Suzuki Promaster Harmonica MR-350
I'm interested in this, Suzuki Promaster Harmonica MR-350 model and was wondering if you're or anyone has an opinion on it. One of the man reasons I'm interested besides it being valved is its countoured shape. Thanks
thanks for your time and opinion.
My first two harps were a MR350 (valved) and a Lee Oskar, bought in the year 2000. Played discountinously for many years not making any progress (played only the MR350, my best harp). That's all I had until 2016.
Last year I bought a set of promaster (no valves) to get serious about playing, not wanting anything else as I was convinced that this was a great harp).
My feedback :
-valves can be nice if you want to play all the notes, but the lessons here do not use valves. So in fact I don't use them. Also the valves can be heard during playing as the reed flaps against them.
-promaster are hard to bend and the tone is not warm and rich.
A few weeks ago my local teacher (Hohmer endorsee) advised me to get a Rocket Amp (the green one). I love this harp so much better than my promasters. For ease of play and sound I am replacing one by one my promasters by Rocket Amp and Crossovers. The drawback is : the NICE feel of the promaster has been replaced by the very awkward feel of the Hohner screws and cover plate on my lips. (the rocket has more comfort than the Crossover).
It's a decent harmonica. The shape is nice if you like it but has little effect on the sound.
The half-valving makes the blow notes louder and does allow for isolated reed bends, which can be interesting to explore. However, valves get dirty and start to stick, pop, and bray, unless you take care to play with a clean mouth.