X-REED HARMONICAS

Many diatonic players these days have adopted the overblow/overdraw style as a way to augment note bending to achieve full chromatic scales on the traditional Richter-tuned 10-hole diatonic. However, the hole #1 overblow is very challenging to achieve as a stable, sustained note, even on a highly customised harmonica.

André came up the concept of creating a special accessory part that could be retro-fitted to diatonics to overcome this problem. He mentioned the idea to Brendan, but wasn't sure how to make it into a workable part.

After giving it some thought, Brendan came up with a simple solution: a U-shaped piece of foam that can be fitted under the coverplate, enclosing the hole 1 blow reed with an outlet to the rear. In regular use the harp plays as normal. However, when the player wants a stable, strong overblow on hole 1 to get the missing note between hole 1 draw and hole 2 blow, they only need to cover the rear outlet of the foam enclosure with a finger.

This stops the player's breath from escaping through the hole 1 blow slot, so that all the force is directed to hole 1 draw. Suddenly, hey presto: a strong stable overblow pops out on hole 1! It works as well on stock out-of-the-box models as customised harps.

Our Hole 1 OBB is a universal part that can be added to any brand diatonic harp or model. It's super easy to install, and can be fitted by anyone to their harp within a couple of minutes. Check out the Quick Demo Video to see how quick it is to fit and how great it sounds!

Although the effect of our Hole 1 OBB is amazing, because it's such a simple part the price is very affordable. Most players have a bunch of harps in different keys, which would all benefit from having it installed. That's why there's a good discount for buying a bunch of them!

Welcome to the webpage for the third new X-Reed product released in spring 2024: the Universal-OverblowBooster! As a product name we abbreviate it to Universal-OBB (or Uni-OBB for short). The Overblow-Booster concept is all about helping players achieve really strong, loud, clear overblows and overdraws by enabling them to isolate the overbent reed, to avoid air loss through the opposing reed. I’ve offered it in two forms over the past few years from my personal website: the OverblowBooster Mk1 and OverblowBooster Mk2.

Now X-Reed Harmonicas is launching the easiest-fitting, lowest cost, and most widely applicable OverblowBooster version of all: the Universal-OBB! It's "Universal" in two important ways!

1. FITS ALL BRANDS AND MODELS OF DIATONIC HARMONICA
Adopting the same easy-fit foam material as our previously released hole-1 overblow-booster, the OB1-CanOB, the Universal-OBB will conform to fit every diatonic harp on the market today. Simply remove the covers and follow the simple steps shown in our Fitting Video.

It’s easiest to fit on models with open-back covers: just fit, trim, and play. Harps with closed back covers will require extra modification to the covers to fit the Uni-OBB; the best method is to flatten the backs for the covers (there are plenty of YouTube videos showing how to do this). Some examples of harps with open-back covers are:

HOHNER Crossover, Thunderbird, Marine Band Deluxe; SEYDEL: All types of 1847 model, plus low harps; KONGSHENG: Solist, Mars; DABELL: Noble, Storey; EASTTOP: Blues Player, Blues Standard; SUZUKI: Manji


2. COVERS ALL THE NECESSARY REEDS
The Universal-OBB foam units come in three parts, to suit the essential overblow and overdraw reeds for a standard Richter-tuned harmonica: Hole 1, holes 4/5/6 (overblows), and holes 7/8/9/10 (overdraws).

The initial launch is for Richter harps, but we will also release a version for harps in the increasingly-popular Regular Breath tunings (where the draw reed is higher than the blow reed in all 10 holes). Examples of RB tunings are PowerBender, PowerDraw, Wilde Tuning, ED Tuning, PowerChromatic.

EASY, REVERSIBLE FITTING

Our Universal-OverblowBooster parts attach to the inside of your harp’s coverplates. This means there is no attachment or obstruction on the reedplates themselves - making fine tuning and other adjustments the same as on any standard harp. Thin tape strips are included in the package to locate the Uni-OBB foam units. You then peel off the adhesive liner and press down the coverplate to stick them securely in place. The reedplate screws can be left in place and don’t affect airtightness, as the foam moulds itself around them. Trim the backs of the foam parts with scissors or a sharp knife after assembly.

All this is shown in the detailed Fitting Video. Please watch it and follow carefully all the steps before fitting your parts. That way you will have no problem fitting your Universal-OBB and getting playing straight away.

If you later decide you want to remove the Uni-OBB, it’s easy: simply peel off the foam parts from the inside of the coverplates. If there’s any adhesive residue left behind, it can be removed with isopropol alcohol, or a regular household detergent and warm water. Or simply pop the coverplates in the dishwasher!

TONE, TUNING ADJUSTMENT

Because many of the reeds are now separated from each other by barriers (instead of being all in the same open resonance chamber), the tone of your harp will sound a bit less bright than before. It won’t be noticeable playing amplified, but you’ll probably hear a small difference playing acoustic. Another small effect is that, especially in the higher range, isolating the reeds causes them to play slightly flat. It’s only a few cents, but when you play octaves you’ll notice some beating. To overcome this you’ll need to marginally raise the pitch of the higher reeds with fine tuning. This is not difficult, and a good skill to learn in any case. Brendan made a video showing how it can be done fast and easily using a small battery engraver.

