Seydel 1847 Slipslider Project
Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2024 9:53 pm
While looking at ways to improve the Seydel 1847 comb I decided to tackle building a Slipslider style harmonica using the Seydel 1847 platform.
I watched Brendan's "Make your own Slipslider MkII" video and it gave me a lot of inspiration.
One additional challenge I wanted to put onto myself was to make it be completely reversible. Other than parts I can 3d print, I wanted all the hardware to be normally accessible, and to not modify in irreversible way the reedplates or the coverplates, so no drilling holes or cutting out chunks of the reedplates or coverplates.
I have now a pretty good working prototype. Funny enough, since I don't ever play a richter tuning, I only ever play a Powerbender or Power-derived tunings (Wilde, Paddy Richter Extended). I don't own any richter harps, so "slide left" isn't super useful to me. But I included it in my design anyway because other people obviously do play richter.
One thing I noticed is that "slide slightly left or slightly right" gives relaly strong single reed bends, since the draw reeds are completely blocked. That was a pretty cool discovery.
Below I have some images of the build process,
Here I did an intro video for the magnetic coverplate inserts with a super quick slipslider demo as well if you feel like listening to me drone on about it for a few minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI36r54UEbo
I will do a longer more detailed construction and demo video probably over the weekend.
Once you have the 3d printed parts, magnets, and various sized M1.6 screws in hand construction only requires a small screwdriver.
Top side of the comb; you see the primary slot to control the sliding distance of the drawplate, over the high reeds, and a secondary stabilizing slot over the low reeds. The slot over the high reeds is counter sunk; I felt like I needed at least one thing more definitive than magnets to keep the draw plate attached to the comb. Also note the magnet pockets in each corner of the comb. The bottom side of the comb. You can see the countersunk screw holes which hold the blow reed plate in place, as well as the opposing corner pockets for more magnets. There is 1mm of material between the opposing face magnet pockets, allowing the magnets to self adhere in the comb.
I watched Brendan's "Make your own Slipslider MkII" video and it gave me a lot of inspiration.
One additional challenge I wanted to put onto myself was to make it be completely reversible. Other than parts I can 3d print, I wanted all the hardware to be normally accessible, and to not modify in irreversible way the reedplates or the coverplates, so no drilling holes or cutting out chunks of the reedplates or coverplates.
I have now a pretty good working prototype. Funny enough, since I don't ever play a richter tuning, I only ever play a Powerbender or Power-derived tunings (Wilde, Paddy Richter Extended). I don't own any richter harps, so "slide left" isn't super useful to me. But I included it in my design anyway because other people obviously do play richter.
One thing I noticed is that "slide slightly left or slightly right" gives relaly strong single reed bends, since the draw reeds are completely blocked. That was a pretty cool discovery.
Below I have some images of the build process,
Here I did an intro video for the magnetic coverplate inserts with a super quick slipslider demo as well if you feel like listening to me drone on about it for a few minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI36r54UEbo
I will do a longer more detailed construction and demo video probably over the weekend.
Once you have the 3d printed parts, magnets, and various sized M1.6 screws in hand construction only requires a small screwdriver.
Top side of the comb; you see the primary slot to control the sliding distance of the drawplate, over the high reeds, and a secondary stabilizing slot over the low reeds. The slot over the high reeds is counter sunk; I felt like I needed at least one thing more definitive than magnets to keep the draw plate attached to the comb. Also note the magnet pockets in each corner of the comb. The bottom side of the comb. You can see the countersunk screw holes which hold the blow reed plate in place, as well as the opposing corner pockets for more magnets. There is 1mm of material between the opposing face magnet pockets, allowing the magnets to self adhere in the comb.