reed gapping help !
Hiya Kinya,
So I have this situation. I bought a manji a few weeks ago and it had a bad reed so I exchanged it for a crossover and now because I'm hard headed I bought another manji ( yay no bad reeds) BUT I can't seem to figure out this 3rd reed.
So to put you into perspective I've gone over your tutorials for reed gapping several times but I haven't tried it on any harps yet for fear of 'breaking' them. But when I bought this manji in the key of D I quickly realised it needed some adjustment.
on a A or a G harp I can nail all my bends from hole 1-5 no problems and on pitch ( checked with tuner and harp ninja ). But when I started playing the D harp (the manji) I could only do 3 draw natural or bent all the way 3 steps. The inbetween notes were outside my range. So I tried with a tuner to get those missing notes for a few days till I finally gave up and figured I'd open the damn thing and have a look inside.
So stock 1234 draw were gapped at 0.17-0.15-0.15-0.15 (mm) and blow 1234 was 0.25-0.20-0.20-0.20 (mm). So from there I took your reference sheet on the gapping page and realised I could lower them by quite a lot and if I understood properly the closer the gap the easier it is to control the bends but you need to be careful that reeds don't choke with a strong breath.
so 1, 2 and 4 are awesome ( didn't even need to lower them that much and they still work great ) But 3 draw is a real pain. I tried it with the following gaps : D0.15B0.15(mm) still tough barely any improvement at all. D0.10B0.10 better, can now get 2nd and 3rd bend most of the time. D0.08B0.07 (mm) much better, can now get all 3 bends but that first one is reeeeaaal difficult to get. D0.04 B0.04 This is my last and current setting. The reed feels the most responsive that I've been able to get it but it's still pretty bad. I 'can' get the first bend when I'm staring at a tuner but the sound it makes is weak and really not that nice. In addition to this all the bent notes kinda sound squeally AND the reed feels like it's fighting me when I bend it. It's as if I have to kick it into motion even if I start from a natural note. I've tried blowing and drawing as hard as I can to make sure my gapping isn't too tight and I can't get the notes to choke they play nicely even at 0.04mm but the bends are still bad...
At this point I'm starting to think maybe manji's are just not harps for me lol. So seriously is this just a key of D problem ( as in dude just get used to higher keys and stop complaining) or is this just the nature of a manji ( tougher reeds ?) or is my gapping the problem ( I think I disassembled and reassembled this harp at least 20 times this weekend only working on the draw and blow reeds of hole 3. I've tried it fully assembled every 3-6mm changes and at no point was it satisfactory)
Also a side note, I doubt this has any impact but I pushed the reed plate backwards on reinstall so it's sits flush with the comb ( I can't stand protruding reedplates ).
If you need I can provide sound and or images of the harp assembled or disassembled or what ever else you might need.
Best Regards,
Chris
Hey Chris, sorry to hear about the issues you experienced with the Manji and BluesMaster harmonicas. I'm glad you found a good workaround with the Hohner products.
Sukuki builds harmonicas with Phosphor Bronze and spot welds them onto the reed plates (I actually saw the robots do this when I toured the Suzuki Hamamatsu, Japan factory). Hohner reeds are mostly brass (and zinc) and riveted into place. Seydel reeds are stainless steel.
As it applies to bending for notes--especially during your developmental stages, many players find the brass reeds the easiest to manipulate. The downside is that brass reeds do not have the longevity of Phosphor Bronze or Stainless Steel. For most players, this is an easy choice--select the instrument you are most comfortable with TODAY. Once you have become comfortable with your bending techniques, you will be able to bend any harmonica to your will, regardless of the pitch the harmonicas.
Regarding retrofitting your Richter tuned harmonica to Harmonica Minor, that is a simple ;o) process of retuning the reeds:
- Lower the 2, 5, and 8 BLOW reeds a half step
- Lower the 6, 10 DRAW reeds a half step
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Awesome, Thanks Kinya. I really hope I can get around the 'issues' I have with the manji. What a beautiful harp. It's craftmanship is really sexy hahaha!
What I'm going to do now is check the tuning ( I'm wondering if I altered the tuning with all this reed gapping I did).
It will probably be out of tune, but not "altered" (melody maker, country, dorian, natural minor, harmonic minor)
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
oh yeah that's what I meant, out of tune haha. I know I must have scratched the reeds at some point moving them. I'm looking at getting better gear to do this work.
Turns out working on harmonica is a great way to relax haha XD
Copy that. The moment your calm gets agitated, stop, and walk away. Harp Techs require a steady Jewelers touch. Your harps will be there for you when you return to your happy place.
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
ok so a little update.
So I couldn't stand this questioning so for lunch I went out and bought a bluesmaster suzuki. So as soon as I bought it I tried it 3 hole bent. No problem it goes down easily like butter ( like a special 20) but the squeeling was so loud I could barely hear the note. So the girl at the counter gave me another bluesmaster to try ... same thing bent easily and super loud sqealing !!! So you know what I did? I bought a special 20 in the key of D. Super clean note, easy to bend ( I couldn't figure out why a D harp would be harder to bend then my G o.O). This settles this, I'm never buying another suzuki harp. Out of 2 manji and 2 bluesmaster they were all garbage! my first manji had a 6 draw that squeeled like a stuck pig ( traded it for a crossover) second (the one I'm stuck with at home) can't bent 3 hole draw properly and the 2 bluesmaster both also squeeled like stuck pigs ......
Man what can possibly cause a harp to squeel that bad ?
Is there any hope of salvaging the manji I have at home ?
what do you suggest I do ? ( If I could salvage the manji I'd like to tune it to a harmonic minor )
Regards
Chris