Suzuki
Hello. I have heard people mention the Manji here and there, but not much about the Pro Master, which is a little more expensive. Besides the price, are there any advantages to the Manji over the Pro Master for a beginning blues player?
Likewise, if cost is not really an issue, would the Fabulus be something worth considering?
Many thanks.
I've read your comments on the Suzuki brand Harmonica's. Regarding my question, is there a perfect beginner harmonica? You sort of answered that question in your last post to Wasabi when you said to purchase between the $20-$30 harmonicas to begin with. I have a Golden Melody C, Two Bluesbands C & A, and a Hohner Old Standby in G. Are these good starters? I thought I needed better than Bluesband so I went out and spent money on a nice (Golden Melody) C harmonica. I figured then I'd have what I wanted in life. So much for the newbie thinking! The Golden Melody, though I'm being very careful not to blow any reeds out, was harder for me (a beginner) to play since it fit my mouth differently. It is slowly getting easier. As I acquire more harmonicas, I don't wish to waste a bunch of money. I wish to buy harmonicas that I know will be ones that I can probably remain very happy with for years. I know even Hohner makes some cheap junk that comes out of China. So...Is there a list available, of good quality, best for the beginner, harmonicas (by brand). The type of harmonica that you'd be happy to have in your arsenal on any ocassion?
While you're at it. Would you mind giving Bluesharmonica.com's unanimous opinion on whether or not there is any wisdom in buying a used harmonica and sanitizing it with Hydrogen Peroxide or is that just down right stupid?
Blues Band and the modern Old Standby (dfferent from the ones made decades ago) are cheap and frankly, though you can sometimes get a good one, are often leaky and out of tune.
And $20-$30 nowadays isn't likely to get you a good harp. More like $35-$60, as I commented above. Golden Melody harps are well made but their chords can sound harsh because they're tuned to match the notes on the piano, while smooth chords vary slightly from piano-style tuning (called equal temperament), and few players use Golden Melody harps for blues for that reason.
A harp that's good for a beginner will be:
- airtight
- in reasonsably good tune
- have a comb that won't swell and cut your lips
- Will be comfortable to hold and won't poke or cut your hands
- Produce good volume without breathing hard
- Have reeds that respond evenly to consistent breath volume
Anything beyond that comes down to personal preference, and you can only discove that by trying different models.
The reason I give a price range instead of naming specific models is that there are so many good models that fall in that range from Hohner, Seydel, Suzuki, and Lee Oskar.
That said, I often recommend either a Hohner Special 20 or a Lee Oskar because hey're mid-priced and of good quality, widely available in music stores, and have plastic combs that won't swell or warp. While wood is traditional for blues, beginning players often salivate so much that the wood tines in the comb will swell and cut their lips. This isn't a problem with the Marine Band Deluxe or Crossover, which are sealed, upgraded versions of the traditional Marine Band model, and those would be fine to start with as well. As are . . . but no, I won't get into a long list of models. The only way to discover your preference is by trial and error.
If you're a beginner, there's no point in going for something expensive like a Fabulous. Two reasons: 1) at this stage in your development you won't be able to get the best out of this harp or likely even notice what makes it distinctive other than how it looks; 2) beginners often destroy reeds until they learn to control their air column, so why burn through high-priced harps at this stage?
For those reasons, I'd advise you to stick with mid-price harps, in the $30-60-ish range.
As to differences between the Manji and the Promaster. The Promaster has wraparound covers with no vents and an aluminum comb. It also comes in a valved model, which allows you to bend the notes that normally don't bend (Blow 1-6 and Draw 7-10). This is not the holy grail of bending, though. Those bends sound and act differently from the regular bends and those notes are also louder than on a standard harp. It's a truly different feel to play a valved (technically a "half-valved") diatonic.
The Manji has vented covers (slits in the slides of the covers that make the sound a bit brighter) and a comb made of some sort of wood and plastic composite. It's Suzuki's take on updating the idea of the Marine Band and has been overall well received. The Manji does not come in a half-valved version.
I have a Promaster that I play now and then, and it's a nice harp but not my first choice. I have next to no experience with the Manji so can't comment on it as a player. The players who favor it seem to be a bit more rock oriented (Jason Ricci comes to mind).
Suzuki makes very good quality harps overall (however, like Hohner, they have their low-end cheapies - Folkmaster and Easy Rider). One thing I notice, though, is that the tonal quality that Suzuki aims for is for a pure, round tone with relatively little of the complex overtone coloration (some call it "dirt") that characterizes the Hohner sound.
For some players that round, clean Suzuki tone is ideal (My Swedish friend Filip Jers comes to mind). Others may find themselves drawn to the distinctive tonal signatures of the classic Hohner sound or the stainless steel reeds used in the Seydel Session Steel and 1847 models. (I know, folks will argue that materials do not affect sound, but each of these various harps, for whatever reason, does have a distinictive tonal signature.)