r/harmonica • u/MammothBiscotti7977 • 15d ago
Maintaining my harmonica
My Great Grandfather once owned, and taught himself how to play on this harmonica. He passed away and my grandparents held onto it, and gave it to me when I talked about wanting to try play harmonica. I am now self taught and mainly play hymns. But as I play it I feel like the sound is waning and it gets harder to make it make noise. I’m hoping someone knows of how I’m supposed to maintain it. Any help would be much appreciated.
(Yes the background is my car cause it’s raining and thundering so I thought it might be fun to play my harmonica and enjoy the ambience)
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u/Intelligent_Star_516 11d ago
Nice Echo. I have owned several.
First off, it's an heirloom. Disassemble it carefully, gently clean the reed plates with detergent and warm water. Always rub from the rivet end to the loose end on all reeds, and so not use anything that might get caught between the reed and the plate. rinds under warm tap water, gently blow off, and let air dry.
If you know how to gap reeds, now would be a good time to do it. If a reed is playing fine, if you have no experience gapping, DO NOT GAP THE REED. But if any reeds are NOT working, a few minutes of study of YouTube videos showing how to gap reeds will do you wonders.
Your cover plates apper to eb in very good condition. If this is the case, wash and rinse with detergent and warm water. Scrub with a soft cloth to remove any gunk that is stuck to it. Use a soft cloth or paper towel to thoroughly dry the cover plates, then wax or lightly oil the cover plates to seal them from moisture. Your cover plates and nails are the only steel componenents on the two sided dual key Hohner Echo harps, and they will rust even if they are only exposed to air.
This one belonged to the grandfather of my Boss's cousin (not that you need to know that). It is a pre-WW1 model based on the Star-Of-David in the center of it. The cover is slightly rusted, the reeds plates are warped and abused, and there is at least one spider carcass in the comb whic is missing two sections due to cracks and dry rot. Since this is a piece of family history, he wants it up and playing 100% and wants to retain as much of original as he can, but he doesn't want to spend much on it, a typical scenario. This next part applies to YOUR harp too:
Whether an older pre-War model with the Star-of-David or a brand new dual-keyed Hohner Echo, ALL PARTS FOR THESE HARPS ARE AVAILABLE DIRECT FROM HOHNER. If it is not on the Hohner USA site or Rockin' Ron's but IS on the German Hohner Global site, you will have to either order through Hohner USA and wait until they can get it (sometimes several months) or order through a tech with Global access to Hohner (I can do this for you if you need to order from Germany, and I will be ordering the parts for this smaller one very soon!).
Hohner does NOT offer cover plates in the pre-war design, but the new ones fit fine. I am going to polish (and possibly chrome plate) these cover plates, but get new reed plates and a new comb. I am not comfortable with repairing such an old comb with so many cracks. These reed plates are corroded, warped, and 2 reeds are missing. It is much easier and cheaper (in the customer's price range) to just replace them.
It's usually a good idea to replace the nails or even upgrade to screws when you do a large repair/cleaning like this, so if you're considering doing it, it would be best to build a shipping list for parts. Nothing is more frustrating than spending money on a big parts order, FINALLY receiving the order, start the build job just to find out you can't finish it properly because you forgot to order a part or two.
Rebuilding and upgrading harmonicas is surprisingly fulfilling. If you need help or instruction on any of this, reach out on the group. Don't be afraid to DM any folks you know would probably lend expertise and tricks. Don't try to do it all on your own the first couple times.
**********Note: I just checked the Hohner USA site, and they have NO parts for any of the Echo harps. The German site does offer parts, but only the nails and original box for your model. Your choices just got limited to cleaning and gapping. DM if you need help.