Reed metal characteristics: overtones, reed stability

Hi Gareth, Good to hear from you.

Harmonica reeds are, for certain, the "secret sauce" for any harmonica manufacture. It is what separates one brand from the other.

Engineers are continously experimenting with different combination of materials to find the ultimate balance of resonance and durability.

I remember my 2005 interview with the former guru of Hohner USA Technical, Rick Epping--just before his retirement and relocation to Ireland. He spoke about Hohner's transition (of their entire harmonica product line) to a new reed shape and material composition (adding more zinc to the brass). The intended outcome would produce harmonicas that would last longer--but at the same time, sacrifice a tad from the original Hohner harmonica sound and playability.

Your Harpsmith, Kinya

Hey Dave, how are you mate?

As for Seydel, I will defer to master builder, Jon Harl. "What say ye Jon"?

... for tuning past the target pitch, then landing back onto the desired note--most definitely! No different than what a guitar (or piano) tuner would do.

Let's not forget, reeds are flat springs--and by it's very nature will swing in/out of range.

One more thing: allow for room humidity, and temperature defiations as well. 

Your Harpsmith, Kinya

As for the stainless steel reeds tuning stability I've found the SS reeds to stay in tune longer and drift less than brass. Although they are harder to work with. It's takes a lot more work to get them to change pitch as well as adjusting the profiles and gapping. But once you get them set they'll pretty much stay there.

I would agree with Kinya about the longevity of SS. They do last longer. But let me be clear. There isn't a reed made that won't eventually break. Bassically there's just a few things that cause problems. Wind force, bending to pitch and the amount of miles you put on your harp. Playing softer has been emphasized quite a bit on this site. I don't need to really go into that. But bending to pitch. There's a couple of things involved with this. Technique and what the notes pitch is it supposed to be. Your embouchure, where you place your tongue, is something you have to work at all the time. There's a lot of reeds on each harp and a lot of keys. Each reed is a different size and takes a different embochure/tongue position. Bending softly to pitch is quite a challenge. Use a keyboard, chromatic tuner or HarpNinja. Make sure you focus on tongue position, where your tongue is to get the pitch desired. You'll need to know the note you're trying to match. You might find that you'll need to do some adjusting of your harmonicas gaps to get it to play easier. Lastly, pay attention to how much you're bending the 4 draw and how hard you draw when you bend. Plus take it easy on the 5 draw.