet), but I have a friend who says it makes another noticeable improvement.
By the way, I play Special 20s for the common keys and Big Rivers for the not-so-common keys.
Hope this helps...Cheers! -Dave K.