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Setting reed gap

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mselic:
What is best practice when setting reed gap, in terms of the actual mechanics of the process? So far, I have only had to raise the gap slightly (on an instrument where the note would not speak otherwise) which I accomplished by simply prying the reed back gently from the near the tip. Is it as simple as this? I want to avoid potentially damaging, or even breaking a reed in the process. What about lowering gap? Is there a specific way to do this? I'm guessing you "push" the reed towards the slot. Does it make more sense to make the adjustment from a certain part of the reed?

Steve_freereeder:

--- Quote from: mselic on December 27, 2017, 12:27:41 PM ---What is best practice when setting reed gap, in terms of the actual mechanics of the process? So far, I have only had to raise the gap slightly (on an instrument where the note would not speak otherwise) which I accomplished by simply prying the reed back gently from the near the tip. Is it as simple as this? I want to avoid potentially damaging, or even breaking a reed in the process. What about lowering gap? Is there a specific way to do this? I'm guessing you "push" the reed towards the slot. Does it make more sense to make the adjustment from a certain part of the reed?

--- End quote ---

For lowering the gap on the push reeds on top of the reed plate, I use a wooden cocktail stick applied to the middle of the reed tongue to push the tongue gently down just into the slot, and then release it. For the larger reeds I use either a wooden skewer - the heavy-duty version of the cocktail stick - or else a soft steel dental descaling tool. The latter is soft enough to not scratch the reed tongue. (NB - search on-line for dental tools for sale).
The very small highest pitched reeds are very delicate of course, and it is very easy to bend them too far and permanently damage the reeds. Be very careful!

For the pull reeds on the underside, the descaling tool is useful as it has a hook-shaped end which I can insert through the reed chamber opening and push the reed tongue upwards into the slot.

The important point is to go very gently a little bit at a time and keep testing all the time to check whether the reed is responding at its optimum. It may not be possible to see visually whether you have made any difference, so checking on the tuning bellows is the only way. Reeds which have too narrow a gap may still speak readily, but the pitch will vary with bellows pressure and at higher pressures will probably choke off.

You need a lot of patience, practice and determination to get the gap set correctly: 'about right' is not really good enough. All reeds will have a sweet spot at which they respond the best and when you get this right, it is very rewarding and well worth spending the time on it.

Theo showed me how to do this gap setting process, so I'll say 'thanks' publicly again!  (:) :|glug

mselic:
Thank you, Steve! That's very much the input I was looking for :)

Rog:
A *rough* guide to the reed gap is that it is the same as the thickness of the reed tip - or that is a good place to start if the reed is badly distorted. Also, try and keep the reed tongue as parallel to the slot as possible (it should not have a noticeable curve or kink). If it gets out of alignment with the slot, use a feeler gauge blade to coax it back.

Theo:
That is a very rough guide, and if the reed plays it won’t help you much in improving reed response, and may result in making things worse.  The optimum gap is larger for large reeds and smaller for small reeds, but it also depends on the quality of reed and can be different depending on how gently or vgourously you play. 
Top quality reeds need smaller set than lower quality, and scale length can make a difference too, though there m not sure which way!
The only practical way is trial and error as described previously by Steve.

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