Author Topic: reed Replacement (Read 4010 times)

Darius Engineer · « **on:** July 05, 2020, 04:09:13 AM »

I have 3 harmonicas with the 5 blow reeds needing replacement.They're all in C Key. I have just one reed which someone had sent me some time ago. I understand that Hohner has stopped selling individul reeds. My problem is there's no room for error and rivets of the required size aren't available in India. I'm thinking of using a toothpick instead of the rivet and then glueing it with cyano to keep it in place. Would appreciate advice on this method.

Darius

streetlegal · « **Reply #1 on:** July 05, 2020, 04:57:49 AM »

I don't think that could work Darius. If you do not want to rivet the reed on, another option would be to fit the reed to the reedplate with a very small bolt and nut. This has the advantage of making the alignment of the reed in the slot much easier, fixing the bolt into the reedplate from the underside and up through the reed - then tightening the reed down with the nut. So the bolt remains firmly fixed on the plate and only the nut is adjustible. I think people have used M1.4 size stainless steel nuts and bolts for reed fitting.

Darius Engineer · « **Reply #2 on:** July 05, 2020, 07:07:12 AM »

Thanks for the information. The problem is availability of that size of nut and bolt. I even tried shops selling eyeglass spares but ailed to get such small fasteners.

Darius

robertpcoble · « **Reply #3 on:** July 05, 2020, 09:00:12 AM »

ALTERNATIVE 1:

Seydel sells M1.4 screws and nuts as well as reeds and the tools to attach them. They also have videos on how to do the repairs.

Link: Custom Shop

Seydel has a tool for quickly and cleanly removing reeds from reedplates. It will work with Hohner harmonicas (other than the Hohner Meisterklasse model; the rivet head is too large to use this tool).

You will need a reamer in order to slightly open the rivet hole in the reed for the M1.4 screws to fit through. The M1.4 screws are slightly larger in diameter than the rivets. You do not want to thread the hole in the reed. If you do, the reed will tend to twist as you tighten it, which is not desirable.

You have three choices for attaching using the M1.4 screws. (1) You can tap the reedplate itself for the screw, without using a nut; (2) you can tap the reedplate and use a nut; or (3) you can make the reedplate hole slightly larger (so that the screw fits smoothly through and use a nut. My personal preference is to use (1). If (for some reason, like I messed up the threads), I have also used (2). For ME, it's too much work (enlarging the reedplate hole) to use (3).

Seydel sells stainless steel reeds for both chromatic and diatonic harmonicas - $6 USD for 3 reeds. Use the Seydel Harp Configurator to determine which reed to purchase. Since you didn't specify the harmonica type (chromatic or diatonic), choose a Seydel model that is similar to your Hohner harmonica. For instance a Hohner 280 and a Seydel Deluxe Chromatic are similar instruments. Use that similar model to find the appropriate replacement reed.

You can use Seydel reeds on a Hohner harmonica; the reed geometry is very close. The Seydel reeds are stainless steel, which have longer lifetimes than Hohner reeds. (I won't argue how much longer.) The sound is the same, so you won't have any difference.

You may have to slightly modify the reed geometry (length and/or width) to get a snug fit to the reed slot. An alternative is to modify the reedplate slot geometry.

I have successfully used Seydel reeds in several different manufacturers harmonicas.

ALTERNATIVE 2:

Find a similar reed on a junk harmonica of the same make and model - one that you have no intention of getting into working condition. (You can sometimes find these junkers on eBay or other harmonica forums.) You will need a tool for popping the rivet off of the reedplate and out of that reed. If you are masochistic, you can leave the rivet in the reed, and then attempt to tap it into the reedplate to be repaired. Expert technicians do this on a regular basis. I'm not one of those people. Otherwise, once the donor reed has been obtained, you can switch back to Alternative 1 for attaching the reed.

ALTERNATIVE 3:

If you have a junker but the same reed (same slot and pitch) is not available, then a slightly longer reed (lower in pitch) can be substituted. Use a pair of very sharp scissors to cut the reed length to match the required length. (Place the longer reed under the to-be-replaced reed [which has already been removed from its reedplate] and snip off the excess. Make sure that the attachment ends are matched as closely as possible. Sticking a toothpick or other round tool like a drill bit will help align the two reeds.) Attach the donor reed and then retune the reed UP in pitch to match the required pitch.

Given that your moniker is Darius ENGINEER, I presume you have the requisite technical skills to know what tools you will need and how to use them. If not, find a good repair technician and send the harmonicas to them to be repaired. There are several outstanding technicians here on SlideMeister.

Good luck!

