Rgsccr
9 posts
May 20, 2012
12:39 PM
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Hi - after watching a Jason Ricci demonstration on Manjis, I decided to get a couple (a C and a D). Now, after two months or so, I don't sound as good as Jason and want my money back - just kidding. Overall, I like the Manjis, and think I can hear a difference from the other harps I play regularly (Lee Oskars and, to a lesser extent, SP 20s). I think that the Manji sounds more like a Marine Band. One thing I have noticed is that the holes are a bit smaller than either the Lee Oskars or SP 20s which initially gave me some problems. I think I am getting used to this, but still have issues from time to time (or note to note). Has anyone else noticed this? My general impression is these harps are tighter, less air escapes - agree/disagree? Also, they seem brighter than the Lee Oskars, but can also sound gritty. Thanks. Rich
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harmonicanick
1602 posts
May 20, 2012
2:40 PM
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@Rgsccr
I don't have a Manji (yet) but your comments reflect what I feel about Suzuki harps in general. I have several of them.
I continue to prefer Golden Melody Hohner harps.
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didjcripey
249 posts
May 20, 2012
3:13 PM
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I love the manji's. I find them easy to bend and especially responsive on the high blow bends. I haven't found them to be well enough set up for me to overblow them straight out of the box, as has sometimes been suggested.
My only beef with them is that they blow out fairly quickly. Yes, I know that I USE TOO MUCH BREATH FORCE (thanks BBQ Bob :) ), but I have been using Lee Oskars for about 6 years now and have not blown one out. The other day I had a reed go flat on a D, and was easily able to retune it. Any time my manjis go flat, they can't be retuned, as the reed has completely failed from metal fatigue.
Depending on the key and the sound I am after I sometimes prefer the Oskars; the Manjis can be a bit bright and raspy.
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Lucky Lester
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S-harp
32 posts
May 20, 2012
4:26 PM
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I really like the Manjis ... the only Suzukis I've tried. Under the hood you find à harp with excellent tolerances direct from the assembly line ... Quality.
I retune mine. Don't like the tuning OTB.
The comb is great but i find the tiles a bit harsch when sliding up and down. I sand them à bit with fine grain and put some coating just on the tip of the tile. Really helps the action.
The cover plates ... well, well. I had a bunch Hering Master Blues covers. They fit perfectly, are sturdy and improves the tone.
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The tone, the tone ... and the tone.
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FMWoodeye
339 posts
May 20, 2012
9:20 PM
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I've tried the whole line of Suzukis. The Promaster was my favorite for a minute. I now prefer Hohner Crossovers. I gave away two Manjis.
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jbone
909 posts
May 20, 2012
9:54 PM
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i have 6 manjis and they comprise a big percentage of the main gig harps i use. to me they have very good longevity, are tuned well, and sound out better than most other harps i've ever used. the laser aligned reeds sold me initially. reed plates are $30 a set which i find reasonable. i'm about to get a few replacements but i've had some of these manjis for 2+ years and have replaced 1 of 6 plate sets.
i do sometimes blow/draw hard, it's necessary to overcome volume issues on some stages. or seems so. more importantly i use manji's in the acoustic duo on the street and these harps will project very well with no mic, amp, or p.a.
i have had a couple of custom mb's which i think were probably somewhat better than manji, but the other selling point of manji to me is, otb these harps perform how i want them to. no tweaking or customizing of any kind required. i want a workingman's harp and this is it.
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Libertad
83 posts
May 21, 2012
3:18 AM
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I have a Manji in A. Out of the box it did need a bit of a tweak, a few reeds were gapped too wide. I am at a point where I am thinking about buying a few more, but was wondering how they compare to a Crossover (out of the box)? I bought a Low D Thunderbird last week which is lovely.
Martin
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Rgsccr
11 posts
May 21, 2012
11:15 AM
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S-harp - your idea of replacing the covers sounds good. Do you have any more Hering covers? If so, can I buy a couple of pairs (how much)? Thanks. Rich
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Silvertone
118 posts
May 21, 2012
12:28 PM
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I like them. Theyre responsive and well made. I doubt they will last as long as the Lee Oskars I'm replacing but nothing else will either.Got a couple a few months ago and a 7pc set last month from RockinRon.