LEARNING TO PLAY

You can play the harp as normal without activating the Universal-OBB. But when you want that strong, clear overblow or overdraw, simply block the outlet hole of the relevant reed at the rear of the covers with your finger and use your overbend embouchure. In time you’ll find it becomes fast and easy to locate the correct place on the rear of the covers. You’ll be amazed at the improvement in tone and volume of your overblows and overdraws with the Uni-OBB, even with a standard out-of-the-box harmonica. Now you can really wail on them, and add bending /vibrato like never before!

Watch how Dmytro does it with his fingertips in this amazing video

Welcome to the webpage for the radical new X-Reed MORBENDZ Harmonica! It’s a collaborative effort by both X-Reed tech partners: invented/designed/developed by Brendan Power, then assembled/gapped/fine-tuned by André Coelho. The Initial Limited Release is of just 40 hand-made, signed and numbered MORBENDZ harps in Richter Tuning and related scales (those with a reversed breathing pattern in the top octave - eg. Paddy-Richter, Easy Third, Melody Maker etc), to gauge interest in this unique new type of diatonic harmonica. If the response is good, we will extend the concept to popular Regular Breath tunings like PowerBender, PowerDraw, Wilde Tuning etc.

CONCEPT and Effect with RICHTER TUNING

What makes the MORBENDZ radically new is that it gives you all the missing bends in Richter tuning - with just one push of a button! In 2017, Brendan invented a unique new way to arrange the existing reeds on a diatonic harp. Instead of the upper blow and lower draw reeds being aligned vertically in the same comb chamber, he created a comb with double the number of chambers, and then displaced the two reedplates by the distance of half a mouth hole. Looking from the front, the blow and draw reeds are now arranged in a zig-zag pattern, each in its own discrete comb chamber (see graphic below). However, each reed pair opens to a single front mouth hole, so they still work together – just as in a normal harp.

The 10 mouth holes are set in a horizontally moving MouthSlider (another invention of Brendan’s, originally used on his Switch-Harp). This is shaped at the rear so that each mouth hole selects two of the blow/draw comb chambers - and thus a blow/draw reed combination. When the MouthSlider is in the default position, the blow/draw reed pairs are exactly the same as on a standard harmonica - so you can play everything you normally do, in your familiar way.

As most diatonic players know, blues-harp pitch bending is possible when you get an interval of two semitones or more between the blow/draw reed pairs. On a Richter harp, this allows a player to get 8 bends: 5 draw bends and 3 blow bends. However, the remaining 12 reeds in the harmonica cannot be bent… which is a bit sad ☹

The MORBENDZ magic happens when you press the Soul Button! That’s the button on the right of the MouthSlider, shifting it horizontally along the comb by the distance of one comb chamber. Due to the ingenious design of the comb/mouthpiece combination, suddenly new blow/draw reed pairings are created - using the existing reeds! This means that many of the previously un-bendable notes can now be bent in a beautiful, easy, expressive way. To see what’s happening, look at the graphic below. (Draw bends are shown in yellow, blow bends are in blue):

The top image is of a Richter tuned MORBENDZ harp with the MouthSlider out. You can see that the note pairings are the same as any standard Richter harp, and the 8 bends (5 draw and 3 blow) are the same also. The bottom image shows the new note pairs created by moving the MouthSlider. Now you get 6 NEW bends: 4 blow bends in the lower two octaves, and two draw bends in the top octave. This gives the harp beautiful new expressive power - as well as 6 more of the missing chromatic notes, available through easy bending technique. And all this with just one press of the 'Soul Button'!

OTHER TUNINGS

The diagram shows what happens on the MORBENDZ in standard Richter tuning. If you order your harp in another tuning related to Richter tuning (that is, with reversed breathing pattern in the top octave), the existing and new bends will be different. Some examples of related tunings you can order are: Paddy-Richter, Easy Third, Country Tuning, Melody Maker, Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor, Dorian Tuning, Parrott Tuning.

The reason the first Limited Release Edition of the MORBENDZ is in Richter and related tunings only is that it has a special construction, with 21 reeds (instead of the usual 20). This is necessitated by the reversed breathing pattern of these tunings. In future we will release a simpler 20-reed version of the MORBENDZ that suits the Regular Breath tunings now gaining in popularity - such as PowerBender, PowerDraw, Wilde Tuning, Easy Diatonic etc

LEARNING TO PLAY

The great thing about the MORBENDZ is that, with the MouthSlide out, it’s configured exactly like the regular harp you’re used to. So simply start with playing some of your familiar licks… After a while, when desired press the Soul Button to put bending and vibrato somewhere in the lick (maybe the last note?) you weren’t able to bend before - such as 6 blow, 7 blow, 8 draw. Even that limited use will give you a “WOW” factor! After some time, you can explore more to create new chromatic licks, transfer familiar licks to new places on the harp, and much more.

To help with new musical ideas you can try, André and Brendan will be creating a bunch of short instructional videos for the MORBENDZ - coming soon!