Overblow - Harmonica - Harp Modifications

A very effective modification is the narrowing of the slot (embossing). The reed slot is narrowed by pressing a round metal object along the sides of the slot, causing them to bend inward slightly.

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A popular tool to use for this is the back of a tuning fork. The round ball at the end of the fork is placed on top of the reed and is moved along the reed while gently pressing down. This is delicate work and a few passes are usually required.

Hold the plates up against the light to check the clearance between reed and slot.

If the reed gets stuck, check for rough edges either on the reed or the slot edges.
If the slot becomes too narrow it can easily be pushed back with the tip of a small screwdriver.

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Narrowing the slot increases the overall responsiveness of the reed and reduces leakage when the reed is choked. The reduced leakage has a very big impact on overblow playing.

before embossing (click to enlarge)
after embossing (click to enlarge)

04-08-2010 23:25

Tinus

site

No there is no avoiding it but since I always do this before I tune the harmonicas I don't think it is a problem. The effect of this is not so big that it exceeds the normal tuning tolerance that a factory tuned harmonica has.

04-08-2010 22:23

Hey Tinus,

When embossing, how do you avoid scraping the reed itself when you are running the rounded tool back and forth along the slot. It seems impossible to emboss more than 20% of a slot without scraping the middle of a reed in doing it... I see in the picture above, it seems your reeds have a scrape down the middle as well. Is there a way to avoid this/is it necessary to?

Thanks,
Sam

23-07-2010 12:29

Embossing,Tip Scooping,Corner Rounding, Waxing, Arcing and Gapping

23-07-2010 10:53

David

I was reading the comments and the last one said the order of which the customizing process should be done. But I also saw a process named Tip Scooping. Where would this process fit in the order?

01-05-2010 17:54

Embossing, Corner Rounding, Waxing, Arcing and Gapping

01-05-2010 04:49

Luzo

Thank you for the site - very good and precise information!!!

What is the right order to implement these steps?
Corner Rounding, Embossing, Waxing, Arcing and Gapping - What order do you usually do?

12-10-2009 13:57

Embossing improves the responsiveness of the reeds. That is useful for all notes.

12-10-2009 13:46

Jeff

Does embossing only help when using the overblow technique or will it improve the "regular" notes as well?

30-09-2009 22:52

I emboss all the reeds

30-09-2009 22:37

Justin McMillan

Hey, this may be a stupid question, but are you embossing the draw reeds or the blow reeds?

17-09-2009 11:09

Henry

Hi Tinus, congratulations great site...I have a harp with some notes out of tune. How can I sharpen or flaten a reed on my harp t tune it ? Thanks.

01-09-2009 21:23

will embossing make the higher notes on my harp easier to play?

05-07-2009 00:48

You either embossed too much so that the reeds are now stuck or the embossing caused the reeds to bend down into the reedplate and you failed to gap and arc them after embossing.

04-07-2009 22:37

Edward

I tried to emboss my Hohnerbleusharp t find out i couldnt breath air trough the plates, did I do something wrong?

21-06-2009 18:54

Scrape a fine screwdriver allong the reedplate slot to widen the slot again. Check against the light to see where the problem is.

21-06-2009 18:49

Markus

I embossed the 3 draw slot and now it keeps ringing and sounding completely shitty. i tried readjusting the reed so its completely in the middle of the slot but still its kaputt. i need this harmonica to play properly for my concert.

07-08-2007 13:03

itoharp

es estupendo enhorabuena y gracias por tu pagina

29-08-2005 01:56

richard l. vale

Tinus: Your instructions are excellent. A great website!

28-08-2005 15:32

Ludo

Thanks.
I forgot to add my address in the threadfollower; it's sorted now :-)

28-08-2005 14:52

If you look closely you can see that the embossed slot is a little wider near the rivet end. There is also a glob of wax on the rivet end that obscures the view a bit. When emossing I don't pay too much attention to deforming the reed, if I bend the reed into the slot when I emboss I don't care because that is needed for my way of arcing the reed anyway and that is probably why I can get closer to the rivet end.

28-08-2005 12:21

Seeing these pictures, I realize I can emboss much more drastically than I did so far. Also, I wonder how do you get so close to the rivet end?

26-08-2005 16:58

The pictures have been made. I just have to scan them and upload them. The next few days you will probably see a flod of new images on this site

03-03-2005 01:43

Good suggestion David, I am working on it. I do understand that a picture says more than a thousand words, the only difficulty is taking the right picture :-)

02-03-2005 10:45

David Bullet

I need information about modifications in harmonica whit pictures please.ok....best of luck the graet site David Bullet from Brazil/Rio de Janeiro