I find it amazing how frequently guitarists want to play in the key of E. They seem to love those open chords (I think that’s what they love - I know nothing about guitars). Consequently my A harp (Lee Oskar) has been very busy as a result and at the last gig the draw 4 sounded ‘off’. Tried it on the tuner and the B was in fact Bb (it is over 15 years old!). So I am going to attempt to retune the reed. But in the meant time I thought I’d order a reed plate. Turns out a reed plate pair (you can’t just buy the draw plate) was about $45 (Australian) and I could get a new harp for $59 - with free postage. So I got a shiny new A harp and can take my time trying to get the old 4 draw tuned up a semitone. Lee Oskar replacement reed plates are a good idea, but appear not to be as financially viable as just buying a new harp!
Yeah there was a time when brass was cheaper and it made a bigger difference. Nice you can work on tinkering without any stress!
Just curious, if you retune a harp, how long does it last? I have never done it.
I killed my Lee Oskar (key of A) harp after 2 years of heavy play.
@Dk360 I’ve never re-tuned a harp!! 
Well it does depend somewhat upon your skill at doing the retuning and what exactly is being done: changing the reed’s original tone by a half step (e.g. from G to G# or to Gb) or a full step (e.g. from G to A or to F), or even more (not advised, but possible).
The “sharpening” of the original tone usually would have less influence on the “life expectancy” of the reed than the “flattening” of the original tone. The reasons are as follows:
-
To make the tone sharper the easiest (and probably most common) method is to remove material at the free end of the reed. The more you remove, the sharper becomes the tone. The point at which the reed flexes when played is not touched and retains its original strength.
-
To make the tone flatter the easiest (and also probably most common) method is to remove material near the fixed end of the reed – not too close to the fixed end or the reed will tend to break sooner. So remove material from approximately the initial 1/3 of the reed’s length at the fixed end. Making the tone flatter by more than a half-step (using this method) can definitely shorten the reed’s life because there is less material at or near the flexing part of the reed, so it will consequently fail sooner.
To make a reed flatter without reducing its “life expectancy” so much, the best method is also the most complex. It involves adding material at the free end of the reed. This is typically done by placing a drop of melted metal there, waiting for it to cool and harden, then gradually removing the metal until the tone of the reed is where you want it to be.
How long should a special 20 reed last? I have broken 2 in the 1st year. 1st one was my fault as previously discussed however, now hole 5 on the c will not draw at all! Guess my question is; should I repair it,or replace it? Thanks Eric.
are you sure it’s broken and not just stuck?
I take it apart clean and “plink” it. Put it together. It works the 1st attempt and goes silent after. So sure something is out of whack.
I used to do that all the time @lasersolutionswi ! 
The problem is you’re blowing/drawing too darn hard! All that emotion, lol. Lee Oskars will be more durable to hard playing. Seydel even more durable -I don’t personally care for the stainless steel reeds, they’re more expensive, but they do last forever.
This can also occur when the reed gap is too small and it is compounded by blowing/drawing with too much force.