I play Golden Melodys and have wanted to try the Suzuki Fire Breath for quite some time. They are $95 on Musicians Friend, but I just saw that Rockin Ron has them now for $67.
Anyone out there that overblows and overdraws ever tried one? The fact that the price dropped makes me wonder if they are a hard sell.
I would love to have one of those $180 harps but I'm afraid I would want a dozen to cover all the keys.
It sounds like the harp is 100% customized and ready to play?
All I do to the GMs is gap the reeds (about 20 minutes) and they do very well. They are getting close to $40.
To be honest, the Suzuki video below is not a good selling point. I know Brendan is a great player, but I'm not sure how much time he has put into overblowing. The 6 OB at the start and another couple at about 1:45 sound off pitch, unclean, and like he strains to hit them.
I was hoping to find a sample of an experienced overblower/overdrawer working this thing chromatically.
I played one a few years ago, and more recently at SPAH and at the VA Harmonicafest. They do seem to overblow better than the other Suzukis, however, the real question is, are the reed profiles the same as the ProMaster and the Hammond? I believe they are, and if this is true, they will probably be more prone to squeals than a Golden Melody. You would be best to pose this question to a customizer like Chris Michalek or Joe Spiers. Out of the box, nothing will overblow and overdraw 100% perfectly without some squealing - not a Golden Melody, Marine Band, etc. You can even hear some squeals on the B-Radical in my video on some of the overdraw bends. Every harp will need some adjusting for the player's personal style. And overblow and overdraw techniques can vary from player. So, after some setting-up, will the Firebreath be a good overblow harp? Unless I am wrong about the reed profiles, I would think you'd be better off with a Hohner Marine Band or Golden Melody. Chris is a super nice guy and I think he'd be a great person to ask about this, as would Joe Spiers. You are definitely making the right move by doing your homework first. I personally didn't care for the tone of the Firebreath, but this is not to say you won't like it. No matter how well the finished product plays, if you don't like the tone, the harp is no good in my opinion.
Hohners will be easier to set up for ob/ods. If I didn't use those techniques, I'd be all over the Manji, which, IMO, has all the benefits of the Firebreath for a cheaper price.
Except for the Manji and the Fabulous, all Suzuki harps use short slot reeds and short slot reeds are more prone to squealing wheras German made harps like Hohner (as long as they're not the cheapo Chinese made ones) and Seydel use long slot reeds, which are less prone to squealing.
The GM's are still the hands down favorite of most of the OB players I know as far as out of the box harps are concerned. Still, any harp after some tweaking will do better for anything, especially if done by a good customizer (but if you get customs, make sure it's a guy who does stuff for overblow players, and the best ones, like the Filisko guild and Joe Spiers don't come cheap, but they're worth the money). ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Last Edited by on Apr 28, 2010 10:26 AM
What harpwrench AKA Joe Spiers is saying applies to just about any out of the box harp regardless of playing style. Ain't no such thing as a perfect out of the box harp. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
With the price starting around $100, I assumed someone took the extra times and dialed the harp in for OBs or they had the technology to make it a quick and easy process. Glad I asked!
If they made it to fit one market of players but to the detriment of others, it would actually hurt sales more than help it from a business standpoint. Bear in mind that the reality of any stock instrument is that it is aimed at beginners/intermediates over the widest markets possible and there's no real way to satisfy them all because each requires different things.
If you want these companies to do all of those things, from a business standpoint, it is NOT cost effective because more labor hours are gonna be required for every instrument, meaning more people taken off the production line, and the expense of even one minute extra of labor adds up and the more things you want to be done, the cost in reality is gonna be much closer to spending the money on a custom harp, and those harps have just one person doing all of that labor manually, and it takes tons of time to do that. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
I only have 1 Firebreath but it is the only harp I've ever had that OB's on 4,5 and 6 without any tweaking out of the box. I did have to do some gapping and embossing on the 3 hole draw but that's it. I've only have one GM harp...a C harp. It will OB on the 5 and 6 holes really well without any tweaking. I'm sure I could tweak the 4 hole too but I never have. The two Manji's I have don't OB for crap out of the box. Not enough harps to draw any big time conclusions...but it's all I have to go on. I do recall Jason saying in one of his videos when asked what harp does he recommend as a good harp out of the box and his answer was the Firebreath.
Harpdude, you are absolutely right!: I am rubbish at overblowing. I play exclusively half-valved harps (which allow valved bending but don't overblow), so can only just about pop out a wheezy OB to show a beginner what it is. As you say, it would be best for a good overblower to demonstrate the Firebreath's abilities in that regard.
One thing I should clarify, for Todd and others: although the Firebreath (MR500) and Pure Harp (MR550) have short slot reeds, their reed profiles are different to the Hammond, Promaster, Bluesmaster, Harpmaster etc. They have been engineered at the factory for a thicker sound and better overblow/overdraws. Many report that the Firebreath is one of the best out-of-the-box overblow harps; Harponline rates it very highly in that regard.
In a way, the Firebreath is a transitional instrument: taking the older short slot Suzuki reedplates to their ultimate factory setup. However, the Manji and Fabulous have the new high-precision long slot reedplates, with reeds designed for better out-of-the-box overblows. Most (but not all) say they are the best Suzukis for that.
However, no OOTB harp is going to play like a Joe Spiers! Everyone accepts that hand customised harps are in a different league, and it would be interesting to hear of experiences with customising the Manji.
Actually, I think I'm digressing, so will expand on this in a new thread...
Brendan Power WEBSITE: http://www.brendan-power.com YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/BrendanPowerMusic
Thanks for the clarification Brendan. It's good to know that Suzuki does offer reed profiles to allow for overblows and overdraws. So harpdude61, perhaps the Firebreath is worth a try after all, however, if it were me, I would opt for a Hammond with Firebreath, Manji, or Fabulous reed plates, mainly because I don't care for wooden combs.
I'd hate to lump the Firebreath in with the 'wooden comb' crowd. It's got a nice thick seal on the edges, and of course it's gorgeous rosewood. Just sayin'. ----------
Yeah, I know what you mean. It's not that it's a bad comb by any means. I just prefer a composite wood, like dymondwood, or a material like Corian which Randy Sandoval specializes in. Randy's combs are incredible btw.
You're up to 10 posts already! It's great to be able to ask you questions via the forum instead of via YouTube. I blew out my Harpmaster A harp and need a new A. I hardly play my harps that don't overblow at least the 6 hole. I really don't know any 5 OB licks so I don't miss that much. Anyhow, 1st I was going to get a Hammond, then changed my mind to get another Firebreath and now I've changed my mind again and I think I'll just try a GM and tweak it as needed. I'm almost to the point of trying a B-Rad but I don't want to be on any waiting list. I like the Firebreath/Hammond cover plates better than the others but I'm not going to buy both of them and use the reed plates from the Firebreath in a Hammond! Too many options! I'm hoping Brad will have some B-Rads at SPAH as I've budgeted $250 splurge money... Again...so glad you are on the forum!
