How would you retune an Asia Bend?

[Brendan]

Oops yes, spiked fiddle

[rsca415]

I just received my asiabend. I'm wanting to tune it down at least a fifth or even an octave down. I can't unscrew the screws of the reed plates with my jewelers screw driver (they're too tight) - anyone have any suggestions?

I'm assuming the reeds are brass, and therefore, the solder will adhere to them?

[Brendan]

Use a screwdriver with a bigger handle but the correct small tip.

The reeds are phosphor bronze. They will take solder well if you lightly scrape or polish off the outer surface. However taking them down a fifth or more could dull the tone. It would be better to alter them less by starting the tuning you want on a note higher up its scale.

[Lizzy]

The x-reeds simply need to be bent out a bit for tuning, so they have a normal gap and sound when blown. When you have them at the pitch you want return them to zero gap.

Only the blow x-reeds should be sharp, the draws tuned as you normally would.

Does the Unibender also require tuning of the x-reeds?

[Brendan]

The UniBender has no set tuning or key - it's up to the buyer what scale and bends they want. That can be done via theier Configurator for the Seydel version, or by retuning standard reedplates for other brands.

Assuming you have chosen a tuning you like, you won't need to retune reeds unless you want different bends.

When it's ready to launch I will do a detailed video on the possibilities.

[Lizzy]

Still waiting for the Unibender...close to release?
Im used to play halfvalved. Is the technique to do bends with xreeds similar to halfvalved?

[Brendan]

Yes, a typo - should be spiked fiddle or Kamanche. Iranian/Kurdish instrument:

https://youtu.be/_V5HWOgYDBE