Ask Harp Tech Expert Kinya Pollard

Hi Kinya I have a Lee Oscar harmonica in the key of E. that am working on for a friend. I have went in and used a cuticle stick to massage the reeds flats Reset the zero point and the gapping. And embossed all the reeds. all the bends work fine but just one, hole number 10 bend. I have tried closing both reed as close as I can. I have opened them both reeds up. But the bend is a struggle to get out. I have used a tuner to see if the note is even coming out and it register a C#. and when I try to bend the note up it does not want to bend easy. continue reading...

Hi Kinya

i have a question about the 7 limit tuning and that "pre-war sound". I am interested in changing the temperament of a harp that is a modern compromise tuning to a 7 limit / pre-war type tuning  

I really love the sound and I'd like to try it out. I undstand tunings have  changed a lot over the years and I am not up on all the details. But it seems 19 limit, compromised and Equal temperament covers a lot of the territory In the current landscape. continue reading...

Hi Kinya,

 While trying to gap my one and two blow reed on my 270 Deluxe I messed up the wind savers on the reeds next to them. The perforated wind saver is basically flat (a littler twisted but laying down) and the top one is up a bit. Any way to correct without replacing? continue reading...

Hello Kinya!

Could you please answer my question about compatibility of Hohner and Seydel reeds. I want to replace a failed 5-draw reed on my Hohner Marine Band Deluxe, but Hohner store offers only reed sets (not individual reeds) for 49,93 euro.Can I use Seydel reeds for this purpose - for example this http://www.seydel1847.de/epages/Seydel1847.sf/sece9285ddcad/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Seydel/Products/113018000  or even these steel reeds  http://www.seydel1847.de/epages/Seydel1847.sf/sece9285ddcad/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Seydel/Products/162018000 

Thank you, continue reading...

Hello Kinya.

Sorry to bother you. I have a question:I play mostly marine band delux and crossovers and I would like to clean them.

In the future I will have, for sure, one ultra sonic cleaner, but for now I don't have one. And to be honest, I don't know were to get one in Portugal. By the way, what are they for, originally?

So how can I get my reed plates clean (without harmonicocus) without the ultra sonic cleaner?

Thank you.

Submitting photos of your harmonica components is a terrific visual aid for me to trouble shoot problems, and useful for all readers to see how we learn together to rectify breakdowns.  

Here are the processes:

First, place your photos in an easy to locate location, such as your DESKTOP, then select the TREE icon (located to the left of the HTML initials) continue reading...

If you have two harps the same key and say one has a bad 4 hole and one has a bad 2 hole is there a preference for which one dies and donates parts, and which one gets to live to play another day?

Hi, Kinya:

What's the cheapest harmonica worth customizing? If I were an expert harpsmith, on the level of a Kinya Pollard or a Jon Harl, could I take one of the cheapie harmonicas and make it play as good as a fully customized SP20 or Thunderbird?

When I write "cheap harp", I mean one of the many harmonicas that you can buy for under $10, or any of the harmonicas that might come with an instructional book as a bonus. Like a Hohner Blues Band.

What is it-- the reed material, the comb material-- that sets the upper level harps apart from the enthusiast models?

Hi, Kinya:

I recently received my repair toolkit from Richard Sleigh (he says hi!) and I wanted to try it out before the workshop in February. I was tuning a SP20 harmonica, about 3 years old and well used. The six blow was very out of tune (about 30 cents sharp). When I popped the reed up to begin working on it, it popped very far up-- maybe at a 30 degree angle from the reedplate-- and it didn't spring back. I was able to put it back in place, but the reed no longer played. continue reading...

Kinya

In your opinion how important are the materials of construction used in the manufacture of a harmonica compared to the way it is adjusted for optimum performance. For example, could an expert take a cheaper model, such as a Hohner Blues Harp and adjust it to respond like a Crossover?