Basic Reed Gapping & Fine Tuning for Harmonicas

Great advise, many thanks

One of the most clear explanations I found on the subject thank you so much!

I put a new key of G reed plate in a Lee Oskar and the lowest (1) blow won't sound clearly at all. The gap looks identical to all the others. tried increasing it but to no avail. What could I be doing wrong?

Thank you very much - the best video on this topic - without a doubt!

Awesome info !!!

hi i got a brand new harmonics and the 6,7,8 notes blow fine, but no sound on the draw, in this case just open lil bit the gap?

I only have one harmonica, so I'm afrad that I might have already messed it up. I will be more careful in the future, if I buy another one. Thanks for your tips.

I’m one of those players who didn’t have a clue but now I do thanks to you, hahaha that just came out I wasn’t trying to be humorous and thank you again.

Regapped one of my Lee Oskars…. It now sounds if I stand it on a table, in a breeze! It’s incredibly responsive - but I might have overcooked it a touch…..

Very good instructional video, I used to tune my reeds with a file, but now, I'm getting an engraving tool. Cheers..much appreciated.

Great , thanks I know everything thing now how to set up my harmonica. Thank you !

This is a great video. I play a pretty good harp but I feel stupid about this. Thanks

nicely done! That probe looks like a lock pick tensioning tool :)

This was great and inspiring to watch. Thank you. You are the first that I've seen to use a battery powered engraver instead of a file. You say in the video that the engraver gives you a lot more control and I was wondering how so?

Terrific Brendan, thank you !

Thank you.

Witchcraft! I've only been playing for fifty years. You're never to old to learn things. Ty. Great stuff. Used to set gaps when I was playing blues harps. Had to. Then they became a fine musical instrument at over 50 bucks a pop. So I became afraid. Going through my whole kit, ty

I don't think that's easy whatsoever...you're a handy man! congrats

So it seems like tuning a harmonica is kind of a one time thing. Obviously once you file it, you can't unfile it

How do you get the note to pop out faster?

Hey Brendan, Hope you don't mind me asking for your help. I'm struggling with trying hold my 3 draw half step bend . It keeps going on to a full step. It only happens on one harp, and I've been told that it's the reed that needs gaping. Would i need to increase or decrease the gap on this draw read ? I've always been afraid to touch the reeds, But after doing this one ,i then might try and "recondition" an old Hohner i have. Thanks any way for sharing your knowledge with us all. Lolwit

Thanks so much. Very easy to follow, I had a couple of harps lying round for years I could never get to sound right until now. I still sound terrible, but now Im in tune! Wahay!!!

Thanks for your very helpful video! Wishing you all the best!

Please help me how to tune a harmonica i just buy in for a really cheap price and it arrived put of tune and now It's been sitting in my closet for a month and I wanna play but I remember it's not tuned, Please someone help me

Thank you for this one.

Went to fast. Half the time the reed in question was hard to see. For someone doing this for 1st time u seemed in a hurry to get done.

And so I am listening and learning and listening and learning and then the guy plays and I am like...damn dude can hit a lick ! Will give this all a shot on a drawer full of out of tune harps. Thanks.

🇧🇷🇧🇷👍👍👍👏👏👏

Was about to buy a new pair of reeds but I'm definitely going to start here first. Thanks for the video, Brendan! Love your work.

Finally someone explaining relationship between draw and blow reeds. Was becoming nuts trying to fix my 3 draw on a G Manji. Only 3 draw giving me problems on a normal blues set G to F. O_O Thank you Brendan!

Very informative, easy to understand. Was able to make my 3 draw more responsive in about 15 minutes as I was being careful taking baby steps to achieve my goal. Used a sturdy wood tooth pick. Saved to my personal playlist, Thank you.

Is your tuner set to 440 ?

That is a fantastic explanation of how to gap and tune reeds . I sat watching in awe of your skills . You handle the harp like a surgeon. Thank you for showing we mere mortals how to go about this adjustment on our harmonicas . Best wishes Brian.

Thank you!

Estou procurando um bom afinador para harmónica cromática. Tenho um KORG TM-60, mas oscila um pouco ao soprar as notas. Qual afinador me recomendaria para afinar a gaita Suzuki scx 64? Muito Obrigado desde o Brasil.

vdo quality of this is vry poor.

Thanks for the Lesson and the tips on the tools, that made tuning my Harmonica so much easier.

As an alternative to grinding the base of a reed to lower the pitch, which weakens it and risks it eventually breaking, I apply a tiny drop of liquid paper from a liquid paper pen near the tip of the reed. It sticks very well but is easy to scrape off again while fine tuning. Also easy to remove completely if you are just experimenting with different tunings.

Great tutorial. Thanks you very much!!!

Thanks Brendan. Could you please tell me if and how I can redirect a reed that has come slightly out of line with the slot (it does'nt go down into the reed slot). I managed to repair this with a tiny ste of pliers, but it was a matter of microns to turn the reed just in line!

Thanks for your valuable training

What would you say is the optimal reed shape or curvature to get a nice response?

It would great if you set your video to be closed captioned.

Hi Mr Power!!! For someone who plays only traditional blues in 1st 2nd and 3rd, like Kim Wilson, would you recommend 19-Limit or Hohner Compromise?

When you grind the reed to sharpen a note, are you grinding away at the tip, or just behind it?

Thank you, very well presented. I will try to make an old Chrometta play again.

You just saved a Charlie Musselwhite from the bin. I thought it was toast, but a half-hour after watching this I have it just the way I thought it would be when I bought it. Thank you!

learned a LOT in a very short time, wish everyone did lessons this effectively, THANKS.

Thanks man it worked. I bought a new harmonica and one reed wasn't playing and I got scared. Thanks to you I don't have to buy a new one

Thank you so much. I was wondering : if you grind the reed too much, is there any way to catch that up or do you have to change the whole set of reeds ? Is it the same technique to change the 3rd hole in order to turn a standard Richter into a Paddy Richter ? Always best to inquire to its creator...