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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > Seydel Issues & Hohner Sp 20 in PB tuning????
Seydel Issues & Hohner Sp 20 in PB tuning????
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Curtisaneumann
7 posts
Oct 12, 2018
5:16 PM
Either I have the worst luck or Seydel has some serious quality control issues. My $120 1847 Classic PB tuned harp just had a blow reed (that doesn’t even get bent) crack. After just 3-4 months! I am so pissed off about it. I also bought a Session Steel a couple months earlier and it was the single worst harp I’ve ever owned. I posted about it on a forum and at that time I wrote it off as an anomaly or that maybe I just needed time to adapt to the difference between manufacturers. I won’t go into all the details but I ended up selling for dirt cheap on eBay.

I ended up giving Seydel another chance by purchasing two 1847’s PB tuning and I’m SO glad I did because I love the tuning. However, here I am again completely disappointed and let down at the poor quality of their products.

I am NOT a hard player and I’ve owned somewhere around 15-20 harps before these Seydels and have never had any issues whatsoever until now. I am so livid that I spent over $100 on a harp that lasts 1/10th as long as my normal $50 Hohners. I now am going to have to send it back to them and gave them fix it FOR MORE MONEY.

I love the look of their harps, I love the packaging, but godamnit man. Either It’s just a coincidence that I happen to start having issues at the exact moment I start using Seydel’s or they’re just flat out inferior products masquerading as superior instruments. The extra money you spend on them must just go towards their fancy looking boxes and high production videos and social media presence.

SO SERIOUS QUESTION: who do I need to contact to have some Powerbender Tuned Hohner Special 20’s, Marine Bands, or Crossovers made?

Is that possible for someone to do?

Does anybody sell those yet?
Curtisaneumann
8 posts
Oct 12, 2018
6:10 PM
For anyone interested, here’s what I’m dealing with:
Pitiful Harmonica Malfunction

https://imgur.com/gallery/bYdPPRB

I purchased the key of A harp first, then I ordered the key of C harp about 1.5 months after. I guess I can expect the key of C to malfunction in about 30 days too.

Last Edited by Curtisaneumann on Oct 12, 2018 6:15 PM
florida-trader
1372 posts
Oct 12, 2018
7:09 PM
Curtis - Seydel is a fine company that is committed to making their customers happy - as are the many Seydel Dealers here in the US. I would suggest you contact the dealer you purchased this harp from, or perhaps contact Seydel directly. I am confident that they would be happy to help you.
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Tom Halchak
Blue Moon Harmonicas
Blue Moon Harmonicas
Thievin' Heathen
1069 posts
Oct 13, 2018
8:20 AM
I cracked the 10 blow reed on my Session Steel A. That is the only time I have encountered any broken reeds up there. To my untrained eye and shade tree metallurgy, it appeared that stainless steel was the wrong material in that application. I put that aside and ordered a new set of reed plates in Low D. I have several Seydels and they are fine instruments.
WinslowYerxa
1618 posts
Oct 13, 2018
10:39 AM
Have you even tried to get in touch with Seydel? They are the ones who would honor the warranty. I'd do that first before complaining in public.
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nacoran
9980 posts
Oct 13, 2018
1:33 PM
Did you post this on reddit too? I think I saw this and commented on it there.

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SuperBee
5616 posts
Oct 13, 2018
3:48 PM
Thievin’, that is Interesting. Now that you mention it I realised that of all the repairs I’ve made, the ratio of Seidel steel to Horner brass is about 1:5, but almost all the top octave reed replacements I’ve made are in Steel reed harps, apart from the 13 ‘7 blow’ reeds I replaced for one player, all G harps.
The majority of the Seydel steel harps with broken top end reeds I’ve replaced, came from one person, a Seydel-endorsed player. But they were multiple keys and various slots, both blow and draw. I have done 2 substantial repair jobs for that player, over 15 harps in each, and about half the new reeds required were top end.
In my personal experience i do play a fair amount high 1st position and only ever needed to replace 1 high end reed in my own harps (brass)

(Edited to fix garbled post)

Last Edited by SuperBee on Oct 14, 2018 12:30 AM
BeePee
124 posts
Oct 13, 2018
7:12 PM
Hi Curtis, here are a couple of other options for you:

1. My new 10-hole PowerBender in 5 keys, made by Easttop with rugged phosphor bronze reeds:
https://brendan-power.com/harmonicas-10hole.php#power-bender

2. The Lucky 13 PowerBender in all 12 keys:
https://brendan-power.com/lucky13.php#lucky13Tunings
BeePee
125 posts
Oct 13, 2018
7:16 PM
To answer your other question, Gary Lehmann in San Diego offers custom retunings of any harp. His email is:

gnarlyheman@gmail.com
Stokes Bay Slim
100 posts
Oct 14, 2018
8:35 AM
I have just orderered Brendan's Eastop powedraw set of 5. I'm going to try and get that "Two Trains Running" sound haha. I love that cd!
Martin
1508 posts
Oct 14, 2018
8:57 AM
The Seydel SS were supposed to offer some comfort to us hard blowers, that was my impression when they were launched, but that illusion was quickly wiped away when a blow 8 reed went south after less that an hour´s playing.
dougharps
1849 posts
Oct 14, 2018
1:13 PM
I tend to be a moderately hard player, though over the last 10 years I have learned to use less force after I started gapping lower to access a couple overblows.

The only Seydel steel reeds that ever failed me were 2 high pitched blow reeds that I had blow bent a lot: one on a D and one on an A.

I have 6 keys of Seydels: 3 keys of Session Steels and 3 keys of 1847s.

The usual draw reeds I often wrecked on Hohners are still going strong on my Seydels with steel reeds.

I have not had any Manji phosphor bronze reed fail me yet.

Special 20s, MBDs, Crossovers, and customized Hohners remain the harps most malleable to my musical intentions, but they do not hold up as well for me, and reeds periodically fail.

It seems to be a trade off with reeds, durability vs. flexibility.
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Doug S.
Gnarly
2562 posts
Oct 16, 2018
8:28 AM
I am still doing retuning and replacement of reeds.
Mike Easton recently posted that he was able to replace Suzuki reeds with Seydel, so I reckon I can do the same in reverse. Of course, the Suzuki reeds are not stainless steel--and the Seydel reeds are not phosphor bronze--but a reed's a reed, if it sounds (and feels) good.
Reeds are bound to break, and manufacturers don't worry excessively about reed failure. Suzuki still has a one year warranty that includes reed failure, but if you break a reed out of warranty, I fix those too.
As far as creating PB tuning on a standard German tuned harmonica (you may know these as Richter), it usually requires a few reed swaps. I am more confident than ever about doing those thanks to a new tool in my possession from Michelle LeFree, makes it really easy to pop 'em out and back in again.
ridge
745 posts
Oct 16, 2018
8:41 AM
I'm not sure anybody actually watched the video he posted. It sounds like the reed is hitting the slot and isn't broken.

For clarity watch this:Corrected link to video

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Ridge's YouTube

Last Edited by ridge on Oct 16, 2018 8:42 AM


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