TransWikia.com

Chromatic harmonica slider becomes less smooth after playing for about 30min

Music: Practice & Theory Asked by PJ.Hades on October 25, 2021

I have a Suzuki Chromatix SCX64 16-hole chromatic harmonica. Recently I find that the slider becomes less smooth (or even gets stuck somehow) after I play for about 30 minutes. I tried disassembling the mouthpiece and the slider, cleaning them and putting them back. After that the slider usually became better for a while but then got stuck again. I use no slide oil.

I suspect that the problem might be caused by the tiny wrapper around the mouthpiece screw or the spring but I have no clue as I can’t see what’s actually happening under the piece of metal.

Did anyone have similar issues with the slider and possibly any solution for this?

2 Answers

So my solution was vaseline. In SCX 64 (should be true for SCX 48 and 56) the spring goes through a hole on the slider and is held in a concave space located on the mouthpiece. I applied a tiny amount of vaseline on the slider and mouthpiece in those areas. I also applied it on the slider near the button. Now it has been one or two weeks and the slider NEVER got stuck again.

I tried to keep the amount of vaseline as little as possible to avoid any bad thing it might bring. (e.g. melting or making the components greasy)

A bad news is I accidentally folded the draw valve on hole 16. Now it needs a bit more air to draw that B note. So be very careful when you handle things on the reed plate.

Good luck. :)

Answered by PJ.Hades on October 25, 2021

I've had issues like these too, the problem is u really need to use slide oil. That's the only way to solve this problem. Most harmonica comes with slide oil inside it, after using it for some time (depends on the quality of slide oil), the slide oil will run out and you'll have to apply slide oil again. That's what slide oil is for.

Answered by Zack on October 25, 2021

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question

Get help from others!

© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP