Hello, Dick Sjoberg (Sweden), the inventor of the Tuning Table sold his company, MASTER HARP to Jon Ingram in Berkeley California, USA. Jon built many Tuning Tables but decided the economics were not viable and closed his business last year. Sometimes I will see the MASTER HARP Tuning Table for sale on eBay. Good luck

@@HARPSMITH900 Thank you very much for the information, I'll be keeping an eye on Ebay, so far I haven't seen one, I don't know if they upload it under a different name or as Masterharp, I'll keep an eye on it. Thank you, friend. solutions from Argentina. I love your videos.

Good luck my friend!

Hello Vinnie, thanx for stopping by! There are eight more episodes for you to binge on.

Excellent Georgi! Now it's your turn to set up you next favorite harmonica.

Hey Adam, how are you? Thanx for listening.

Thanx for watching Geo. Did you get an opportunity to experiment on your harmonicas yet? If so, was it acoustic and/or amplified?

Thank you John, I am glad you found it to your liking and invite you to watch the other episodes of HARPSMITH Benchcraft.

Not to worry, the Hoosier cover plates were very malleable and was easily restored.

@@HARPSMITH900 ok, thanks s lot for your video, cheers from Russia 🤝

Fair question. The MBX Pearwood Comb is only sealed around the perimeter (sometimes inside the slots). Based on my twenty years of experience with Pakkawood I fully expect the DymaLux material to outperform any stock comb.

Contact me at <[email protected]> and I will answer all your questions

Hmmm 🤔 Maybe

HA! Faked us all out

Right. Think of the T3 screws with.57mm thread pitch (not.35mm) as self tapping screws. DRILLING THE #56 PILOT HOLES ARE CRITICAL OR ELSE YOU WILL SNAP THE SCREW INSIDE THE COMB

The pressure applied is only to secure the reed plate for drilling. It will not bend the plates.

Hello George, download the tool list from: harpsmith.com/benchcraft

@@HARPSMITH900 Thanks

Hello ikust007, good to hear from you. It appears your MB1896 hack is working well for you. Be mindful to keep Alcohol sanitizing products away from your Shellac combs--it will remove the coating. My experience was that (on non-sealed combs) I would only get a couple of service cycles before the holes of the Pearwood comb would enlarge and mitigate the tight factory nail seal. I'm guessing your Shellac actually shrinks the hole diameter, making resetting of the nails tight?

@@HARPSMITH900 you are totally right :)

@@HARPSMITH900 also, I do not customize harmonicas for anyone or repair them except for my own purposes. Therefore I can allow myself to use simple shellac and take “some” risks. If I was a professional, I would not use my methods .

Thanx for commenting Wesley!

Hi Cincinnati, I believe Richter's design was to enable players to perform German Folk Songs (oom-pah, oom-pah) on this layout. The lower end of the harmonica held down the chord and bass line, while the mid to upper part of the harmonica played a major scale and encouraged melodic playing. There are novel tunings available today that favor the 2nd position (Cross Harp) player; where all notes on the DRAW side are higher--enabling Draw Bending. Check out Power Bending and Wilde Tunings...

Thank you for watching 🤩

Hola Juan Carlos, gracias por ver este episodio. Permítanme considerar la posibilidad de transcribir a otros idiomas. Buena sugerencia.

Hello JM, here is the link to the Cover Plate episode: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/b6upY5edut3Rl4U.htmlsi=2LmL4yRilQjv3lcl

Thanx bluesvillestation. I'm on the bench 40 to 50 hours a week-- so the occasional opportunity to actually stage test my harmonicas is a beautiful thing.

@@HARPSMITH900 Well the harp sure sounded great, but it only gets half the credit you get the other half. 👍🏻

Thanx Vulcan. I've been tinkering and building stuff since the early 1960's, but harmonicas are by far away the most satisfying. To work on a precision instrument--then be able to make music with it is nothing short of AMAZING! Keep watching this space ... so much to show and so little time ...

Ha! Thanx for the tip

Thanx for the recommendation. I like "serpentine" ... might be the genesis to a new song idea😎

Hey Lefty, thank you for your kind words. As I mentioned in an earlier respond, I am in the workshop significantly more hours than in the studio and/or bandstand. I am therefore, consider myself the quintessential "everyday" player--personally testing and calibrating all HARPSMITH harmonicas before they leave my shop. p.s. I have been investing many hours on perfecting Brendan Power's "overbending" platform. You maybe interested in sampling my prototype. It is specifically designed for the second position bluz harmonica player interested in adding seven more musical notes to their repertoire. If so, contact me at [email protected]

Hey Deth-Harp, the fundamentals for gapping the diatonic harmonica are the same for Brass, Stainless Steel and Phosphor Bronze. The tolerances will be adjusted according to the unique breath pressure of the player. Good question😉

Hi Adam, did you catch my reference to the '65 Dozier "Batman Theme"😉 Thanx for watching. Stay tuned for new episodes!

