Maintaining your Silver Star

Open Harp Surgery

There may come a time when your Silver Star, or standard 10 hole harp, needs maintaining. Here are a few simple tips.

Firstly try not to play right after you’ve eaten or had a drink. Food particles and sugars are easily passed into your harmonica when you play and may eventually block the reeds as they build up. Warm up the harp before you play. It’s made of metal, which will fatigue faster if you go blasting away when it’s still cold and the reeds are relatively more brittle.

It’s also a good idea to tap your harmonica out after you’ve played; point the holes downwards into the open palm of your free hand, place a finger along the spine and tap the harmonica into your hand a few times. This will free up and remove any moisture and foreign bodies.

The same method can be used if you find that one of your reeds won’t play. But if this doesn’t work, it may be time for some surgery; you ‘ll need to open up your harp. The upper and lower cover plates are almost always bolted on. Manufacturers currently use small bolts and screws, or else counter-sunk screws to secure the plates. Inside, the reed plates are secured to the central (plastic, metal or wooden) comb with smaller screws. In this picture the comb is wooden.

To remove the cover plates and reed plates, you’ll need a flat or cross-head, jeweller’s style, screwdriver. Once removed, the cover and reed plates can be cleaned with a light detergent and dried with a soft cloth. Use a very gentle touch on and around the reeds though. And make sure you rinse and dry everything thoroughly afterwards. Alternatively, soak the reed plates for a short while in warm water with a denture cleaning tablet, dry thoroughly and replace.

Once disassembled, try gently blowing any foreign objects away from the reed plates or carefully pick them out from the reeds with tweezers. Remember to replace everything the correct way round; longer (low) reeds to the left, blow reeds on top. Make a careful note of where everything came from originally – especially if this is your first time. It may help to use the upturned, sticky side of some clear tape to keep the smaller parts together.

Here’s a handy video to give you and idea of how it’s done..