Crazy (enough to have gained the requisite repair skills attending the "school of hard Knocks") Bob

streetlegal · « **Reply #4 on:** July 06, 2020, 05:12:23 AM »

Another possibility came into my head. I have never done this but it might be possible to cut a suitable mild steel rivet from a paper clip. Maybe experiment first by riveting a couple of pieces of scrap metal together first, just to see how it works out. Sometimes we just have to work with what we have available.

John Broecker · « **Reply #5 on:** July 06, 2020, 09:21:22 AM »

Hello, Darius.

Bob Coble's suggestions sound very logical and
easy. Try Bob's and other suggestions listed above,
and learn which method works best for you.

Practice the methods on broken harmonicas first,
before doing the chosen method on your valuable
harmonica.

I'm not a do-it-yourself person, so I go to small parts
companies. My favorite is

www.micromark.com

It's a toy railroad tools seller, and some of the tools
work well for harmonicas: sanding wands, small
screws and nuts, miniature vise, miniature drill
press, screwdrivers, and so on.

Ask the company, at the website, for a FREE products
catalog. The catalog is free, the products listed are
for sale.

Best Regards, Stay Healthy

John Broecker

Darius Engineer · « **Reply #6 on:** July 06, 2020, 11:42:18 AM »

Hi Robert,

Firstly my name. In India we get amily names either from the place you originate or from the proession. My ancestors were into shipbuilding and hence the name. Also I have a science background and have been an aeromodeller so I'm very comfortable with tools. The harmonicas I'm referring to are all Hohner 270s. In the past I've replaced a couple of reeds but after managing to spoil some. I don't have the "luxury" of having other spoilt harmonicas which are beyond repair to cannibalise at the moment. So the best option is the first option as suggested by you which is also suggested by John. I use a watchmaker's rack to remove the old reeds and I also have a plier which can remove rivets. ow I have to ind a way to get the reeds from Seydel. Cost is insignificant but the procedures of making payments or imports are crazy. For the moment I'll have to just wait for someone to travel from India to get it for me. But with the current environment I don't know when it will happen. Anyway thanks for all the suggestions to you, John and Streetlegal

Darius

Darius

The Lone Harper · « **Reply #7 on:** July 07, 2020, 04:37:33 AM »

Quote from: robertpcoble on July 05, 2020, 09:00:12 AM

ALTERNATIVE 1:

You have three choices for attaching using the M1.4 screws. (1) You can tap the reedplate itself for the screw, without using a nut;

I have many reed plates that I have converted to having all the reeds attached by this method (too much spare time on my hands!) and it works fine.

Piro39 · « **Reply #8 on:** September 07, 2020, 04:32:33 PM »

One thing that wasn't mentioned is that when you replace a reed, file or sand the area smooth where the new reed pad sits. Knocking rivets out sometimes creates a hump so the reed cannot sit totally flat.

Darius Engineer · « **Reply #9 on:** September 08, 2020, 01:09:57 PM »

I like the suggestion o Lone Harper and Piro. Thanks, but the problem of getting such fine screws remains. Not to mention getting spare reeds from Hohner.
Darius

streetlegal · « **Reply #10 on:** September 09, 2020, 06:36:36 AM »

With India being such a huge potential market, I'm surprised that Hohner hasn't opened some kind of a branch to meet the needs of Indian players.

Lockjaw Larry · « **Reply #11 on:** September 09, 2020, 07:00:52 AM »

Darius these are good recommendations from highly qualified individuals and I agree with them. As to your question about glueing reeds on May I suggest you give it a try and let us know how successful it is for you. I recall reading several months ago ( heck it could have been years ago... I’m too lazy to look it up in the archives) someone wrote about successfully glueing reeds. They didn’t use toothpicks but that may help align the reed. If that doesn’t work for you simply clean off the glue reside and you’ve lost nothing trying. Be careful to not get glue where it shouldn’t be. Also as Piro39 said, be sure to flatten and clean the surfaces.

Good luck
Lockjaw Larry

SlideMeister · « **Reply #12 on:** September 09, 2020, 01:43:25 PM »

With some of the crazy strong adhesives nowadays, I'm surprised they're not gluing them on already. Whatt? they can glue two bulldozers together, but not a stinkin' little brass of stainless reed??

Darius Engineer · « **Reply #13 on:** September 10, 2020, 01:31:48 PM »

India is definitely a large market and Hohner has just one official store in Mumbai. I understand Seydel has also appointed one official representative. But there's not a single teacher at present who is capable of popularising the harmonica like Hohner did through one person from 1936 to the late 90's. His name was Phiroze M. Damri who passed away in 2005 at the ripe old age of 93 . Though he was a trained violin player he popularised the harmonica using the tab system which was promoted by Hohner itself. This man must have trained at least a thousand students over 60 years under the banner of Hohner Harmonca Club. He held the last show in 1997 as the 60th year celebration and then it was curtains. I too learnt from him and that's why my preference for tabs. His son lives in USA and corresponds with me regularly but is not a harmonica player though he used to play the accordion.

