Custom Harmonicas

Custom Harmonicas by R. Sleigh

I am now building harmonicas exclusively with my new Lifetime Harmonica Combs. If you already have harmonicas that you bought from me with sealed pearwood combs I can build you harmonicas with matching sealed pearwood combs. For all other new orders my new prices and the use of black c0rian as the standard comb is effective immediately.

 

BTW, If you ever have problems with any combs that come with my harmonicas, contact me and I will repair or replace the comb.

Please email Richard for current estimate of order completion. Here are the basic type of Marine Band Custom Harmonicas available with current prices:

All R. Sleigh harmonicas have the following:

  • All screw construction
  • Covers re-shaped for strength and as needed for low end reed clearance for harmonicas in the lower ranges
  • Black super-smooth Lifetime combs
  • R. Sleigh’s unique reed / slot upgrading based on 30 + years of experience. I  am constantly upgrading my techniques and skill. I never stop learning, and I apply the latest breakthroughs on whatever I am building right now
  • Your choice of All-purpose or Overblow/overdraw set-up.
  • My custom Marine bands are built from the Marine Band 1896 harmonica

What is the difference between my All-Purpose and Overblow harmonicas?

All Purpose Setup

The all-purpose setup is my version of the ideal harmonica for most players. Here is what you get:

  • The tuning gives you smooth chords without giving up melody lines. There is one pair of reeds that make the biggest difference with tuning formulas for the richter tuned diatonic harmonica ( richter tuning means the usual way the 10 hole harmonica is tuned) The 5 and 9 draw reeds can be tuned to make the chord totally pure and smooth, but then the melody notes are very flat sounding. This is the way the oldest Marine Bands were tuned. Most people give up the pure chord for the melody notes, and my compromise tuning makes these notes slightly sharp. This makes the harp sound a lot more in tune for 3rd and 12 position playing (D minor and F major on a C harp) and will also work for blues because you can bend the 5 draw down if you want to get the exact shade of pitch you want. This is the basic gist of how I tune All purpose harmonicas.
  • The all purpose harmonica is set up to make the overblows in 4, 5, & 6 much easier, without sacrificing the ability to hit the blow notes harder for emphasis without making them stick. I make this happen because I get the ideal reed curvature, which allows me to raise the reed a bit more than if the curvature is not quite right.
  • The All purpose harmonica has the bends working “like butter” as so many of my customers have told me.
  • The all purpose harmonica has blow #1 and Draw #7 raised a bit more than the reeds next to them to allow a harder attack.  Most people, especially blues players, hit these notes hard in 2nd position as accent notes. This makes the overblow / overdraw harder to do, but my experience is that when people are ready to use these notes all the time they either learn to hit them harder to get the overblow / overdraw or they are fine tuning their reeds to dial them in to their playing style. OR they are buying overblow harmonicas.

The all-purpose set-up with black Lifetime comb is $197

The Overblow Setup

The biggest difference between the all purpose setup and the overblow setup is the top octave. It takes a lot of extra time and effort to get the overdraws playing easily without sticking. The overblow setup will have the reeds sitting closer in Blow #1 and Draw #7 in particular to make those overbends easier. The chords are a little bit rougher than the all purpose tuning in order to get melody notes in all keys sounding in tune. I don’t do straight equal temperament unless you ask for it. The chords just sound too rough to my ears.

The Overblow/overdraw set-up with black Lifetime comb is $267.

  • Free Instant access: Breathing technique downloads, Marine Band harmonica secrets…. Just enter your name and email below and I will send you the secret link.

    Name
    Email

  • Testimonials

    Hi Richard, I just read your article re: Just Intonation. It’s the first time I’ve read an understandable explanation. It was concise. I am slowly going through your book, “Turbocharge Your Harmonica”, which I purchased from you at SPAH’s ’09 convention, and it, too, is pretty easy to follow. I am just beginning to try my hand at rejuvenating my old collection of diatonics, so understanding what method I’m trying to tune for is important. Thanks for putting it out there. Regards, — Doug Parrish

    Dear Mr. Sleigh, It’s been a few months since I bought your book. Today I was able to alter the tuning on a couple of my harmonicas. Nothing fancy, just Paddy Richter tuning. I am just so pleased with the book, the instruction is so clear: the graphics are well drawn and the text is to the point and easy to read. Prior to attempting this, I had no experience working on harmonicas. So far, I have learned with your book how to set up my harmonicas to play well (reed offset, etc) and now how to alter the tuning to fit my own needs. That is just great!. I also have found your videos on youtube very easy to follow and very informative. I would like to thank you for the effort you have put into the book, I can tell you truly love what you do! ---- PS- In the past, I thought the price of the book was a little high but I no longer do, I believe it is worth it’s weight in gold! — Franklin A. Villanueva Ironwood, M