Bluefinger
12 posts
Jan 28, 2010
4:58 AM
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I always wa a big fan of the Seydel harps, especially the Solist Pro. They are extremely well set up and bending notes is a piece of cake. I should also mention that I am relatively new to harp (have been playing guitar, bass and singing for a long time tho) and I am beginning to use the harp in some of our songs.
So at our last rehearsal we decided to do Muddy's "I'm Ready" and we wanted to play it as close as possible to the original recording. It's in Eb and I did not have my Chromatic with me so the only way for me to do it was to fake it on a Db harp in 3rd position. This is one of the few keys that I don't have a Seydel for, only a little leaking bastard made of an old wood comb, MS plates and Big River covers. Bending is a pain in the neck and you can't do a tight cup because of the amount of air that is escaping through the slotted covers. To my surprise that thing sounded a lot better on the recording than the Seydels ... a lot more open and because bendings are so hard there are no accidental slight bends and therefore intonation was dead on. I'm a bit puzzled now ... do the cheap harps make me play better? Maybe I'm going to try Marine Bands for a change ... hmmm. Has anybody else ever had "bad" experiences with good harps or the other way around? Well, 99% of all the recordings i love were played on MBs and I really dig the classic chicago style so why the hell do I think I need Seydels ... a lot of thoughts are running through my head right now.
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congaron
475 posts
Jan 28, 2010
7:26 AM
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Last night I played a big river/bluesharp combo in first position at praise team practice. I got some very cool and familiar high raspy tone and lots of cool single note runs by playing more loudly than usual back from the mic a foot. I felt like a combination of Jimmy Reed and Bob Dylan..it was perfect for the song we were doing. Those weird harp combos can be great sounding. SO can cheap harps. I heard a one man act at a blues festival once, playing a set of $50 Johnson harps and sounding great.
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blogward
76 posts
Jan 28, 2010
7:36 AM
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IMHO Seydels are way overpriced.
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Bluefinger
15 posts
Jan 28, 2010
8:51 AM
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IMHO all harps are overpriced these days :o)
From a practical point of view the Seydels are much better harps in every way and I learned to bend accurately much quicker on them because on the others I never knew if I was donig something wrong or if the harp was acting up. So I was able to rule out the instrument if something didn't work.
But spending money is also part of the learning process and finding out what you really want so I don't regret anything.
Anyway .. I think I might give the Marine Band a try next time. I am starting to like those slotted covers ...
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nacoran
900 posts
Jan 28, 2010
10:48 AM
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I like some of my cheap harps. I think you can get a real good one sometimes.
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jbone
269 posts
Jan 29, 2010
5:38 AM
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every brand and model presents different pluses and minuses. accidental bends can be a factor in how you come off "out front" for sure, but i draw the line at going for cheep harps unless there is just no choice. i try and keep spares of my more frequently used harps and usually it will be 2 different brand/type harp. what this gives me is slightly different features on a given song depending on which one i play.
it's true, sometimes a more laid back approach is better, like backing off a vocal mic and really cutting loose instead of swallowing a harp and mic with a tight cup and a dirtied up amp.
material you are playing makes a difference too. sometimes a given song or style really wants something kind of sloppy and hokey. sometimes nothing but perfect or )at least acceptably accurate in my case) bends and runs is what the song calls for.
what you guys are calling a cheap harp doesn't really compute to me. a $5 cracker barrel chinese made harp is cheap. putting ms plates on a mb comb and then using some other covers takes parts of at least 2 or 3 harps so to me that may not be cheap unless you have some blown harps to work with. still, you have to have good plates that fit the comb and covers to match.
some harps kind of need to be played harder, like my LO's. others are much more sensitive, like the manjis.
i have yet to try seydekl, i just started trying out some suzukis. and a for instance of what i said above is this: i have a suzuki pure harp. beautiful rosewood, very smooth and warm tone. but it's not suitable for the really rollicking boogie shuffle stuff. it's much more suited to somewhat quieter and slower stuff like say st. james infirmary, with amplification. it's not a busking harp at all. but now the manji or bluesmaster, they are much more suited to louder playing and quick changes. and to un-amplified playing.
it is definitely harder these days to find a good harp for a low price. but that's life, everything goes up!
i still feel lucky i'm not a guitar or horn player let alone a drummer.
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rbeetsme
156 posts
Jan 29, 2010
5:52 AM
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I guess if you like the sound, that's the right harp for you, but I don't like surprises, like when the thing suddenly chokes up on the high notes or some holes refuse to play.
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Diggsblues
67 posts
Jan 29, 2010
8:13 AM
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From what I've heard Norton Buffalo played Huangs.
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congaron
479 posts
Jan 29, 2010
9:14 AM
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"i still feel lucky i'm not a guitar or horn player let alone a drummer."
Some of us simply limp along on old technology because of the cost of new stuff. There aren't even any good pawn shops around here. The prices are all nearly as high as new. Fortunately, the instruments you listed have long life-span potential. I'd hate to replace any of mine now at what they cost: one keyboard, two acoustics guitars, three electric, one electric bass, two mandolins, one trumpet, six congas, two sets of bongo, gig bags, stands, amps...it all adds up pretty quickly for a new musician! I have less invested in harmonicas than in the two sets of bongo and stands.
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