Brendan Power & Alternative Harmonicas Forum

The harmonica tuning is what determines the comb shape in my approach. PowerBender reedplates will not work on a Richter SlipSlider. They will physically fit, but you wouldn't get the desired new bends. For Circular Tuning the comb shape would be different again. Other approaches to the sliding reed...

Thanks for the interesting comments/suggestions Crawford and Lizzy. There are various ways you can design a sliding reedplate harmonica, and they have unique tuning outcomes. Zombor's original prototype had a 7.5mm travel on the drawplate and a simple upper comb. That gives its own new bends. Anothe...

Yesterday I got the Seydel and Easttop versions of the SlipSlider working. Seydel is the quirkiest because it has wider hole spacing than other harps, and less space at each end of the comb to place the magnets. To fit them you have to do some extra work on the reedplates and covers, making the atta...

Another discovery with the SlipSlider... When the drawplate is shifted to the left, you get a 4-hole tongue block octave all the way up the harp, on blow and draw! Plus, the draw note is always higher than the blow in the octave block. This makes octaves super easy to do throughout the range. Just m...

Here's an in-depth SlipSlider demo video, answering FAQs and demonstrating amplified playing with a handheld mic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJlYQpwWFJg

That 10-hole overdraw features, thanks Roverharp!

On the seal, it's counterintuitive. When you look from behind at the SlipSlider you can see air gaps and you think "This harp will be very leaky!" But in practice it's not. Two main reasons: 1. Moisture from your breath quickly builds up and moves via capillary action to fill gaps between the parts....

Thanks for your astute observations Roverharp. Yes, the top draw reeds move a hole to the left when in the draw-bend shift position, but actually I find that great! The reason is that your A and D reeds are adjacent on hole 6 and 7 respectively. This allows for some very cool licks, which I'll demon...

Here's a how-to video for people who want to make up their own SlipSlider harp from the finished parts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LkFRwmfHHs

I will get back to looking at Suzuki, Seydel and Easttop versions soon

Seydel is more tricky to design a SlipSlider for due to the limited comb area on the ends, but I'll have a go. Paris: You're right, the SlipSlider does make Richter more attractive by overcoming it's main disadvantage: lack of bends. However the movement of the drawplate is necessarily in two direct...

Yes, pretty much.