MEh- Im a Honer guy Ill stick to my go to harps- The Hohner Rocket- I have thought about trying the deluxe marine band but Im not very fond of wood combs.
Clearly a plain ol' Seydel Session w/colored covers.
FreeWilly - that's a good question. Companies that make signature models to sell to fans and maybe the odd collector, but in high numbers. Blues harmonica players complain endlessly about having enough funds to buy a $35 harp. I doubt the market - small as it is - would have too many players out there who would waste money to buy one named after Sonny or Big or Blind or Little.. etc..
---------- Greg Jones 16:23 Custom Harmonicas greg@1623customharmonicas.com 1623customharmonicas.com
i too love the delta frost!! great harp and i get great service.
hering had a signature rod piazza model.i think it was called the pure bronze.you can still find them sometimes,for about $70.i would pay that if i knew ahead of time i liked them :)
i believe hering also had a charlie musselwhite chromatic and a stan harper chromatic.
so,i guess if hering was still in the american market ,they would have blues signiture models.
i wouldn't be surprised if the new popper model was made by tombo or huang.
i also wouldn't be surprised if artists who had a signature model kept on using any harps they wanted as long as they didn't advertise the fact and the money kept rolling in. ----------
Last Edited by shakeylee on Jan 25, 2015 9:46 AM
I thought the Delta Frost a high quality, medium priced harmonic. I was very happy with my purchases. ---------- Ted Burke __________________ ted-burke.com tburke4@san.rr.com
The box says "Fender" on it. There was a thread on the Fender Blues Deville harps awhile back. IIRC, wasn't the general consensus that they most resemble a re-branded MS (Blue Midnight(?))
If Fender and JP be maintaining their Hohner affiliations, despite the resemblance to Sessions, this probably isn't a Seydel.
But, I've been wrong before. Arguably, one of the wrongest people on the planet.
I actually mis-spoke.. It isn't just a Session Steel with Powder Coated covers.. It is a Session Steel with antique covers...
It is very special as an instrument.. It is just nothing new...
Just a business deal between a small German manufacturer and a gorilla in the guitar, amp, and everything else music industry.. sweetened by a famous and talented rock harmonica player.. ---------- Greg Jones 16:23 Custom Harmonicas greg@1623customharmonicas.com 1623customharmonicas.com
And there's yet another new Fender model I've not seen until now....called the Midnight Special. This one looks Suzuki-ish. So is Fender basically just going about and soliciting all the major harp manufacturers for OEM deals?
"Interesting. I thought JP was Hohner sponsored(?)."
Yeah well...Hohner has really been rearranging or restructuring a lot of areas it would seem. I talked to John Nemeth a couple weeks ago. Hohner dropped him as an endorser. Now what company in their right mind is gonna let go of a currently touring, award winning artist like that? Just dumb.
If they're pulling stuff like that, I can maybe see why Popper dropped Hohner or vice-versa. ----------
This brings up a very good point about endorser programs. The harmonica is a low cost and low margin product. When companies make a business decision to drop an endorser it is most likely that the artist costs them more than he/she is worth.
Hohner has non-compensated satisfied customers that are all over forums that promote their product for no charge so why should they use company funds for what they get for free.
In the harmonica world, you have hundreds (Thousands) of consumers who complain about a $40 Marine Band. Every time you give an endorser harps and or $$, someone else has to pay more.
The Fender deal with John Popper is good for the industry. His name goes on a quality instrument, the price is high, and the whole project is paid for by an amp/guitar company. Pretty good business ..
---------- Greg Jones 16:23 Custom Harmonicas greg@1623customharmonicas.com 1623customharmonicas.com
Yep, the Fender Popper and Midnight Special are definitely Seydel rebranded harps. Well done to Seydel for scoring a deal with such a world-renowned music brand, should keep them busy!
The Midnight Special looks like Howard Levy's harps, wood comb with Special 20-style covers:
Fender also have a couple of lower cost harps, the Blues De-Luxe (ABS injection-moulded lipped comb) and Blues De-Ville (plastic sandwich comb). They look to me as if they're made by the Chinese harmonica manufacturer Easttop.
While we're talking re-branding, I'm surprised there are still folks who don't know that the Delta Frost is simply a Suzuki Harpmaster with a different name.
Last Edited by Brendan Power on Jan 30, 2015 4:11 PM
I think there is a Lee Oskar model with a fender badge on it.For some reason i thought one of those cheaper ones had phospher bronze reeds and may have Suzuki ties.They should just tell us who makes these things.That would help a potential buyer out.
$99 MAP, so it will cost less than that retail (for example, a Crossover is $110 list, but they sell for way less than that). It isn't just a Session Steel with antique covers, as it has a layer of baked enamel to make it glossy and play faster. It will come in 7 keys. John evidently plays very hard and breaks about 300 Hohner harps a year.
I am not going to lie. This video is very awkward, lol. I wonder what he'll play for the other keys now. ---------- Mike My Website My Harmonica Effects Blog
Last Edited by HarpNinja on Feb 02, 2015 10:37 AM
The Popper harp and Midnight Special both look interesting, depending on the retail price point (personally, I wouldn't spend an extra dollar over the price of a Session Steel to get baked enamel cover plates).
When we can expect to see the Popper harp and Midnight Special available from our favorite online harp vendors?
I can't get any info on availability, but Seydels typically run around 15% off MSRP or list price, so I am guessing they will run more than a Session but less than an 1847.
That video is a little hokey. He worked with JP over a year to develop a set of covers for a Session Steel? She knows what oxidized antiqued covers taste like? Oh well, it's a trade show. Since they managed to refrain from suggesting I buy a Blues Jr. I'll give JP a pass on the "tin reed" comment.
I did learn something in the video. It looks like JP is using Charlie McCoy's jaw swivel technique on the speed runs. That's good info. Probably been discussed before, but I must of missed it.
