Here's a photo of freshly-cut Dark combs™ that have not been cleaned up yet. You can see the layers of paper fibres.
Many other types of solid-surface materials used to make combs can brighten up the tone of your instrument too much. I think one of the reasons my combs offer a darker, more natural tone is because of the network of paper fibres within the material.
These combs have all the benefits of a flat, unsealed Pearwood comb with none of the drawbacks.
Here is the side view of an off-cut piece that I snapped in half by hand - I had to use all my weight to break it in half!)
Here is the side view of a Hohner Marine Band Pearwood comb that I snapped in half by hand for comparison:
My Dark combs™ are made from an earth-friendly composite of 100 per cent recycled paper, resin produced from naturally occurring raw materials and selected natural pigments.
What happens when you overblow a hole with the SAME TONE on the blow and draw reeds? (Question by Zvika Dror Sparrow) This refers to an altered tuning where the notes of a Standard Richter harmonica are changed to open up new possibilities.
In this setting, if the reeds are not set up for overbends, you will get lots of squealing or as Winslow Yerxa puts it: "noises of unhappy protest."
If the reeds are properly set up, though, you can pop out an overbend.
This is slightly different than a conventional (two-reed) draw or blow bend where you need more than a semitone difference between the pitches of both reeds to "leave enough room" for a bend. For example, that's why there is no real draw bend on the 5 hole of a standard Richter diatonic.
Here's a harp that has some reed work which suppresses the ability of the reeds to squeal. This is hole five:
I applied some BluTak to the draw reed to temporarily drop the pitch to the same frequency as the blow reed. You hear both the blow and draw notes (same pitch but slightly different timbre) and the overblow.
I did the same thing (same harp) with the five six.
It didn't occur to me at the time to attempt and overdraw but I am assuming that if my overdraw technique on holes 5 and 6 were as good as my overblow technique, the note would have popped out just the same.
So, what happens when you overblow a hole with the SAME TONE on the blow and draw reeds?
Answer: The reed can overbend, albeit it's not as easy as when there is more room between the notes. It's a pretty crappy overbend. I would not ever sell a harp set up like this and claim it plays overblows well.
I'm now providing two types of screws for reed replacement in my reed replacement kit. I also include washers to make those reeds that just won't stand still behave.
All pieces are stainless steel and will never corrode. The Phillips head screw is 5mm long and easy to pick up with your fingers. You need to snip it off once it's in place. The flat head screw is much shorter and doesn't need to be trimmed - just set and forget. To make it easier to handle, you can dip the tip of your screwdriver in some Vaseline to make it stick!
An assortment of 75 pieces is included with the RRK. You can get more pieces here:
The functional part of the system uses a groove whereas other systems use a hole to accept the rivet head. The difference is irrelevant to the end result. The advantage of the RRS is that it makes the job easy, offering a stable platform where everything is lined up. You don't feel like you need an extra set of hands to accomplish the task.
Is it how loud it is? Is it Tone? How about how responsive it is?
Is it how fun it is to play? (and what does that even mean?)
Everyone has different criteria. Is there a way to measure how great a harp is without being biased?
I think so. I call it "The Assessment".
This test will not always produce the same numbers from person-to-person but the trend will be reproducible - the things that make a harp better will tend to make the numbers higher from person-to-person. When you can't rely on absolute numbers, trends are the next best way to go!
The Test:
Pick a standard riff from your repertoire. Make sure it uses bends in both holes 2 and 3 - these are the important holes to get set up right. If you use splits and chords often, pick a riff that includes them, too. As time goes by and you incorporate new styles of playing, your standard test riff should change too and reflect your style of playing.
- STEP 1: Play the riff at regular volume. Play it as many times as you need so that you can assign an score to the harp from 1 to 10 for tone and response.
1 is the worst harp ever and 10 is the best harp ever.
As a reference, most stock harps are a 5 at regular volume.
- STEP 2: Play it at the lowest possible volume. Play it as many times as you need so that you can assign an overall score to the harp for tone and response.
1 is the worst harp ever and 10 is the best harp ever.
As a reference, most stock harps are a 3 at low volume. **If you can't play this harp it at much lower volume than regular volume, the score is zero.
Add the two scores and divide by two.
Example:
Regular volume = 6
Quiet volume = 3
Total = 9/2 = a score of 4.5
Most performance-quality harps (not made in China) can be upgraded by one or two points with only a few minute's work.
Reproducibility: Everyone has different needs and tastes but the things you (or the factory) can do to make a harp get a higher score will mean that another person will tend to score the harp higher too. Players like a harp that responds well and sounds good.
The job of a harmonica reed is to turn breath into sound. Everyone likes a good return on the investment. We don't want to waste our breath and work too hard to achieve volume. For example, a reed with more mass or a thicker reed plate will create more volume but it also may require more work to play. It may play loud, but it may not be as responsive as another reed. It's more desirable for a reed to respond with ease and still produce lots of volume.
Also, a harp that is out-of-tune will always sounds bad, no matter now loud it can play.
These are the tools you need to keep your harmonicas sounding great and playing well. You may also use these tools to correct factory defects to make your instruments more powerful and play more smoothly.
This kit features a high-quality Grobet file for tuning.
Add the Embossing tool and the Reed Replacement kit to have a comprehensive, professional grade set of harmonica service and repair tools. See bundle options below.
Items you will need (not included but easily found at a hardware store):
- small screwdriver
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This kit provides what you need to work on harps anywhere.
Use this kit to:
-Adjust reed shape and gap
-Fix tuning troubles without having to take apart your harp!
-Fix Reed Centering
-Replace lost screws
-Correct the most common manufacturer defect and give your harmonicas more power.
