earlounge
332 posts
Aug 17, 2011
9:46 AM
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What harp do you suggest to try for a Powerbender & a Half Valved Richter? I plan to try both.
Past forum discussions were very helpful when researching these options, but I didn't find many opinions on harp suggestions. Here are my concerns.
Powerbender -
1. I've tried the Hohner Blues Bender and it was very poor quality. Is Brendan’s "Powerbender" brand the same?
2. I've never tried the Harpmaster, is it quality? Does it have short slots? How does it compare to a SP20?
3. Will a hand tuned harp be as good as a stock harp (Suzuki or Hohner)? I am worried the reeds of a re-tuned harp will not have the integrity because of some of the large swings in pitch.
4. Should I just spring for a Seydel? It is custom made stock to the tuning and is the quality I am looking for, but it is the most expensive and longest shipping time to the US. I am also not familiar with the brand because I usually play Hohner and Suzuki. What is your favorite Seydel?
Half Valved-
1. I can only find a stock Suzuki Promaster MR-350V, but I've never tried one. How is this harp? Are there any stock half valved harps I am missing? (other than Seydel)
2. I like what I've read about PT Gazells valves. If I choose a Seydel then I have the same concerns as above. Which one do I try first?
Whew! I know that’s a lot of concerns, but whom better to ask than you guys/gals?! Keep in mind I've already tried retuning my own harps and I've scoured the fabric stores for ultra-suede. I suck at this stuff and just want to play the harp not fiddle with them for hours. It's worth my money to save the time.
Thanks in advance!
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Kyzer Sosa
1004 posts
Aug 17, 2011
10:44 AM
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without a shadow of a doubt, the seydel half valved is superior to the promaster...i have both and there is a crystal clear difference that even a laymen can recognize...the thing is, you can get an 1847 or even one of the lesser priced models (with stainless steel reeds) with the half valving too..no waiting on those, as i believe rockin ron has them in stock and no matter where you are in the US, theyll get ther ein less than a week.
Powerbender? no clue
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"Music in the soul can be heard by the universe." - Lao Tzu
Last Edited by on Aug 17, 2011 10:44 AM
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earlounge
333 posts
Aug 17, 2011
1:25 PM
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@Kyzer thank you... that is exactly the type of feed back I need! I am much more excited about the PT valves now that I know Rockin Rons stocks them. I'd hate to fall in love with a harp that has to be special ordered from Germany.
I get anxiety when making decisions! I don't want a bad decision or crappy harp to turn me off with an experiment that may significantly change my future harmonica path.
Any Powerbender players want to chime in? Brendan?
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Oisin
844 posts
Aug 17, 2011
2:25 PM
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Earlounge....as regards Powerbenders, you could do what I did and get Forum member Jim to make you one. If you have 3 or 4 old busted harps you can send them to Jim along with a donor harp and he will make it into a powerbender for you. Jim is a great guy to deal with, keeps in contact and his workmanship is excellent.
The reason I recommend this is that you may not be as blown away with the powerbending tuning as you think. Don't get me wrong, in the right hands this tuning is great but I have not been able to get my head round it and I'm glad I didn't fork out a lot of money to buy one. I'm just too used to Richter tuning.
I can knock out a few tunes on it but I don't find it as intuative as normal diatonic harp tuning.But that's just me
BTW I got Jim to convert an old Marine Band Deluxe in the key of A into a Powerbender. It's a very easy harp to play and I would recommend it for conversion.
Last Edited by on Aug 17, 2011 2:27 PM
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nacoran
4453 posts
Aug 17, 2011
4:01 PM
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I have one Seydel, and it's my super low so it's hard to compare to other harps on tone, but for comfort of playing, it's way better than anything else I've ever played. It's a Blues Favorite. It's got the long body cover and an aluminum comb with slightly rounded tines and is super airtight. I got it from Dave Payne. I got a custom comb with it too. Two of my favorite combs and only one harp to put them on... I suppose there are worse dilemmas to have.