@@HARPSMITH900 I did😄

When I bend, I am keenly aware of the position of my tongue and by extension, the jaw and lips. My students, learning to bend found using "phonics" useful for positioning the tongue into the proper location for bending. For example; on the C harmonica, when DRAW bending on hole #3, enunciate on the : "" for the half step bend (1 semitone) = Bb "for the whole step bend (2 semitones) = A " for the whole step & half step (2 1/2 semitones) = Ab To learn the skills of bending in the shortest time possible, I recommend you go to David Barrett's <> for instruction.

Oops, my phonics were edited out! TRY THIS: for Bb (1/2 step, 1 semitone) DRAW Bend for A (whole step) DRAW Bend for Ab (whole and 1/2 step) DRAW Bend

You are so welcome! Keep watching this space for more HARPSMITH Benchcraft episodes.

Ha! You are lucky to still have yours. Thanx for watching!

Hello Ward, at all harmonica factories, the machinist marks the stock with an indelible ink pen--identifying the beginning and end of the reed milling process. After they punch the reeds out from the stock (Brass, Phosphor Bronze, Stainless Steel), they would randomly select reeds, then measure the relative pitch against a tuner. The marking informs the machinist where, in the process, they would have to "tweak" the cutting tool. Damn good question!

@@HARPSMITH900 Very interesting to know and thanks for the detailed explanation 👍 and have a nice day.

I'm delighted you found the content useful. Don't hesitate to view the other HARPSMITH Benchcraft episodes.@@wardje53

@@HARPSMITH900 I will definitely do that 👍

Another question... I just bought a set of feeler gauges and measured a few harmonicas (Hohner Crossovers). It appears that all of them already have zero point gaps *below* 0.001 inches, i.e., a 0.001" leaf won't go to the rivet pad even with rocking (they jam up about 1/16" away from the pad). The Crossover is a higher-priced Hohner model... have these already been tweaked to insure a small ZPG? Thanks!

Hi David, Q1: Is the zero point gap ever too low initially? A1: Yes. In fact, for my Overbend customers, I will make it a -.001" Zero Point Q2: what if you over adjust and make it too low? Can you adjust the gap upward? A2: watch 30:59 "The Lumberjack". This technique works well for correcting the Zero Point gaps Q3: What is the benefit of changing the zero point gap? A3: The Harp Tech always endeavor to adjust the gapping to match the unique breath pressure of the player. This will be immediately obvious to improved bendability, volume and tone. Q4: what goes wrong if it's too low? A4: the harmonica will be "stiff and stuffy" to play Q5: Should you 'plink' the reed while adjusting the zero point gap? A5: Yes Q6: What is the pattern for end gap versus key, i.e., does it increase for lower keys and decrease for higher keys? A6: Yes. If you were to hold the reed plate on end, then sight down the row of reeds. You will find the gaps produce a pleasing and logical slope from #1 through #10

@@HARPSMITH900Awesome info, thanks so much for the response! If I may clarify..... can you explain if/how the end gapping changes for separate harmonicas in different keys? That is, if the end gap on Reed #2 is 0.007" *on a middle C harmonica* then will the end gap on Reed #2 *on a low G harmonica* be smaller, the same, or larger? How about Reed #2 on a high F harmonica? Thanks again.

By the way David, I meant to answer the above Q1 with a "negative -.001" gap All harmonica reeds are machined with weight and dimensions unique to that particular pitch, and depending on the location (breath pattern) of the reed, i.e. BLOW or DRAW, your gap setting will probably change. This is why I encourage Harp Techs to experiment with various gaps--then document the "best performing" settings onto the Reed Calibration Chart. You may discover, for example, the middle gapping on your C Harmonica/Reed #4 BLOW slightly different from the identical reed that shows up on your Bb Harmonica/Reed #4 DRAW, or your F Harmonica/Reed #2 DRAW.@@davidkulmaczewski4911

Good to hear from you. What is required for 99% of the HOHNER Diatonic Harmonicas is the Wiha #262/PZ 1x60

@@HARPSMITH900 thank you! Just ordered one.

I will keep a look out for your order. What was your selection?@@meots

@@HARPSMITH900 I’m sorry I didn’t realize you sold them and didn’t see them listed on your site so I ordered a #O and #1 Wiha on eBay for $8 a piece including shipping.

The confusion was on me. I thought you were ordering a HARPSMITH Harmonica. Next time😜@@meots