Optional:
- Replace "blown" (dead) reeds with the Reed Replacement kit
- Emboss the slots to increase efficiency
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These tools are hand-made from solid brass and tempered high-carbon steel. Use these tools on all types of reeds (including Brass, Phosphor Bronze and Stainless Steel reeds).
They are shipped promptly.
Email support is provided with the purchase of these tools. Within the first 90 days of purchase, I will answer any question about using the tools, just email me your questions.
Are you having trouble hitting the 10-hole half-step blow bend on high-key harps (like Eb or F)? It takes practice but it also helps to have a harp that's set up in your favor.
The forces of nature (i.e. resonance) can act against you if the chamber size has its own resonant frequency that is not compatible with the note you want to play.
I make combs with chambers that are adjusted for the top reeds of Hohner harps in the keys of Dd and up.
Stock Golden Melody combs only come in long-slot dimensions although the reed plates come in two sizes just like Marine Band harmonicas. Expect a big improvement over the stock comb with these custom combs.
I recommend standard thickness for my short-slot combs.
The Marine Band 365 is a 14 hole mammoth harmonica.
The Steve Baker Special is a harp with an altered-tuning based on the 365 design. It has a bass octave on the bottom followed by Standard-Richter tuning from holes 4-13 and an extra hole which further extends the tuning.
To allow the extended range of this instrument, the reed lengths on the top end are quite short.
Using a standard comb, the forces of nature (i.e. resonance) may work against you when you play those high notes. Fortunately, I have a solution.
I have made a custom comb to allow you to overcome those resonant frequencies and allow your vocal tract to best connect with the reeds.
The channels are tapered to provide your mouth with the feel you expect while creating the right size space for optimal resonance for the whole range of reed lengths of this harp.
These combs are available. I only provide them in standard thickness (5.8mm) for best tone and response.
"What do I REALLY need to do to get a diatonic harmonica to play well?"
I offer a lot of information on my website and USB videos.
Everybody is looking for the quickest way to get the best results and this is the most common question I get. I also cover a great way to practice these skills.
Some folks say about four. They are correct. They are giving you the information that you need to know about tuning a harp.
Every Hz you increase the reference pitch on your tuner (A=440 Hz) means you are raising each and every note it reads by about four cents.
(You can stop reading now unless you are feeling cheeky in a scientific way.)
But some folks will tell you that the frequency (in Hz) of notes changes on a logarithmic scale - the frequency doubles for every octave we go up.
Here is the formula for frequency of a note based on it's placement on the piano keyboard. A4 (or "A above Middle-C") is the 49th note. We use it as a reference.
These folks tell you that one octave below middle C (C3), one cent equals 0.075 Hz and one octave above middle C (C5), one cent = 0.302 Hz. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME!
Sure, they are correct, but this is NOT useful information you need to know to tune a harp.
WHY?
Because we are not asking how many Hz there are in a cent. We are asking how many cents there are in a Hz.
Not just any Hz. We are asking by how many cents are we offsetting the note when we change our reference from A=440 Hz to A=441 Hz.
"Tune to 443" means tune your instrument using 443 Hz as the pitch for A above Middle C.
It does NOT mean tune every note up by three Hz. Why?
- We tune using cents, not Hz
- One cent is different in every octave
- Our tuner does the conversion for us
THE BOTTOM LINE: When you adjust the base frequency (440 Hz) on a chromatic tuner by one Hz, you are adjusting all the other notes of the scale by the same relative value. That happens to be four cents, no matter how many Hz there are in any of the notes' cents.
How many Hz in a cent doesn't really matter - we are only talking about making a change in the reference. Your tuner does the heavy lifting and instantly identifies the note (along with the offset in cents) of the frequency it is hearing.
The Hohner Vest Pocket harp is pretty nifty indeed. It's surprisingly easy to play. This vintage harp had a broken tine so I made a brand new comb for it!
The top comb is a regular-size Marine Band comb. The smaller one is the Vest Pocket Harp.
What are these tools?
These tools are used to make harmonica combs and reed plates fit together perfectly. Air leaks and empty spaces between the plates and comb cause power and volume loss, slugish response and bad tone. The instrument performs best when all the parts “become one” and vibrate at the same frequency.
Are these tools the same as the F Tool™ and the Comb Tool™?
Mostly, yes. The biggest change is the Reed Plate Claws. I innovate and find new and better ways to get the job done all the time. The Flatness Tool™ and Reed Plate Claws™ replace the F Tool and Comb Tools; I am no longer offering them.
Will you ever stop innovating and improving your products?
Before I die? No. After I am dead, probably.
What’s the difference between the F Tool and the Reed Plate Claws?
The reed plate claws are used as a pair whereas the F-tool is used alone with a pair of pliers. The Claws offer you a little more control and a little more sensory feedback as you re-shape the reed plate because you use your two hands to act together instead of squeezing pliers.
What’s the difference between the Comb Tool and the Flatness Tool? (They look the same!)
The Flatness Tool has the same precision as the Comb Tool. The difference is the Reed Groove which allows the tool to fit between the reeds on a reed plate. With it, you can use the same tool to measure the flatness of the comb as well as the reed plates. The Comb tool doesn’t have this groove and can only be used with combs.
The F-Tool uses a separate reference bar to measure between the reeds. The reference bars are very small and easy to lose!
Do you sell the tools separately or as a set?
I offer these tools as a set so that you can make every component fit together perfectly.
I already have the F-tool and the Comb tool, should I upgrade?
It’s up to you. I got excellent results using the Comb tool and F tool for years. They are still excellent tools that get the job done very well. You should decide for yourself if the new improvements are something you can’t live without.
How do I use these tools?
Instructions are provided and I am working on an up-to-date video. As with all my tools, you get email support, too. Ask me anything.
