zackattack
13 posts
Dec 29, 2014
11:25 PM
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I've been playing since 1966 and played my share of Hohner, Huang, Lee Oskar, Suzuki and now Seydel harps. In my experience there is no perfect harp. They all have their advantages and disadvantages depending on brand and model. I currently have a full case of Seydel harps, various models. I've had no problems with any of them and prefer them to the other brands. My comment today concerns the half-valved Seydel Session Steel in the key of D. It is my first experience with half-valved harps and it seems as near to perfect in playability as a harmonica can be! Of course, as expected, it bends both the draw and the blow notes. That is the purpose of the half-valving. But, beyond that, the valving and the attention to detail and workmanship, mean that this not only bends - it gives me the ability to add very subtle nuance to the notes without strain or choke. I keep picking this harp up from my case and playing it like a bad habit 'cuz it just follows me and every little change in my breathing and the shape of my mouth, lips, tongue, etc. Anyone else out there want to comment on their experience with valved diatonics? Am I the only one that thinks this is the best stock harp they've ever played?
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SuperBee
2303 posts
Dec 30, 2014
12:57 AM
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my only direct experience with valved harps is with a bunch of promasters. i just cant get them to do the thing. some chambers on some harps i can get to work but mainly no. i dont like them for straight playing either. i do like seydel harps. maybe i'll try one
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Mahcks
25 posts
Dec 30, 2014
6:24 AM
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My every-day-carry is a Hohner Crossover in C. It's half-valved with the PT Gazell valves that Seydel sells. I dont think they buzz like the plastic ones on the Promaster, and I can glue them to the comb instead of the reed plate for a little extra protection from moisture. It's way too fun to play.
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GMaj7
578 posts
Dec 30, 2014
6:51 AM
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Valves are a win-win for the player. Even if one doesn't decide to take up the single-reed bend, the valved harps seem to really play better, especially at the lower end on harps (G) and below. I suggest half-valving at least holes 1-3 on these.
The wind savers are a very inexpensive experiment and if they player for some reason decides against them, they can be pulled off just as quickly as installed.
One thing to note - and PT is really the go to on half-valving - they seem to play a little better if they are gapped slightly higher than un-gapped.
---------- Greg Jones 16:23 Custom Harmonicas greg@1623customharmonicas.com 1623customharmonicas.com
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poitouharpin
19 posts
Dec 30, 2014
7:37 AM
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Having bought a valved Promaster about 3 years ago and found it different/difficult to play compared to an un-valved model I put it to one side. However after recently purchasing Brendan's "Play Irish Music On The Blues Harp" together with a couple of PR tuned Promasters I picked it up again. It does require a slightly different approach but there is a good description of this in his booklet. Since this is copy-write material it would be wrong to copy and paste it here so I will leave that for Brendan to do if he wishes.
On the subject of Seydel harps I think their quality is unsurpassed and the service when ordering direct from the factory excellent. The Fanfare Tremolo is so much easier to play than any other tremolo I have tried. Opps used the "T" word twice on a blues harp forum, well slap my wrist and go to the back of the class!
Happy new year everyone.
Tim
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Destin
96 posts
Dec 31, 2014
5:28 PM
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I bought one and after playing it only a few times a reed got stuck and never did get it playing again. I really originally only purchased it because I couldn't overblow and wanted to play jazz on harp. Around the same time of purchasing the harp I learned to overblow and never really felt like messing with it since then.
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Harp Study
62 posts
Dec 31, 2014
9:29 PM
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I first heard about valved (diatonic) harps and pictured some other note layout or some special mechanism like a chromatic harp. It sounded complicated and I just figured I should avoid that. In the meantime I learned about over bending; so I spent about 9 months working on overblows. In that time I got “ok” at 4, 5, & 6 over blows, but still had times when I’d miss the desired note (which sounds awful in your mind's ear when you're a step & half off +/-). I also found it very very difficult to set a harp up for overblows. They were either too tight where the OB popped right out, but the harp choked or too loose where the OB just didn’t pop in quite right.
Later on I came across a super sale on a valved pro master on Amazon. It was like $20; when these harps were usually much much higher. After I purchased this discounted harp I actually started doing some real research on what a valved diatonic was and I learned that it basically was just a flap over the higher reed to allow a single reed bend. This allows all the reeds to be bent; which allows both coloration and all the chromatic notes.
Within a couple months I had completely blown away my progress of overblowing; which took 9 months of work mind you. In addition I found it much easier to set up a harp for valved bends. And maybe more importantly, I found the note layout to make more sense. Now I just bend down all the notes; versus OB which bends some notes up.
I should also mention that the valved pro master rattled when doing any chording/tongue blocking which turned me off big time. I then bought a Seydel session steel from PT Gazell and fell in love. This harp is still one of my favorites. The Gazell valves don’t rattle and make it much easier to do some of the valved bends. I recommend every harp player at least give this a try with this type of harmonica. It really opens some doors with a technique that we all already posses. OB are so popular compared to valved bends and I’m not really sure why. To me the valved approach just makes more sense and is easier to set up a harp for this approach. Although I don’t want to make it sound easy to set up a harp for valved bends. The PT harp I have is still the easiest harp I own for valved bends.
Thought I should share my journey for what it is worth.
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Aussiesucker
1416 posts
Jan 01, 2015
1:44 PM
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The only valved diatonic I have is a Seydel Octave Concerto. The valves on this harp are there to prevent leakage because of the dual chambers. Personally I have a love hate relationship with valves which I find troublesome with my breath and playing. I warm them up but still after a few minutes problems persist. I love Chromatics for the superior tone and musical capabilities but I cannot trust the valves to always respond. I have replaced valves & changed types but still my problem persists. I may after reading some comments above have a go at half valving some of the lower notes on a G diatonic. My understanding is the new Hohner dimpled valves are good and I have them on a Hohner Discovery Chrom which I have found to give me the least amount of trouble. ---------- HARPOLDIE’S YOUTUBE
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