Opening and cleaning old harmonicas?

[Seonachan]

I've was recently reunited with a box of my old harmonicas - haven't played them in 15-20 years. I don't dare play them until I've opened them up and cleaned them out. But I can't get the damn things open - even my eyeglasses screwdriver isn't nimble enough to fit into the tiny screws (these are mostly Hohner Blues Harps). I know there's a harmonica repair kit you can buy but I'm hoping there's a cheaper solution at least for getting the little screws off so I can just give them a basic cleaning. Any advice appreciated!

[SteveShaw]

They are not screws. They are nails which look a bit like tiny screws. You have to loosen them slightly by levering up the ends of the covers just to raise the heads slightly, then pull them out. They are a thorough nuisance, and their successors are now all screwed (except for the basic Marine Bands which retain the nails). If you're careful the nails will go back in tight enough. The wood combs on the old blues harps are made of very absorbent wood - if you wet them they swell like mad. The newer, screwed blues harps are made of a far less absorbent wood, which I risk giving a quick rinse. Get the covers off and remove any excess gunk from the holes, etc., by scraping away with something not too sharp. If you feel brave you can prise up the edges of the reedplates slightly to lift the nails they're also attached with and pull out the nails. Removing the plates is the only way to achieve a thorough clean (you can then wash the reedplates properly or soak them in denture cleaner - an old toothbrush is good for cleaning reedplates if you use warm, soapy water, but never stroke the reeds from the free end upwards - fatal every time), but beware of difficulties reassembling with those stupid nails. They weren't really meant to be disassembled, I'm afraid. You might just decide to do as much degunking as you can with the plates in place. You can then dissolve away a bit more of it, and sterilise the harp, with a bit of isopropyl alcohol.

My advice is to buy only plastic-bodied harps in future. Everything is screwed together, thank goodness. Mine get a good rinse under the warm tap, followed by a good shake-out and a night out to dry, after every session. This does not harm them and they never accumulate gunk. I would never treat a valved harp this way, however. After every playing, I clean the mouthpiece and sliding mechanism of my chromatics by holding the harp mouthpiece-down in about half an inch of hot water on a dinner plate and working the slide back and forth rapidly. I shake the harp out thoroughly before putting it the other way up again as I don't want water getting on the valves and reeds. Leave out to dry overnight. I never get any sticking slide problems and the mouthpiece is always clean. And never play harmonicas after eating peanuts. In my humble opinion, it's OK to play after drinking beer. Essential in fact.

[Seonachan]

Many, many thanks for the detailed advice, Steve. I took one of them apart tonight - including the plates, and washed all the metal pieces. I even gave the wood comb a good scrub with a dry toothbrush. They were kept in their cases and in a box for all that time, so they aren't in too bad shape (I had visions of mold and tiny exoskeletons). But it feels a lot better to clean them out. One of them has a plastic comb (a Marine Band) so that should be easier.

And there's no danger of my eating peanuts before playing - my daughter's allergic, and I haven't eaten a peanut in years. Fortunately there are no beer allergies in the family!