Is there someone we can mail our harmonicas too when...
they go out of tune or could use some work?
This is a question for the future. I was thinking that with this new hobby of $70 disposable instruments that I will need to be buying 6 of at a time, when they get old it might make sense to pack up a bunch and mail them to someone who could maybe fix them up rather than tossing them.
I live in Austin, Texas if anyone knows someone around here that does that kind of work, but in the modern world shipping them seems like it would be no big deal.
I'm not handy or patient enough to want to learn that art/skill myself.
There are several harmonica repairers and customizers in the US. One who has a good reputation for things like replacing reeds at reasonalbe prices is Mike Peace in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
You can contact him via email at mmpeace@cox.net
or by phone at 918-527-2474
webiste mpr66ch.blogspot.com
Wow, he only charges $15 to repair and gap a harp. That's seriously good.
Another "in-between" option would be buying a reedplate set if easily accessible for you.
Depending on the Harp they usually cost between 20 and 35 bucks for both reed plates.
You´ll receive them after a couple days and just change the reedplates (1 minute task, just ~7 screws, no hassle there).
Thank you for the responses.
Thanks for the info on playig softly ACHarper. The question was for the future. I play like I'm whispering and only have brand new harmonicas that play nicely and respond welolo, but considering that they cost 70 or 80 bucks a pop I really don't even want to imagine in the future just trashing them. My husband is going to feel a lot better each time I keep saying I need yet another key if they aren't disposable. :D
Winslow, checking around the internet I had found Mike and wondered if that was a good option. I'm delighted to hear that he is! I'm going to save that information. Thanks a million for it!
I'm hoping Kosi never ever to have to open up a harmonica myself, well, maybe at least for the first few years. What I was hoping for was to buy seconds as they wear out and when it gets to be a whole set to be able to put them in a box and ship them off to someone who knows what they are doing. That way I can have kind of rotating sets. I know it seems easy to open and work on harmonicas, I've watched videos, but I kind of dread it and if Mike stays reasonable as he is, it sure would be easier to hire someone. Besides, I would like to give someone in the harmonica world the business. Also, that way I can spend that time learning and doing repairs with practicing instead.
And yeah, it's weird that I'm already planning what to do so far out into the future, but that's just my style. At the outset if I can see myself sticking with it so long as to have worn out a set of harmonicas and I can see myself understanding and being able to play along with the advanced videos, then I'm much more likely to succeed. It's kind of a visualization of success thing... and besides this info that I can ship them off to be fixed when they wear outs really going to make my husband much more likely to go along with this whole thing!
Hiring someone and supporting small businesses is absolutely fine of course, I just mentioned the reed plate option for the sake of completeness.
Just my two cents on repair and maintenance in general:
If I were you I wouldn´t be so strict about this.
As with most things, being able to perform at least the most basic repairs and maintenance tasks will save you money AND time.
When one of your tires needs air, would you call a car repair shop, make an appointment, bring your car to them, get home by taxi, maybe even spend 2 days without a car and then pay them 10 quid?
Or would you just stop at the next petrol station and pump it up within literally seconds?
The harp analogy would be let´s say having a piece of lint stuck between the reed and the reedplate.
It takes you 2 minutes to fix that with nothing but a screwdriver, that´s faster than even just calling someone to do it for you, not even talking about shipping.
Be brave, Dorothy! :)
That's so funny that you used a car analogy Kosi. This site is so male oriented that David also always uses car, sports and home depot analogies that are lost on the likes of me. He asked if I wanted to build a fence if I would cut down the tree and do all the other guy things he mentioned that I can't even remember or if I would just buy the planks. If I wanted a fence... I'd hire a fence builder! :) Driving analogies are also lost on me because my husband has always driven us everywhere for the last decade or so.
My tires ONLY get filled when the car goes to it's maintenance at the car dealership and it is brought there by my husband and he handles the whole thing. I sit in the waiting room crocheting, IF I go at all. The tires never even get checked at any other time. I know absolutely nothing about cars and never want to. So yes, I call the car repair place.
But that being said, I will try to pick another analogy to try to make your point that will have a chance of working for me. Let's see...
I will sew clothing that I love that gets damaged rather than bring it to a professional seamstress, but that analogy doesn't really work.
