Brendan Power

Windsaver valves are used in various kinds of accordions and harmonicas, to eliminate air loss through opposing reed slots. All chromatic harmonicas are fully-valved (one valve per reed) and many diatonic players like to use half-valving in their harps (where only the low-pitched reeds in each chamber are valve-affected, enabling diatonic-style note bending to be retained). This is an idea I pioneered in 1980, which is becoming increasingly popular.

A big factor stopping more players trying valves in their harmonicas is the fiddly process of fitting them: one-by-one, with glue. It's skilled work, and easy to get wrong. After nearly four decades of laboriously fitting individual valves to my own harps I finally came up with a better idea: the Gasket-Valve!

This is a one-piece unit with ALL the internal valves attached. Made of a thin resilient material, the Gasket-Valve fits between the comb and draw reedplate without any adhesive. Its precision design aligns all the valves perfectly to the reed slots, with the minimum valve footprint sitting on the reedplate. Combined with a slightly dimpled texture to reduce capillary attraction, this eliminates sticking, and reduces valve 'slap' noise to virtual inaudibility. Plus, because all the valves are part of the same piece of material, they lie flat by default.

Aside from the superior valve fit and action, there is another big plus of the Gasket-Valve: it functions as a sealing gasket too! It's well known that the fit of hard metal reedplates and harmonica combs is never perfect, and many players go to great lengths to sand them flat. As you tighten up the reedplate screws the Gasket-Valve slightly compresses between the hard comb/reedplate surfaces and fills any gaps, sealing the parts together for superior airtightness.

We also offer an optional standard gasket for the upper blow reedplate, which cannot be sanded. This will ensure a perfect seal on the blow reedplate as well, adding to the improved seal gained from the Gasket-Valve part on the lower draw reedplate. Though sanding of the comb and lower reedplate is still advised, using the Gasket-Valve and upper gasket part together will significantly improve airtightness on a stock harp.

FITTING

Once you've disassembled your harmonica, fitting the Gasket-Valve is simplicity itself. I show how in the tech video, for three main types of diatonic harmonica: lipped-comb Richter harps, traditional sandwich-comb Richter harps , and harps in Regular-breath tunings like PowerBender, PowerDraw etc.

ORDERING OPTIONS

I've designed the Gasket-Valve System for a wide range of popular harps. All you need to do is choose the brand/model you play, plus the tuning and extra gasket options, and you'll be posted Gasket-Valve parts that fit your harp perfectly. International Shipping cost is INCLUDED in the price.

We also offer an optional standard gasket for the upper blow reedplate, which cannot be sanded. This will ensure a perfect seal on the blow reedplate as well, adding to the improved seal gained from the Gasket-Valve part on the lower draw reedplate. Though sanding of the comb and lower reedplate is still advised, using the Gasket-Valve and upper gasket part together will significantly improve airtightness on a stock harp. If you don't want valves but DO want gaskets on the upper and lower reedplates, you can order them alone. This option could suit players who like the traditional breathy un-valved sound of the harp, as well as overblow players (half-valving will give valved bending/expression but eliminate the ability to do overblows/overdraws). Installing gaskets will enhance the airtightness of a standard un-valved harp.

Standard chromatic harmonicas come with individual glued-on valves. Even though I've designed Gasket-Valves for a couple of popular models of this type, we don't sell them because they would not be a practical choice for most players. All the existing valves would have to be removed and the glue residue thoroughly polished off to leave completely clean reedplates, which is a tricky task that could lead to damaging reeds. However there is a small number of chromatic harmonica models which are sold without any valves…

These tend to be the cheapest ones available, meaning that big numbers are sold each year! They’re often the first chromatic a player will own, and play quite well – especially the latest models. Now for the first time I'm giving owners of these low-cost valveless chroms the opportunity to hugely improve the performance of their instruments by adding my Gasket-Valves. Only 4 multi-valve parts, simple and fast to install without any glue: anyone can do it!

The un-valved chromatics I've designed my Gasket-Valves system for so far are the Easttop Forerunner (12 hole Solo Tuned long-stroke slide), plus the short-stroke 10-hole chromatics Easttop T1040 and Kmise 1040 (these two are actually identical, made by Easttop). All these models are very well made and amazing value for money, but being valveless are more ‘airy’ than standard fully valved chromatics. With the addition of my Gasket-Valves you'll be amazed at how the response and volume of your cheap valveless chromatic is transformed, making it play as well as a fully valved chromatic worth hundreds of dollars more. Hearing is believing - why not try for yourself?

FITTING

Once you've disassembled your harmonica, fitting the Gasket-Valve is simplicity itself! I show how in detailed Instructional videos. Here's one for the Easttop and Kmise 10-Hole chromatics and another tech video for the Easttop Forerunner 1248NV.

ORDERING OPTIONS

The standard chromatic kit comes with four multi-valve strips, two each for the inner (blow) and outer (draw) reeds. Most chromatic players would want both outer and inner valves, but if you would like just the inner valves (so you can still bend the draw notes as on a diatonic harp), select that option.