brand new Seydel, 3 draw only sounds intermitantly or squeaks
Are Seydel's harder to play? I just bought one and thought the $80 harp was going to be a good experience over the usual special 20s, which I have found often have a rattle. Alas, no such luck: I can only draw a pitch on the 3 intermittently, otherwise it's just plain air or a squeak. Are these harps harder to draw on, or might I have a defective one?
Thanks for anything you can tell me about Seydel.
Anne Marie
Thanks, Kingley. You know, Kinya fiddles with harps too in some fashion or other, which I guess he'll clarify by and by.
Hi Anne Marie (good to meet you last week end at Masterclass). I've switched to Seydels but had them customized. I did order a couple straight out of the box and although I didn't have the problem you describe, I did find there was a difference.
If I remember accurately, you play fairly softly so the gap might be too open. Take a look and see if it seems way more so than the 1 and 2 hole draw reed. If so, follow the info on any of the reputable (Joe, Kinya, Rupert, Richard) sites and tweak the 2 hole draw reed.
Another suggestion is to contact Jon Harl (on this site) who customizes Seydels. He did one of the OTB ones I had and his work is impressive (in fact I left another one with him at the end of the week end). Contact him and he might have some suggestions for you to try. He knows his stuff as do the others mentioned.
Good luck - I know how frustrating that can be.
Thanks Hank. Nice meeting you too. What fun to be able to put faces to names now.
Forgot to mention that Jon is in San Jose - right in your neighbourhood so it would be a good contact with a knowledgeable guy.
Hello Ann Marie,
It was terrific having you in my San Jose HMW class. I like your approach to the instrument.
I endorse Hank's recommendation for sending your "axe" to local boy Jon Harl (member of bluesharmonica.com).
Jon and I looked under the hood of many harmonicas together over the years. Jon also studied with Richard Sleigh, the Master Harp-Tech. I agree with Hank's assessment of your playing style, and it would be beneficial to have Jon set your reed offsets low.
"Play the notes people want to hear" © 2008
Kinya Pollard
the Harpsmith
Hank/Kinya: Thanks for the vote of confidence. Ann Marie sorry you're having trouble with your Seydel. If you live in the neighborhood you're welcome to come by and we can look at your harp. Or you could send it to me or Rupert and we'll fix it. Although Rupert will probably fix it for free. Please feel free to call me on my cell at: 408/531-5755 or Rupert's contact info is on the Seydel website.
In the future if you want to be sure your stock harp plays well out of the box you can order it from me and I run through them and make sure they play correctly. Also, I customize the Silver and Classic 1847... I think they play really well after they are worked on. There's nothing like a custom harp that's out of the box yet.
Anne Marie, you might give the harp a bit more of a chance before sending it in - especially if it's a new key for you.
I just started my intermediate lessons on the Seydel 1847 "D" harp and I'm finding it is a bit of a bear to squeak a note out of it from time to time as compared to my "G" and "A" harps. I'm thinking it's just my inexperience with the harp and the difference in embouchure required (the higher harps are a lot more touchy than the lower harps). The three hole gives me the same problem as you are having.
I'm going to keep at it for a while, then if I still have trouble, I'll send it to Jon or someone. Maybe you might try the same for a bit.
Anne Marie,
You might find that it could be your technique needs some minor adjustment to get the embouchure right. It may also be the case that the harp may need some minor gapping to make the reed respond correctly.
If you're comfortable working on your own harps then I'd suggest watching Joe Spiers excellent videos on gapping to learn how to do it properly. Just search for his YouTube channel. His username there is Choppajoe.
If you aren't comfortable working on them yourself then I'd send it off to Rupert Oysler (If you're based in the USA). He is the Seydel USA rep and will fix the harp for you.