Frankie
121 posts
Mar 28, 2018
1:19 AM
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OK
Now that I go deep into harmonica world and buy different brands I come across this question
For expensive harmonicas what brand has better customer service and more reeds and parts available online with reasonable price .
It makes my blood boil when I see some reedplates so expensive that it would be stupidity to buy parts because with a little more money you could buy the whole thing :)
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jbone
2525 posts
Mar 28, 2018
6:19 AM
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I know of 4 makers who sell reed plates. Current prices on most I am not aware of.
Lee Oskar was the first to market reed plates for his harps.
Suzuki sells for many models and price varies. I use Manji harps and the plates are about 1/2 price of a new harp.
Hohner sells MS series at least. I used them for a short time but did not like the short life they seemed to have.
Seydel, a harp I have never used, sells reed plates as well.
Rockin' Rons is a harp/parts/accessories seller in the USA. He has all of these items available and is a very good businessman with an A+ reputation.
Harmonica is a specialized market. Over all, most players just get a new harp if one fails. Personally, since I play regularly and play out regularly, I see my harps as tools and an investment. If I can avoid paying full price for a new one, pay maybe half, that's what I will do. Changing reed plates takes just a few screws, which if you're between sets at a gig is a good thing. I buy from Rockin' Ron since he has decent pricing, good availability, and fast free shipping in the US. And he's a very nice guy as well.
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Flbl
154 posts
Mar 28, 2018
7:27 AM
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If I'm understanding you, you want single reeds, and as far as I know Seydel and Hohner are the only ones that supply single reeds, though I don't know the cost.
A replacement set of reed plates could repair several harps depending on which reeds are bad, just takes a bit more work.
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jbone
2526 posts
Mar 28, 2018
7:38 AM
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If you want reeds you may be able to make a deal with someone who has kept their harps with blown out reeds. You could ask here and other forums if anyone wanted to get rid of their blown harps- or just reed plates- in exchange for a service or compensation.
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Frankie
122 posts
Mar 28, 2018
8:24 AM
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I just want to keep that in mind when I choose harmonica I mean expensive harmonicas , for cheaper harmonicas just get rid of them makes more sense
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nacoran
9787 posts
Mar 28, 2018
12:14 PM
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In line with what jbone said, sometimes you can find small lots of harps on eBay. It's hit and miss, but if you get four harps for $10 you are pretty likely to get quite a few good reeds in the bunch. I actually have never got a harp with a bad reed that way (except Magnus harmonicas, but they are plastic reeds and I just buy them for looks!) It's not a huge sample size, but out of maybe 10 MB/Blues Harp type harps I've got from eBay I didn't have a bad reed in the bunch. Some of the covers were rusted and the combs were in pretty bad shape, but the reeds were fine. Just buy from people with 99% or better customer satisfaction. That was a tough lesson I learned with some non-harp purchases... eBay ratings are not like letter grades. Someone with 91% satisfaction is nothing like A- service!
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Nate
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Thread Organizer (A list of all sorts of useful threads)
First Post- May 8, 2009
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SuperBee
5346 posts
Mar 28, 2018
2:06 PM
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Once you can replace reeds, as distinct from reedplates, it is very cheap to repair a harp.
For instance, I buy a pack of 5 reeds from Hohner, it costs me 2.4 euro, plus 2.4 euro postage.
4.8 euro total
That’s very inefficient. I buy 5 or 6 packs at a time. Say I buy 4 and 5 draw reeds for my D, C and A harps.
16.8 euro.
This will keep me in harps of those keys for many years.
So I don’t have to worry about whether they are expensive Crossover or average price sp20. The reeds fit both.
Or I can use reeds from salvaged harps. Once you understand the way reeds from different keys match up, this is quite practical.
You can also do this with Seydel harps. The efficiency is somewhat less as they charge 3.6 euro for only 3 reeds and the cheapest postage charge is much higher than Hohner, and there aren’t as many good matchups with different keys, but still very cheap compared to replacing reedplates.
I even do single reed replacement in Lee Oskar harps as I have a decent stock of broken harps. Can’t always find a perfect match but usually make it work ok.
Once you can replace single reeds, not only is it cheap to maintain the harp, you can cheaply obtain broken harps and repair them, build special tunings, mend harps for other people. Learn how harps work and ensure yours are always good to play. Never be a slave to the lottery off the shelf.
But it’s not for everyone.
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STME58
2058 posts
Mar 28, 2018
4:34 PM
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There are some good techs out there who will replace reeds for less than the cost of a reed plate. Gnarly on this website is local to me and he frequently replaces reeds for me as that is a skill he has developed, and he is willing to do it for a fee. I have a couple of harps set up by Joe Spears and I would not replace those reed plates as I would lose all of the work that went into setting them up. Instead, when a reed breaks I sent the harp back to Joe and he replaces just the broken reed, makes any adjustments in tuning etc. that he sees is needed and sends it back. This still costs less than a reed plate and I have a much more enjoyable to play instrument than any stock setup I have come across.
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Gnarly
2463 posts
Mar 29, 2018
8:37 AM
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Hey, in my role at Suzuki US as the harmonica repair technician, I can't even get Japan to supply us with all of the new replacement reeds that I want from them, definitely can't sell to the public.
Never throw a harmonica away, that's my advice. And to get started, do repairs for harp buddies that have their old ones stockpiled.
I just did a Hering last night, really tough to get parts, or new merchandise, for that matter.
