The G-48 is only available in the Key of C. Is there a Suzuki harp tech out there who can tell me if the SCX reed plates would fit the G-48. If I can set the G-48 up with a set of either G or D SCX 48 plates I'd probably consider hanging on to the G-48. Any help much appreciated. Cheers John
I asked the same question re putting D reedplates from an SCX on a G-48 frame to the Suzuki guys from Japan at a SPAH convention.
They mulled it over and the answer came back "No" because of the long reeds. D chromatics from Suzuki (and Hohner) are Low D; they don't make a D chromatic pitched above a regular C. The longer reeds would't fit the comb chambers on the G-48 comb. Instead, they fitted weights inside the comb of an SCX in D. (Gary knows this harp; he's worked on it).
Whether G reeds would fit is another question; perhaps Gary can discover the answer. =========== Winslow
I just pulled the plates off a G-48, also disassembled an SCX-48 in D. The D plates fit on the G-48, I am sure all the other key plates will work as well. The reeds on the G-48 are the same length as the SCX in D. It's not every day that I get to contradict Winslow AND the Japanese manufacturer, and I am not super happy about being in that position, so let me just give my perspective: It sounds fine to me! OK, I will do a video . . .
Last Edited by Gnarly on May 04, 2017 3:28 PM
Interesting that Gary has put this to the test. Now I'm left wondering why the guys from Japan were hesitant about putting Low D reedplates in a G-48. Could be they felt the combination of those reeds with the chamber sizes was sub-optimal even if they fit physically, or maybe they didn't want to muddy the differentiation between product lines.
I'm always happy to be contradicted in the interest of opening out more possibilities or clarifying our understanding of things. =========== Winslow
@Winslow Nobody knows everything, but you know a lot, and obviously the manufacturer knows more than either of us. The proof of the pudding (or in this case, chrom) is in the tasting, of course, and I found the instrument to be fine. It would be great if my playing in this clip reflected that, but hey, whaddya want for nothing . . .
Hi Gnarly and Winslow My G plates arrived an hour ago and I can confirm they drop straight into the G-48 without any problems and plays well. I'm really happy to be able to hang on to this harmonica and get more use out of it now. Thanks so much, Cheers John
More proof! A lot of the Suzuki models have parts that are interchangeable. Not everything, of course-- One of their models is the Compact Chord SSCH56. I have gotten pretty good on it. It's built on a 14 hole chromatic comb and mouthpiece--but the comb is proprietary, no other comb will accommodate the reed pattern.
