Suzuki Harmonicas in Europe
I'm going to be heading to Portugal for a while and I'm wanting to find out about buying Suzuki Manji harmonicas and reed plates there. I'm currently in Japan and I can get a Manji for about ¥4000 (about US$30 / €26) and a reed plate for about half that. I mostly buy from Amazon as the selection of diatonics in most music stores is limited or non-existent (more chromatic and tremelo harmonica playing here). What are the prices in Europe like and where are the best places to buy them? Maybe I should stock up on some reed plates before I go?
Thanks.
Thanks for pointing out Thomann. I looked through their Suzuki products and there were no reed plate sets just complete harmonicas. Is there any source for reed plate sets in Europe?
Sorry BigDude - I'm a novice and haven't got to the stage where I've had to look for replacement parts yet. Sorry that Thomann didn't have what you needed. Hope you find somewhere that does, but those Japanese prices look hard to beat. Boa Sorte!
I got a response from Suzuki Europe about a dealer in Portugal. After I've settled in there a bit I'll check them out, I'm still in Japan for the next two months so it will be a while until I do that. I have bought a stock of reed plates to take with me.
Well, no luck with that dealer in Lisbon. They have Suzuki harmonicas but no parts (reed plates, etc.). They are also not very friendly, a bit snooty, and really want to sell their Kurzweil keyboards instead.
Only other option that Suzuki Europe (which is based in the UK) suggested is an online dealer in the UK. That will mean duty and shipping on the imported parts that put them on par with new harmonicas. I can get new harmonicas in the EU from a number of sources. For parts, I've got enough stock of reed plates and I can stock up on trips to Japan or North America (or visitors from either). It's just too bad that Suzuki has no dealer with parts inside the EU.
Hi BigDude. I live in Spain and have been buying from Thomann.de for quite some time. They have a vast stock of harmonicas of all makes and models, ship quickly and are cheaper than I can buy locally. Over a certain amount they also ship free of charge. Here's a link to their Suzuki Manji M-20 A at €50.
https://www.thomann.de/es/suzuki_m_20_manji_a.htm
I bought that one a couple of months ago and it's a beauty. I live in the Canaries, so suffer from extended customs checks and delivery times, but to Portugal you should probably get a delivery in 2-3 days.