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From: Steve & Anne Price
Date: Thu, 3 Oct 1996 13:42:18 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Re: Breaking in of reeds etc

On Wed, 2 Oct 1996, Douglas Tate wrote:

> Vern Writes:
> #####################
> I recently had the opportunity to ask about breaking in metal parts of a
> professor of materials engineering at Univ Cal Irvine. She said that she
> knew of no break-in effect where gentle cycling of a new metal part would
> improve its fatigue life. I have not been able to find any such effect in my
> own search of the literature. Must we not conclude that the break-in ritual
> affects the player and not the harp?
> ####################
> Oh dear Oh dear.
> I agree with Vern on this one!
> It is not true when one considers a fine acoustic guitar where there does
> seem to be a mechanism which affects the crystalisation of the glue and
> therefore the tone.

Also the aging of the woods, and the instrument learning upon whose lap
it is sitting.

> With the harmonica I think it is the settling of deposits of saliva around
> the reeds gradually making the instrument more responsive. If we play fully
> straight away I think that the expected volume and 'nuance' is not present
> and the reeds are strained by the player trying to achieve the sound.

I find there's nothing quite like playing a brand new harp, or reedplate
set. For me the only curve that might improve is my own adapting to the
particular offset of a new harp. I can usually get them close, but
invariably there are minor differences, and so the precise pressures I
have to use vary from harmonica to harmonica, albeit minutely. Once I
know the feel of a particular harp, it's goodness declines steadily and
gradually until one of the reeds (always the same ones) is done with our
little get togethers.

>
> The only reason I would agree slightly with Mike Curtis on this one. (
> Drive one handed and signal Left with your harp at 45 MPH until it is full
> of bug bodies. This will have the same effect.

Rick Epping agrees with Mike Curtis, but I can't see it. It seems to me
if you drive around with your arm extended and harp out you're giving
away to the general public some of the best moments of the reeds, and
not in any melodic fashion.

As for the spit factor Douglas speaks of above, I'd certainly be
interested if the reeds were in fact changing their characteristics with
a nice coating of Douglas's spit. It may be the time factor. Douglas
gets an average of 30 years of regular drooling per harp reed set. I get
metal fatigue well before that, and if I play regularly I don't get much
more than 30 days on a harmonica (though I admit that unlike Mr. Curtis I
do use more than one harmonica to cover more than one key). But there
may be something special about Douglas's drool.

s.p.