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S-harp
33 posts
May 21, 2012
1:45 PM
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@Rgsccr ... I have some Vintage and Master Blues left, but I live in northen Europe, so shipping is probably not worth it.
Vintage's got sidevents like the Manj and Master Blues' s closed.
The Vintage really adds crisp to the tone while the Master Blues is more mellow and projects the sound more. I also open the back of the covers.
I would recommend trying SP20 - covers. They fit fine ... and you probably have some lying around. Manji's screws don't fit though.
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The tone, the tone ... and the tone.
Last Edited by on May 21, 2012 1:46 PM
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Rgsccr
12 posts
May 21, 2012
3:15 PM
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Thanks S-Harp. I'm sure you are right about the shipping costs. I'll keep my eyes open for some around here (Seattle, WA). I do have some SP-20s but use them a lot so I don't want to take those covers off. One question - how does the replacement of the covers improve the Manji? Thanks. Rich
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gmacleod15
159 posts
May 21, 2012
5:55 PM
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I am a Suzuki fan. I have about 20 of various models. However I only have three Manji's. The low F and A are good but with the Bb, the 2 and 3 draw bends are not easy to get. I think it probably needs some gapping but my skill with this is lacking.
I want to like the Manji but this one Bb makes me not want to buy another.
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MBH member since 2009-03-24
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jbone
912 posts
May 21, 2012
7:38 PM
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my Bb manji is fine. as are the others. but my philosophy may be different than some folks', i try and fit myself to the instrument more then fit the instrument to me. it's true i do try to save a reed here or there with a bit of filing after a reed begins to flat out some but aside from that and routine cleaning i don't wrestle with harps much at all.
hohner may have gotten somewhat on the bandwagon with their later models, the deluxe, the crossover, and lately the thunderbird, but my question remains, have they done anything new or improved their reed plates at all? one reason i went to manji was, these harps have much more state of the art alignment methods. yes they are braised in place but that's made possible by high precision alignment and they will STAY that way. i like that.
my other thoughts on harps are as follows: if i could afford custom mb's i'd go that route, but since i can't i stick with the best in my opinion, which is currently the manji, best bang for buck. i am seriously opposed to having to tweak, file, align, or adjust a harp ootb. i want to PLAY the suckers.
plastic comb diatonics are ok but a sealed wood or composite comb to me are much better. more depth to their sound somehow.
i have had a suz promaster way back in the mists of time but it was in B which i never use. it was a nice harp. i have a suz pure harp, all rosewood but the reed plates, beautiful sounding warm blooded harp. i would try more and different suzukis if i could afford to. i also have a couple of csx chromatic models which i like a lot, one in G and one in C, both 12 holers. i use them quite a bit and they play very well.
each their own as far as choices go. i only express my opinion here and there.
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S-harp
34 posts
May 21, 2012
10:38 PM
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@Rgsccr ... Yes, why change in the first place? The Manjis are quite soft and eaysily deform. Then, the covers also colors the sound. On the lower harps a cover change can help to cut through. If you prefere closed side vents and don't know how to close them, SP20 and MasterBlues are closed.
But the question is ... is it worth it, aren't they good enough as they are? Yes they are ... I just find this makes them a little bit better.
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The tone, the tone ... and the tone.
Last Edited by on May 21, 2012 10:40 PM
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BronzeWailer
567 posts
May 21, 2012
10:53 PM
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I like the Manjis; have a couple (A and C) which are my go-to harps in those keys. Got a couple of Hammonds recently and dissapointed with the sound. They sound "nice" don't project very well. Maybe I need to fiddle with the gapping. Also have played Special 20s, Crossovers, one MB Deluxe, one Seydel Session Steel, one Meisterklasse (from when I had a day job), some Blues Harps and Lee Oskars.
