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Tombo Pocket Chord harp: re-tuning

Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2018 8:41 pm
by IaNerd
NAME: Tombo Pocket Chord harp: re-tuning


BASIC CONCEPT:
The standard Tombo Pocket Chord harmonica has the following chords: F/Dm -- C/Am -- G7/E7 -- D7/B7. Research suggests that, among popular songs in the Western world, the following chords are used the most often: C, G, F, D, E, Am, Dm, Em. I retuned the Tombo to the latter set of chords.


WHEN/HOW: January of 2018.


LAYOUT/DETAILS:
The original F, Dm, C and Am chords did not need to be altered. The G7, E7 and D7 were changed to G, E and D, respectively, by silencing the reeds which made their 7th tones. I gently pushed those reeds up into their reed slots and spot-glued them into place. I used viscous "gel-type" cyanoacrylate for this. In restrospect, it might have been better to re-tune those 7th notes to become roots or octaves of roots. Someday I may try to free up those reeds using acetone, and then re-tuning them. The final chord--the B7--was re-tuned to become Em. This project was fairly simple and the resultant chord harp works very well.