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arzajac
602 posts
Aug 17, 2011
4:05 PM
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I got Brendan's Brand-Name Powerbender and it is what it is. The big point about Powerbender tuning is that you can play those important notes on the top half of the harp without overblowing. This decreases the requirement for the harp to be expertly set up (and expensive)
That being said, a well-playing harp is a joy to play. I had to adjust the reeds on the Powerbender to get it to play well.
I had a few more harps laying around and I retuned them to PowerBender tuning myself. I am very happy with how well they play. I work on my own harps so they play as well as any other of my harps - they can sustain and bend overblows.
If you are able to replace reeds, then retuning a harp to powerbender is straightforward. I use Blu-Tak to lower the pitch of the reeds and swap the two top holes' reeds so that I don't have to raise any notes beyond my limited tuning abilities. If cost is an issue, then maybe this would be a good option for you.
I've been playing for a little over two years and so I guess you can say that I was not set in my ways. I really like Powerbender Tuning and don't really have any use for Richter anymore.
I plan on keeping one set of Richter harps and switching all my other harps to Powerbender. Richter was never fun to play above hole 5 (for me) and Powerbender is identical to Richter on holes 1 to 4...
It took about two weeks to get the hang of draw bending the top holes. Brendan uses the word "expressive" a lot when describing Powerbender and I thought it was a little much; but now that I play them that word really hits the nail on the head. Those top holes are so much more expressive as draw bends.
With that in mind, I have heard a few times of people DIY PowerBender tunings and they leave the two top holes as blow bends. I can't think of a worse thing to do! You will not get the proper result that way.
Anyway, good luck and enjoy!
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Last Edited by on Aug 17, 2011 4:09 PM
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earlounge
334 posts
Aug 18, 2011
7:32 AM
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@oisin that is a great idea, but I think the I want to support Brendan and buy a harp from him with the book. I've watched all Jims videos and use his iphone app for practice. I didn't know he still did the trade in deal. I have a ton of scrap harps, so this suggestion is brilliant.
@arzajac thank you... Your story of switching to the PB is the reason I want to invest in a good harp from the beginning. I want the harp to be as good as possible so I can make a good decision what to study.
I am on a search for chromatic diatonic to play Jazz, because I just can't get into my Chrom 270. It isn't nearly as expressive as a diatonic. I can OB consistently with the right harp, but I just haven't found a gem in every key. It's frustrating and Brendon and PT Gazell have inspired me to open my options.
I wish I had the tools and skills to replace and retune reeds. I've tried a few things and have found this would require just as much investment in time and money. And as Oisin said, I may not like it.
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Last Edited by on Aug 18, 2011 7:37 AM
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MEK
48 posts
Aug 18, 2011
2:45 PM
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Well I have one of Brendan's Harpmasters. It bends easier than anything else I own. SP20, Manji, Promaster, GM, Bluesmaster. I suppose its all what you get comfortable with. I like the thick uncrushable covers. I'm very pleased with it.
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Michael Rubin
225 posts
Aug 18, 2011
2:57 PM
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I have the Brendan Powerbender. I am not falling in love with the tuning but there are a few neat positions. I do not like the tone of the higher draw bends. I just bought an 1847 Half valved that PT set up for me at SPAH. I am having lots of fun with it. One thing I did not understand until today is you can bend all the holes, not just those that lead to full chromaticism. Playing it is so far very intuitive. I hate the sound of the valved bends. So far I still prefer the tone of overblows, but I like the layout of PT's harp best.
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PT
104 posts
Aug 18, 2011
3:19 PM
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Playing half valved is for me, far more intuitive since it follows the same logic of bending or flatting all the additional notes we get on diatonic. The other huge plus is the added expressiveness we now get on all the notes. I call this rounding off or shading. The Gazell Method half valved diatonic is now available in the Seydel Session Steel as well. Same stainless steel reeds and reed plates as the 1847 series, but with a lower entry point money wise. I brought some of these and the "Silver" model (this is what I play) back with me from SPAH. If you are interested contact me off list for models, keys, and prices. pt@ptgazell.com
Thanks
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"Life...10 Holes & 20 Reeds At A Time"
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