Hmmm. I know! maybe it's more like my violin. I will change strings, replace a tail piece and chin rest and even modify the pegs myself and I even do touch up to the varnish and I definitely clean her but I simply won't try to re-hair my bow, adjust the sound post or carve a new bridge... those are jobs for professionals with the right tools and experience.
I tune our pianos myself, but I still need a piano expert for other things.
I tried to do my own setup on my guitar and ukulele, but those were actually too complex for me to get them right.
I replaced the tail gut on the cello and adjusted the tuning pegs.
Maybe it's just that I have been around those instruments longer and I was ready to dive in?
If what you are referring to is akin to changing strings on all my stringed instruments (even the cello, which is a real chore), then your point is very valid and by the time I wear out my harmonicas I might be familiar enough to want to do the simple maintenance stuff. If it's more like the things that I would hire a luthier or piano technician for, then I would want to just ship them off.
What I'm hearing you say is that buying reed plate sets and putting them in myself is more like replacing strings???
Or do you mean opening up a harmonica that has a stuck reed would be a simple job I should do and not reed replacement?
But, then wouldn't that reed set need to be accurately tuned and wouldn't that be for a pro to do?
Tuning a harp seems much more complicated to me than tuning my other instruments, even the piano. I have a great ear and can do that with a simple tuning hammer. I know I could buy a home tuner for harmonicas, but that somehow seems pretty darn advanced for me.
So, in the world of analogies that make sense to me, what would you say is the one closest to what that job of reed replacement would be?
Thanks for keeping on trying to educate me. I really do appreciate it.
Alright no car, sports and home depot analogies, now it´s me who is out of his comfort zone.
Let´s say it´s like ripping a shoelace off of our favorite shoes and just replacing the shoelaces yourself before going out, how is that? ;)
Seriously though, yes I´d say it´s more like changing strings, two opposing thumbs and you´re pretty much good to go.
Buying the reedplates is basically buying a new harp just minus the coverplates, screws and comb, so they are(or should be) tuned and gapped properly.
Since we´re at it now, the "domestic use" treatments you can give your harp are as follows:
-Taking it apart -needs to be done sooner or later for freeing a stuck reed, maybe replacing reedplates if desired and - if nothing else- for thorough cleaning; very easy; I think that´s pretty much part of playing the instrument.
-Gapping the reeds - rather easy, just be careful and patient; That´s probably also a useful skill to have because one day you might buy a new harp with that one "stubborn" reed that takes a little more air to play.
-Tuning reeds; When a reed goes flat and you don´t wanna replace it;
-Replacing (single) reeds; when a reed breaks and you don´t wanna change the entire reedplate (Either because single reeds are cheaper or because your current reedplate is customised to your preferences)
-Reed slot sizing/embossing (and thus making the harp more airtight)
The last three take a bit more patience/skill.
Kinyas "Harp Tech Studies" in the equipment section of this site cover all of that in great detail if you are interested.
Anyways, Winslow has already given his recommendation and I´ll better stop spoiling his part of the forum now. I beg your pardon, Sir!
That was very useful Kosi, and actually kind of what I figured. I imagined that one day I would have to open up a harmonica to unstick a reed and to clean, but what I wasn't prepared to do was replace reeds or a plate and learn to tune those new reeds oreven to re-tune the instrument if it just gets out of whack... and for that reason I was hoping to find someone to send them to.
You did make me think though that I AM going to have to take one apart sooner rather than later to even know why it is not working right and if something really needs replacing. Mailing out a harmonica because of a little bit of food stuck in it really would be like going to shoe repair place to put on a lace. That analogy I understood!
And I think I'm just going to refer to all the guys on this site as gals and girlfriends instead of guys and buddies to let them know how it feels and put everyone else out of their comfort zones! hee hee. Whatchya think? :)
Hope you don't mind the bit of joking Winslow and Kosi really has given me some confidence.
Thanks Kosi and Winslow
You don't need to look at them as disposable. If you're breaking reeds, you're blowing too hard. Don't use your breath for volume. The harmonica is loud enough as-is with gentle breathing. If you do need it louder, get a mic and an amp. Don't blow and suck harder trying to get more volume out of it. THAT'S what breaks reeds.
The other way newbies break reeds is sucking extra hard to get bends. You don't need to. Bending isn't about sucking harder. You can do it with the same gentle breath.
Get your breath under control and your harps will last years and years. One of my favorites is 25 years old now.