I think Crossover will be weapon of choice. Tone is superb OOTB and they seem quite durable. I am one of those guys who plays too hard. Next in the pucker order is Manji IMHO. Special 20s sound nice at first but the reeds seem to lose their bounce pretty quickly.
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jbone
918 posts
May 22, 2012
9:57 PM
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you guys who crush cover plates just holding them? why not teach yourself to hold them with less pressure? i can't remember the last covers i bent much at all. for me that went out with soaking my mb's in beer and then shredding my lips on them while i was half in the bag.
i used sp20 for a lot of years and switched to big river for a while too but bushman delta frost have a spot in my case as do a couple other plastic comb harps. but the resonance of a solid comb is attractive to me. the wood composite comb on the manji has never swelled or had any issues at all.
incidentally i use the manji's in 1st 2nd and 3rd position all. to some they may sound harsh but i've gotten very used to their sound. a lot of what i'm playing is old school hill country and fairly distorted delta style blues, open tuned guitar, minimal drum kit. i blow through a tube amp and cm bullet and even sing through my harp rig which is pretty distorted, but that's what the leader wants. and i admit, i get a kick out of it as well. i'd be just as comfortable with a crystal mic doing swing or jazzier blues stuff much cleaner as well. whatever the opportunity is i try and do what's needed.
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jbone
919 posts
May 22, 2012
9:57 PM
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you guys who crush cover plates just holding them? why not teach yourself to hold them with less pressure? i can't remember the last covers i bent much at all. for me that went out with soaking my mb's in beer and then shredding my lips on them while i was half in the bag.
i used sp20 for a lot of years and switched to big river for a while too but bushman delta frost have a spot in my case as do a couple other plastic comb harps. but the resonance of a solid comb is attractive to me. the wood composite comb on the manji has never swelled or had any issues at all.
incidentally i use the manji's in 1st 2nd and 3rd position all. to some they may sound harsh but i've gotten very used to their sound. a lot of what i'm playing is old school hill country and fairly distorted delta style blues, open tuned guitar, minimal drum kit. i blow through a tube amp and cm bullet and even sing through my harp rig which is pretty distorted, but that's what the leader wants. and i admit, i get a kick out of it as well. i'd be just as comfortable with a crystal mic doing swing or jazzier blues stuff much cleaner as well. whatever the opportunity is i try and do what's needed.
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SuperBee
268 posts
May 23, 2012
5:31 AM
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i have 1 manji. its in C and i use it with a rock band. i use this harp for 75% of the playlist. these guys play real loud, and especially in the practice shed i play too loud either in a (vain) attempt to hear, or just from enthusiastic intensity.
under this pressure manji soon went flat across the board. by the time i noticed a flat draw note i actually had 6 reeds to retune.
so far my rough tuning job is standing up. so maybe they are a bit tougher than a special 20, which IME with this band, have always failed catastrophically when they go.
i've had no probs with the covers. in fact i think they are the nicest thing about it. aesthetically, they are very nice. they sound pretty good. i have crossovers for my "good" harps at the moment, but if i could only get manjis i think i'd not cry too long
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surrealIdeal
25 posts
May 23, 2012
11:37 AM
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I bought 2 Manjis one year ago. I tried to like them, I really did. But somehow, they just weren't the right harps for me. Don't get me wrong: these are quality harmonicas! Durable, loud, easy to take apart...
But: I can't get the right tone, the right expression. I have to work harder to sound the way I want. It's not just tone, it's also harder to play fluently . The harmonica is fighting against me just a bit too much.
The crossover is so different for me. I really really like them.
But this is all personal off course.
Last Edited by on May 23, 2012 11:38 AM
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bluemoose
748 posts
May 23, 2012
11:46 AM
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@surreal - similar experience here. Manji in G just doesn't have the juice. Got a couple Crossovers from ChromaticBlues with a retune and setup and man oh man...they just fly. As playable as customs but not as "delicate".
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Fingers
165 posts
May 23, 2012
12:27 PM
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I have 3 Manjis with Hetric combs great harps! but the 1847 blows them clean out of the water!! imo.
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