I have read a number of post regarding setting reeds over the last several months, which all were good posts. With my family gone I decided to go through my two favored harps from the bottom up. Like others getting the correct setting was always a battle, especially on the higher notes, for me. After taking the harps completely apart it was obvious that not all my reeds were gapped exactly the same. Some had smaller gaps than others. It was the larger gaps that were my source of frustration.
I have always had a battle with -8 and -9 notes but Luke mentioned to use less force and get better results, which was spot on. I got my 10x loop and gapped every reed to the point I could slid a very thin piece of metal between the plate and reed. I soaked them in alcohol and checked each reed again before assembling to harps. I felt that the harp would no respond like I wanted but to my surprise having the reeds gapped with less opening was the best method. I am no harp tech so I started with the reeds needing some opening. I made very small adjustments increasing the gap so no reed damage would occur. To my surprise when the plates were attached to the comb the “slop” I could hear before making the adjustments disappeared and even the -8 and -9 notes were much cleaner and easier to play. Activating a bend is much easier as well.
I realize there are seasoned players that can set their reeds exactly as they want. I have been at the harp for a bit over a year so the learning curve is still step. The purpose of this post is to suggest to the new harp players like me get their reeds set to their liking. I took me about two hours to do the job but it was time well spent. Hope this helps at least one newbe get the gapping issue put aside.
Hopefully those of you that have gapping issues will benefit from this. I play slower softer tunes so any reed problems really show up. Hopefully this method will help those that encountered the frustration I did. My only complaint is I have nothing to blame bad notes on but myself, not the harp.
I’ve found if you get the reed at the back nearest the rivet to its zero point then plink it gently until you get the setting you want works well, all you have to remember is that the reeds are like springs and will return back to their original position so you have to keep plinking until they stay. I’ve tried several methods this is the one I prefer atm
I do plink them and the reeds are set again, retested. Its the final set that makes the real difference, which I think you know. I make sure the reed goes through the slot at the same time. If I spot a rise or dip I correct it. I have been converting air to notes for a bit over a year and my best source of help has been U Tube. If a reed is out of line near the rivet something knocked it out of shape. Could come that way out of the box with a convex reed. The point I was making is close the reeds and open them slightly until they play to your liking. I have found this very helpful, especially on the right side of the harp.
I had a difficult one the one Thursday out of the box reeds 3 and four completely dead on the blow, took the harp apart both reeds misaligned they were literally catching in the gap you could hear it when you plinked them. It took me ages and lots of really bad language before I realigned them. I’ve got to get a set of decent wrenches, instead of bodging with the ones I’ve got.
I was never thrilled with my Lee Oskar until I recently re-gapped the 1 2 3 draw reeds which were very wide, causing poor sounding bends and very airy. now I like it almost as much as my Special 20s . being a cheapskate I made my own “ezgap” gapping tool out of a piece of scrap plexiglass, which works great. I cringe when I hear people suggesting using a toothpick or screwdriver through the assembled harp and personally prefer the methods shown here.
I had the same complaint about my Oskar with the first six reeds. I have cured that but the harp is so large relative to a Crossover. I will say clean single notes are easy from an Oskar all along the harp. I just don’t play it as much as my Crossovers because its so large.
. being a cheapskate I made my own “ezgap” gapping tool out of a piece of scrap plexiglass, which works great. I cringe when I hear people suggesting using a toothpick or screwdriver through the assembled harp and personally prefer the methods shown here.