Pinstripe Embossing revisited
Hello Harp Techs, it occurred to me that I could improve the efficiency of the air flow (read: playability) by channeling more air directly under the free end of the reed to give it more “lift”. Yes, it worked. These are the modifications I made:
Based on the 14mm length of the reed, I estimated that only 75% (measuring from the rivet end) of the reed slot required sizing
This meant I needed to cut away the pinstripe tape from the last 25% of the length of the reed
I found a super sharp single edge razor blade to work well for this operation
Things are shaping up nicely for draw reed #1. If this harmonica was placed into a wind tunnel, you would see more air (smoke) being funneled under the free end of reed #1. This will facilitate a more efficient "lift" of the reed.
This operation was much easier with the reed plates removed from the comb (but you knew that ;o)
I modified the pinstripe tape on the blow reed plate as well
My next experiment will be to use .004” thick metal foil tape with acrylic adhesive instead of the vinyl tape. I’m not, however, looking forward to slicing the tape into perfect 1/32” strips ;o(
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Hey Kinya,
How is this tape holding up over time (are you playing this harp regularly?)?
I'm assuming that saliva will eventually degrade it ?
I guess that's something that's akin to someone playing with valves ??... I've never played any of those types of harps as I'm warry about maintenance lol.
I was actually quite surprised with the strength of the adhesion with this pinstriping tape when I removed the front 25%. I have not had an opportunity to gig with this set up yet, so cannot report the true stability of this pinstriping strategy.
Have you tried it yet? We would be curious to read your impressions.
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
I haven't but if I'm honest of all the ways I've seen embosing done this, so far, is one of my favorites !
I'm definitly planning on trying it eventually.
The key here is precision, so take your time to get the technique down.
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Hello Harp Techs, recently friends have asked me how/where they could purchase the Turbo Harp Ozone Sanitizer https://www.bluesharmonica.com/ozone_sanitizer_and_disinfector This prompted me to launch the Turbo Harp site via my google search engine. On the same search results page were three YouTube installments (circa 2018) of James Antaki showing viewers the inner workings of his Turbo Harp company. Of course, this caught my attention https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA0FVlPeXwg
About half way into installment two, James pulled out an experimental reed plate that he had applied thin tape, flanking one of the reeds. He explained the tape idea was the inspiration behind his patened stainless steel "Turbo Liner" which is found on the Turbo AX/20 harmonica https://www.turboharp.com/turboharp-ax-s20
Your Harpsmith, Kinya