jiceblues
328 posts
Nov 18, 2014
4:40 AM
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Do you think the 1847 is more airtight than the Session Steel ?
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zackattack
3 posts
Nov 18, 2014
9:46 AM
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I play mostly Seydel harps nowadays, although I still own quite a few Lee Oskars, Hohners and Huang harps. I prefer the Session Steel to the 1847 for airtightness. All of the Seydel harps are pretty airtight, but the Session Steel is particularly so. I have SS in F, D, Lo F, Lo D and Lo C and 2-hole draw responds well in all.I am extremely satisfied with my Seydel harps.
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jiceblues
329 posts
Nov 18, 2014
10:18 AM
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Thank's Zack .I have 2 Session Steel ; the C is good , but the A is not easy to play , even tweaked by a specialist .
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rainman
147 posts
Nov 18, 2014
12:38 PM
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I own several S.Steels and have an 1847 harp in A that I recently had worked on. The 1847 is a great sounding harp has good volume but requires more effort to play than my other harps. I know that the reeds are supposed to be the same as the S.S. but I find they take a more deliberate approach to play. if you have a light tough on the harp I wouldn't recommend.
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GMaj7
547 posts
Nov 18, 2014
3:15 PM
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I'm not sure the quality of airtightness applies here. The term gets touted and the repeated endlessly on forums. A perfectly airtight harmonica won't play at all.
As harmonicas go down in pitch- say from the key of (C) to the key of (A), either the reeds have to get longer OR they have to have weight added to the end.
Seydel uses consistent reed lengths across most of its keys so the lower pitch reeds are weighted. Stainless steel reeds are stiffer than brass.
A stiffer feeling on an (A) harp is not surprising, but you can improve it. Try gently lowering the gap on the draw reeds. Just nudge it in to the plate a few times and see if that helps. You can do the same on the blow reeds using a toothpick. Adjust and play.. adjust and play.. just like a marksman adjusts the sights on his rifle.
The advantage to stainless steel reeds is that you can move them quite a bit without weakening them significantly or changing their pitch.
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Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
1623customharmonicas.com
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arzajac
1509 posts
Nov 18, 2014
5:07 PM
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Airtight here means that the airflow you use to play notes is not wasted by leaking through spaces that should be closed or non-existant. One of the fundamental things about a well-playing harp is that it is airtight. Gapping has very very little to do with airtightness unless the gaps are way off.
An airtight harmonica will play beautifully because the breath force is efficiently used to make the reeds sound with no wasted effort.
With regards to your question, Session Steel are more consistent than 1847. In that respect, I guess you could say they are more airtight. but if you get an 1847 with a perfect comb and flat reed plates, it will be more airtight than the average session steel. But again, an upgraded, optimized/semi-custom or full custom Session should be as airtight as the same level 1847 and both should play like butter. However, I reckon you were asking about the design of stock Session versus 1847.
I hope that helps.
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Custom overblow harps. Harmonica service and repair.
Last Edited by arzajac on Nov 18, 2014 5:13 PM
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boris_plotnikov
1025 posts
Nov 18, 2014
9:22 PM
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Actually 1847 are more airtight in means of comb/reedplates/coverplates tolerances. And with proper arcing/gapping/embossing it's more airtight.
However (and I don't know why, possible another girl which set up gaps) Session Steels are often have better gapping out of the box so I tried bunch of them and often (but not always) I prefer stock S.Steels over stock 1847, while I always prefer custom 1847 over custom S. Steel in the same key.
Regarging key of A, early 1847 and s. steels had a bit too thick reeds and they were a bit stiff even after proper setting up, while recent they are usually better. I have two 1847 in A with the same reed setup - absolutely different harmonicas, different tone, different response.
If you wish Seydel steel reeds to be more responsive and closer to brass reeds in responce it's good to tune them down halfstep or even whole step by accurate even lenghtwise polishing the root half of reed. E.g. to get perfect A harmonica buy a Bb and polish its reeds to be tuned down a halfstep. Try it on your own risk (:
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Excuse my bad English.
My videos.
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jiceblues
330 posts
Nov 19, 2014
12:44 AM
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Thank you all for your responses !
I think i'll go back to my SP20's . lol .
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