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snowman
326 posts
Mar 29, 2018
1:51 PM
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I have Hohners-L oscars--hering--suzuki
SUZUKI--- manj--Playing wise-- I like IT a lot
Pro master I like--- prefer manji
U CAN’T GET INDIVIDUAL REEDS FROM SUZUKI so I own
limited amounts of manji C A D
Hohner ----like the crossover best
Like the Golden Melody tuning and easy
overblow set up
Love their customer service AVAILABILITY OF INDIVIDUAL REEDS---AND REEDPALTES
Also all Sp 20-- GM---crossover—and marine band
ARE THE SAME REEDS NOT REEDPLATES BUT
INDIVIDUAL REEDS
Very handy thing
So hohner is my favorite due to play ability and reed availability
Lee Oscar-- Love the “nat minor tuned”-great for rack playing “ summertime” Thrill is gone” etc
Have all the Melody makers I think 5 keys for songs with Maj 7 chord etc “Georgia on my mind”
Easy to get reedplates
No individual reeds but they last forever
Hearty n long lasting
Hering
don’t like Personally
I think the metal is in inferior---they go out of tune fast---when tuning the reeds bend and or break easy
My overall favorite are hohner
I highly recommend learning ;
1] to tune the way that is most useful for U
2] replace individual reeds
3] get R sleighs book and or cross reference for which individual reeds are the same, on which harmonicas
http://rsleigh.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Organize-Your-Reeds.pdf
Ps donate to his website and or buy something---- A LOT OF WORK WENT INTO THIS CHART]
notice; the note labeled “ 22/D”
is on the [G harp 2 draw]
and the [Bb harp blow 2] Same exact reed ,
so if u blow out that note or screw it up tuning they are interchangeable---THE SAME INDIVIDUAL REED MAY BE 0N 2 0R 3 HARPS HENCE [ “never throw a harmonica away, that's my advice”]
hope it helps
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SuperBee
5353 posts
Mar 29, 2018
3:04 PM
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We are on similar pages about that, Snowman
I tried to revive a thread about the Suzuki hrt 10 repair equipment. That had a couple of very interesting posts about repairs to Suzuki harps. Of particular note was a claim that marine band reeds are a perfect fit for Suzuki Manji.
I haven’t checked it out, and I don’t have any Manji here at the moment. I can’t imagine it works in all keys because the Manji harps don’t mirror the Hohner ‘2 template model’. I’m assuming the reference was to the long slot Hohner reeds fitting the Manji from C and lower keys. If true, it would make the Manji a much better prospect.
I dunno what happened to Wheezer, but I’d expect Gnarley to be able to confirm or debunk the claim.
Other good stuff in that thread: bp demonstration of how to repair Suzuki harps with common tools, Isaac telling how he makes rivets from wire and good discussion.
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Gnarly
2464 posts
Mar 29, 2018
3:28 PM
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Haven't tried using Hohner reeds for Suzuki harps as I have reed stock for both companies.
I did recently repair a Seydel 12 hole solo tuned reed with a Suzuki chromatic reed, that worked well.
My rule of thumb is, if it fits, it worked.
I also just did a Hering diatonic, I was lucky enough to have a Hering reed for that job--I think the Hering reeds are different enough from the other brands that a replacement from another company might not work as well. Their reeds are really bendy, kinda like the Lee Oskar reeds.
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SuperBee
5354 posts
Mar 29, 2018
3:55 PM
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If I had a Manji I could just measure it. Dunno why I haven’t already done that.
Someone has a Manji they can measure the 4 slot, maybe the 5 slot.
Thousandths of an inch works for me. I live in a metricated country but no one told my dial caliper.
I can measure a marine band.
Last Edited by SuperBee on Mar 29, 2018 3:57 PM
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jbone
2532 posts
Mar 31, 2018
8:14 AM
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So- @ gnarly and SuperBee, a general question: Could you estimate how much the cost would be for ALL the tools and supplies you have had to get, to do reed replacement? I know this does not include the time spent learning, donor harps, or having space and time to pursue this craft, but I am curious, as others may be, about that initial cost to have the basics.
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Thievin' Heathen
983 posts
Mar 31, 2018
8:45 AM
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BEWARE!!! This work on your own harp, down to the reed replacement level, is a long dark rabbit hole from which you might not escape.
@jbone
I have ~$500 invested in harp specific tools, something close to that in little stainless steel screws. Probably $1000 in custom combs. Probably $2-2500 in ebay harps. Maybe 700 hours.
Buying a full set of Stainless Steel Seydels from Rockin Ron would be a very reasonable alternate course. But, Chromatics change the equation a little.
As in all things, the trick is in finding a balance.
Back to the original post.., Hohner.
Last Edited by Thievin' Heathen on Mar 31, 2018 8:47 AM
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SuperBee
5357 posts
Mar 31, 2018
2:24 PM
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Jbone, I can tell you it currently costs $166 USD for the toolkit I purchased and used to do my first reed replacements. And I felt that was expensive after I looked about more later. I think at the time it was $180 ish Australian.
I was ahead after I repaired my second Crossover, which cost $92 Australian each back then.
This was 2013 iirc.
I think I watched 2 or 3 different you tube tutorials plus Kinya Pollard service series on bluesharmonicadotcom
You can get a great toolkit from Andrew Zajac for $120 Canadian with which you can replace reeds and keep your harps in top shape.
That comes with a commitment to answer questions regarding use of the tools for several months following purchase.
Including reeds, around $190 (Australian) is what it cost me to get started replacing reeds.
I’m probably $1000 ahead in terms of my own harps around now. Not only do I repair my harps if I break a reed, but I obtain broken harps and repair them. I’ve obtained a few good additions to my kit this way.
Sometimes I buy the used harps cheaply, sometimes they’re free.
The Zajac kit is a better deal.
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