| MAIN PAGE | Back to Harmonica Techincal Tips page |
This image is an example of brand new out of the box Hohner MS diatonic reeds fine tuned at the factory. (the light diagonal marks)
The diagonal cuts create stress points where the reed will fatigue more quickly with use.
This can be likened to cutting glass, where a line is scored across glass then flexed causing the glass to snap along the line, although with brass its over a period of time with use.
If the reeds are new and haven't been played, you can using a sanding
stick, wet and dry, even a fine ratstail file, or some other abrasive to
polish out the gashes. Support the reed with something like a thin feeler
gauge. Work back and forth between the root of the reed to the
tip, never side to side.
This will detune the reed, so when the gashes have been removed, the reed
needs to be tuned back to its original setting. In some cases the gashes
are so deep that its impractical to polish them out and retune the reed back
to its original pitch.
This is why its important, when tuning, to score up and down the length of the reed, not across from side to side.