Riveting Reeding
"Monster Harmonica Workbench" with Kinya Pollard
by Kinya Pollard
Download this Article.
Welcome back Harmonica "Gear-heads."
In our last article, a "bolt-on" reed replacement strategy was introduced. This installment
investigates the Art of Riveting your reeds.
For the benefit of those who did not catch the last issue ("Reeding Aloud") my justification
for learning how to replace reeds was a practical one. The thought of discarding a set of
customized reed plates, simply because of one or two blown (damaged) reeds seemed
ludicrous to me.
Judging from the comments I have received from those who have mastered the techniques,
I am not alone in my thinking.
Dust off your workbench, let's get started …
Anatomy of Reed Replacement
- Refers to the removal and replacement of a damaged reed with a good reed
- A damaged reed is one that goes flat and cannot be re-tuned, or does not "hold" it's
tuning (good for maybe one song, before it goes flat again). The most commonly
affected reeds are 4 through 7, both on the blow and draw sides.
- Reeds are constructed out of spring (tempered) metal, and takes considerable abuse
(i.e. excessive volume of air, temperature variances, etc.). Inevitably, the reed will
fatigue and develop a hairline fracture, almost always at the heel (base) of the reed.
- See for yourself: with the cover plates removed, lift the damaged reed with your Lee
Oskar reed offset tool about ¼ of an inch out of the slot, then release it. You'll probably
find the reed stall while traveling back through the slot. Help it along by gently pushing it
through the slot with the pick end of your tool, and the reed will most likely snap off at
the heel of the reed.
Tools and Materials
Use your tool kit from the last sessions, and include the following:
- Reed knockout/replacement tool, sources:
- Custom Craft Harmonicas (http://home.earthlink.net/~romel/)
- F. & R. Farrell Company (http://www.frfarrell.com/kotool.html)
- The following tools and materials are available from www.micromark.com
- Ball peen hammer (#22119)
- Toolmaker's Mallet (#81523)
- High Speed Steel Countersink Bit (#38181)
- Donor Harmonica (you'll never throw away a harmonica after this session) by the same
manufacture and key, but not necessarily in the same model. For example, hand made
Hohner Marine Band, Special 20, and Golden Melody have identical reeds. Hohner MS
(Modular System) reeds are interchangeable between models; for example, Big River
and ProHarp, or
- Replacement rivets and reeds (4 ~ 7) per dozen, per model are available directly from
Hohner's USA Service Center (804)515-1900
Procedure
1. On the host harmonica, remove cover
plates
2. Remove reed plates from comb
3. Mark the area near the flush side of
the rivet to identify the location of the
damaged reed; e.g. 4 blow on a C
harmonica
4. Repeat the above procedure on the
donor harmonica, and identify the
location of the good reed, not another
damaged reed! |
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Tip: Did you know that the same size reed, in the same pitch (note) can be located in
another harmonica in a different key? For example, the pitch for the 4 blow reed on a C
diatonic harmonica is C. Let's suppose you do not have a C donor harmonica; however,
you have a Bb donor harmonica. Simply remove the 4 "draw" reed, because the pitch
for this reed is an identical C! Refer to Mel Bay's Harmonica Wall Chart by David Barrett
for quick reference (#MB20291)
5. With the host reed plate, place the
raised side of the rivet into the "open
diameter" die of your Reed Knockout
Tool. Carefully align the "pointed"
punch over the center of the flush side
of the rivet, then with your Small Peen
Hammer lightly tap the rivet and reed
out of the reed plate. Throw this
damaged reed away (I've learned this
the hard way by reinstalling bad reeds
back into the reed plate!)
6. Repeat step 5 with the donor
harmonica, but be careful not to punch
out the rivet. Now store this reed in a safe place, while we work on the host reed plate. |
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7. The matching surface of the
reed plate must be
absolutely flat. Place onto a
hard flat surface (e.g. anvil)
and lightly tap flat. With a
gingerly twist of your
Countersink Bit, ream the
hole in preparation for
receiving the rivet. This is
also a good opportunity to
clean the area of any crud
or debris. |
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8. Now returning to the good reed with
the rivet, align and finger press the
rivet into the hole of the vacant reed
slot. Align the reed plate over the
"closed diameter" die of your Reed
Knockout Tool. Using the flat tip
punch, tap the head of the rivet twice
with your ball peen hammer. This will
"mushroom" the shank of the rivet
inside the reed plate. If the reed can
still be moved on it's axis, tap the rivet
again with a little more force until the
rivet is properly seated (with a bit of
practice, you'll develop the right feel). |
9. Now hold the reed plate up to the light,
and with your reed wrench adjust the
reed in the slot so that you can see an
even amount of light around the sides
and top of the reed. "Plink" the reed a
few times to ensure clearance,
otherwise your harmonica will play with
an annoying metallic clicking noise.
10. Refer to my last two issues: "Stop
those dogs form howling! Part 2" for
tuning techniques and "The Tao of
Harmonica Customizing" for gapping
and curling techniques. |
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Congratulations! You have just saved another "keeper" harmonica from the scrap heap that
will give you many years of enjoyment.
Kinya Pollard
The "Harpsmith"
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