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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
No kinship with SUB 30
No kinship with SUB 30
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ted burke
147 posts
Mar 24, 2015
12:27 PM
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I purchased a SUB 30 and have been asked whether I would recommend it. No. Mileage varies, of course, but I found playing it hard and the struggle to get those extra notes for the chromatic effect is neither efficient or pleasurable. It may be a good idea in theory, but I have the feeling that Suzuki produced an unfinished product. A product that costs this much should not have to be modified at additional cost after purchase to make them playable. Others dig it and that's cool, but I feel no kinship for the sound nor the results I get. ase of play wasn't a consideration in the development of the instrument, both from what I've read and now from first hand experience. On paper it should be a cinch, and I wish that it were truly as simple as they brochure promises, but alas, it plays stiffly and lacks a tonal expressiveness. Better and more obsessed musicians than I can get a decent sound from this, but I think the Sub 30 is an awful Suzuki product. Along with the Manji, it was an interesting waste of money.It maybe, of course, that I am just a bad student. As it goes , I am hard wired to the style it's taken my fifty years to achieve and I think I'm better off just trying to improve on what's already in place.
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Ted Burke
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Last Edited by ted burke on Mar 24, 2015 1:47 PM
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WinslowYerxa
825 posts
Mar 24, 2015
1:22 PM
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enabler-reed harps are a cool idea but the SUB 30 expression of that idea leaves a lot to be desired. The X-reed harps the Brendan and Zombor Kovacs and Richard Sleigh built after Brendan parted ways with Suzuki are much better instruments but very hard to build.
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nacoran
8362 posts
Mar 24, 2015
2:11 PM
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In my search for chromaticism I went the other direction. A couple years ago I got a Turboslide for Christmas. I've got to admit, I haven't really put in the time to master it. I pick it up, and instead of studying where the notes are I just play with the button like it's a whammy bar. It is a really fun whammy bar though! (I'm still waiting to see if they come out with a version that has a lever for the draw notes. You don't really need it for the get the notes you need, but it would mean I could use it as a whammy bar on the draws too. I always end up playing Tomorrow Never Knows by the Beatles with it for some reason. It could use some optimization. There is a known gapping issue on the one hole that I have been too scared to fix. Of course, I love magnets, so it's fun just in concept.
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Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009
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Gnarly
1286 posts
Mar 24, 2015
3:41 PM
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First, my condolences. I know you gave it a shot.
Second, there is a warranty, if you want to pursue that.
Third, I too have failed to gravitate toward the SUB and triple reed harps in general (disclaimer: I am the Suzuki repair guy and also do repairs for Brendan's customers here in the US).
I am using alternate tunings to get accidentals.
The TurboSlide sounds like fun, I got a chance to try the early model but I bet it's a lot better now.
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Mahcks
30 posts
Mar 25, 2015
5:35 AM
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@nacoran
Did you know you can get an extra semitone of the draw bend with the button? You can half valve the first six reeds for some really deep blow bends, too. Good luck with gapping, though. I can't quite figure it out.
As far as the x-reed goes, I like mine. The extra valves make a big difference. I like that I can gap the extra reed as if it was in a 20 reed instead of keeping it cooped up in the slot.
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HarpNinja
4062 posts
Mar 25, 2015
7:18 AM
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I got to play some of Brendan's originals and they were fantastic - a real game changer. I wanted to be an early adopter, but the Suzuki only version is a stinker.
The X Reed is waaaaay better, but they are hard to come by. My hope was the Sleigh version would take off, but that isn't in current production either.
IMHO, a halfvalved harp is the best option if you like the note layout, etc, of a SUB30. I've found that it is easiest and most cost effective for me to just overbend.
Actually, I could live with half valved harps, but prefer to play the 6ob to 7 valved bend, and you lose a blues wail not on the top end, which is an area I play all the time.
So for me, the best compromise right now would be a half valved harp with no valve on hole 6. I can play single reed bends well enough, but the valved would work better.
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Mike
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nacoran
8364 posts
Mar 25, 2015
11:16 AM
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Mahcks, yeah, but you don't get that instant whammy bar effect! Still, it's fun instrument. I suspect someone who played both diatonic and chromatic well could get it to do some pretty amazing things, and make some sounds that you just can make with any other instrument.
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Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009
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ted burke
149 posts
Mar 26, 2015
6:53 AM
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The upside of my otherwise disappointing experience with the SUB 30 is that there is a modification kit one can purchase from Blue Moon Harmonicas. Without going into details, it is an additional plate that can be simply attached to the top reed plate of the harmonica and which makes access to the extra notes much easier and smoother. The playing is smoother as well; Blue Moon's device makes the instrument considerably more playable.
But as playable as , say, the Seydel Power Draw harmonica, or the valved Suzuki Promaster, both first rate instruments for tone, ease of play and richness of expressive sound.
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Ted Burke
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