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All you want to know on How to Shop and How Safe It is.
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How to care for your instrument
Like most things, the life of an harmonica can be greatly extended if it is treated with care and is regularly serviced. The following tips are given to assist you.
The harmonica is a personal instrument. Avoid borrowing from, or lending it to someone else.
Endeavour to warm the instrument up before playing it. Ideally this should be as close as possible to body temperature. You will appreciate that warm and moist air, produced when you blow into the harmonica, will naturally condense when it comes into contact with the cold internal surfaces of an unwarmed instrument. The result of this is to put deposits on all those cold surfaces, including the reeds and, where fitted, their valves. Over a period of time this can adversely affect the performance of the harmonica by causing the reeds or valves to stick.
The consumption of food and sweet drinks immediately before playing should be avoided so that debris is not introduced which could interfere with or even jam the reeds. Smoking whilst playing can also leave deposits on those surfaces with a similar effect.
After playing the instrument, gently tap the harmonica mouthpiece against the palm of the hand to remove any excess moisture and then let the harmonica stand for a few minutes, before putting it away, to allow any humidity to be dissipated.
Avoid subjecting the instrument to excessive heat, particularly sunlight, as this can have a detrimental effect on the components of the harmonica. This is especially important with wooden bodied instruments.
Wooden bodied harmonicas
A common fault found on wooden bodied harmonicas is that of air leakage, particularly from an airway into the adjacent one. This is generally more of a problem when an instrument is used infrequently and is allowed to dry out. Shrinkage of the wood takes place during this process which in turn means that gaps are created between the wood and the metal parts secured to it.
Little can be done other than sealing the wood during construction. Avoid storing the instrument where it is going to be subjected to heat that will obviously accelerate the drying out process.
It is not advisable to place the harmonica in a glass of beer or even water! The effect of doing this will be to see the wood swell excessively, especially at the mouthpiece, and this will mean that it will be extremely uncomfortable on the lips. It is likely to cut them whilst playing. Additionally, corrosion will take place where the reeds are riveted to the reed plate.
If the wood is a little proud at the mouth piece it may be possible to lightly sand it down with fine sandpaper.
Take Care | Reeds | Repairs | Tuning | Cleaning |
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