Stainless Steel versus Brass or Phosphour-Bronze Reeds
Stainless Steel versus Brass or Phosphour-Bronze Reeds
Hello, Kinya!
Would you please be kind enough to comment on the durability and playability of the above type reeds? I have heard so many differing opinions from harmonica players regarding them, but will greatly value a skilled craftsman's knowledge in this arena.
Thank you for your time,
Tom Barrett
i'm very interested in this topic...i started to blow out harps too quickly also. no surprises they are the ones i use a lot in the rock band, but i was about to jump into a set of stainless reeds until i saw Ward's posts about blowing them out quickly. then i started to wonder if steel reeds really were longer lasting.
when i bought some seydel solist pro harps (brass reeds) people warned me to polish out the milling marks, saying they would be ok if i did that. (didn't really know how i was gonna do that and i forgot to investigate...then my Eb went suddenly flat.)
sorry, ive digressed a little...forgetting about individual playing approach, could it be the manufacture process rather than the material which is more important in the durability of a reed? This "polish out the milling marks" advice came from an eastern european customiser who specialises in working on seydel product. i havent heard any mention of poor finishing on solist pro reeds anywhere else. just speculating...could there also be an issue with the (lower priced) steel session
Stainless steel *might* be a tougher material to break than brass, but they for sure aren't bullet-proof. IME, they tend to last a similar length of time compared to brass. The biggest difference is that the SS tend to go out in a blaze of glory. In other words, brass will flatten in pitch quicker, but you can retune to get more life out of them. When SS goes flat, it is usually very abruptly and the reed is cracked.
IMO, I wouldn't buy SS expecting it to last longer, put up with rougher playing, or because it never drops out of tune. Those would be great bonuses, but I would be more concerned with playability, etc.
At roughly $60-90 per SS harp, you can get 2-3 similar brass harps. A Lee Oskar or Special 20 has recessed plates and relatively closed cover plates and run closer to $35 each compared to the $60 Session Steel. If you like wood combs or vented cover plates, something like the Manji, Marine Band Deluxe, or Crossover cost under $65 where as the 1847 harps run around $90.
The SS harps are harder to tweak than brass, but replacing reeds with rivets is easier on the SS harps.
I agree with Mike 100%. Good post. Thank you.
Thanks Mike, that helped clarify it for me.
Lots of great information, which gives me much food for thought. Thanks, Guys!
Having said this, would any of you know if the Bronze-Phosphour reed is better or worse than either brass or stainless steel? I have heard some talk of this type of reed, but not enough to make a decision on whether or not to buy a harp with them in it (I refer to the SCX 64). Can anyone shed some light on this?
Thanks a bunch for all your help!
I work on 20-30 1847 a month. There are a few players who blow out harps on a regular basis. Two in fact... one plays in a very successful Bay Area band and plays every night. The other is a very tense, hard blower. Stainless steel reeds do break although I've never broken one. In fact for the 15 years I've been playing I've broken two reeds, both 5 draw, one on a Special 20 and the other on Marine Band. If you're a hard blower you'll break reeds. Whatever harp you choose will break if you blow hard. That's my experience. Choose the harp you like that fits your price and practice a lot.
I will say I blew through 5 stainless steel reed harps in a matter of two months. They don't seem to last any longer than the brass for me. I actually feel like they last shorter. I do prefer the sound of the stainless. Though for the high price, it's hard to justify.