Darius

SlideMeister · « **Reply #14 on:** September 10, 2020, 02:13:24 PM »

Impressive! Now we need someone to "pick up the mantle" and go with it.

Darius Engineer · « **Reply #15 on:** September 11, 2020, 01:16:32 PM »

There's a vacuum and it will continue till someone sponsors a musician to ill the void. I don't see any hope for the near future.

Darius

Darius Engineer · « **Reply #16 on:** September 17, 2020, 11:34:50 AM »

Can anyone suggest where I can get screws to replace reeds. In Mumbai, I've searched everywhere but such small screws just aren't available. I even tried watchmakers shops and spectacle frame shop but have drawn a blank. I have 3 Hohner 270s which need reed replacement. Any information will be grately appreciated.

Darius

The Lone Harper · « **Reply #17 on:** September 17, 2020, 02:17:59 PM »

Quote from: Darius Engineer on September 17, 2020, 11:34:50 AM

Can anyone suggest where I can get screws to replace reeds. In Mumbai, I've searched everywhere but such small screws just aren't available. I even tried watchmakers shops and spectacle frame shop but have drawn a blank. I have 3 Hohner 270s which need reed replacement. Any information will be grately appreciated.

Darius

http://harp.andrewzajac.ca/tools/ReedScrews

GregH · « **Reply #18 on:** September 17, 2020, 10:20:38 PM »

Quote from: Darius Engineer on July 05, 2020, 04:09:13 AM

I have 3 harmonicas with the 5 blow reeds needing replacement.They're all in C Key. I have just one reed which someone had sent me some time ago. I understand that Hohner has stopped selling individul reeds. My problem is there's no room for error and rivets of the required size aren't available in India. I'm thinking of using a toothpick instead of the rivet and then glueing it with cyano to keep it in place. Would appreciate advice on this method.

Darius

I've had pretty good luck carefully pushing out rivets and carefully reusing them with the new reed. In a couple of cases there wasn't enough rivet left to round over the small end. It fit snugly enough, so I glued the whole thing in place with cyano. It worked fine and I think a couple of them have been in for two years already.

If I didn't have rivets or screws, I'd go looking for some soft iron wire about the right diameter, and make new rivets.

Darius Engineer · « **Reply #19 on:** September 18, 2020, 11:50:04 AM »

Thanks Lone Harper for the supplier info. Greg, I would love to make a rivet from a soft aluminium wire but again I've searched the metal market but no luck. Couldn't get even a copper wire of that diameter. If I do get it I can easily make a rivet by grippping a small length in a pin-vice and tapping it to make the head first. Hence am looking for the screws.

Darius

ejacob4 · « **Reply #20 on:** September 19, 2020, 03:03:32 PM »

McMaster-Carr. They do have everything. Mail order. USA. See if there are any model railroad shops you can get or order from.

Best regards,
Ed

SlideMeister · « **Reply #21 on:** September 19, 2020, 08:02:32 PM »

Was tellin' mama today, I gotta get over and look again for some Chicago screws.

Darius Engineer · « **Reply #22 on:** September 20, 2020, 06:24:35 AM »

Thanks ejacob, I've written to them and will await their reply. Age, pardon my ignorance but what are Chicago screws? I've written to Suzuki but no reply from them for over a week.

Darius

robertpcoble · « **Reply #23 on:** September 20, 2020, 08:18:59 AM »

I also had not heard that term used before, so I Googled it. Here's the Wikipedia link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_bolt#:~:text=A%20sex%20bolt%2C%20(also%20known,boss%20that%20is%20internally%20threaded.

In case the link doesn't work, here's the description:

A sex bolt, (also known as a barrel nut,[1] barrel bolt, binding barrel[2], Chicago screw, post and screw or connector bolt),[3][4] is a type of fastener (nut) that has a barrel-shaped flange and protruding boss that is internally threaded.

Crazy Bob

Darius Engineer · « **Reply #24 on:** September 20, 2020, 10:55:14 AM »

Got it, thanks for the reference.

Darius

SlideMeister · « **Reply #25 on:** September 20, 2020, 02:24:07 PM »

Yep! I wish I could actually see some in person; that would make my selection easier than picking them out from a web page or whatever.

Author Topic: reed Replacement (Read 4010 times)

Piro39

ejacob4