[Harp-L] Review on the Seydel Blues Favorite Black Diatonic harp

["Don Z" <dzeller@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I recently ordered one of Seydel's new top diatonic harp model, the Blues Favorite Black, in the key of C.  Since nobody has reviewed this harp here yet I thought I'd be the first.  It's only been available for a month or two, currently has to be ordered from Seydel (and our own Mike Timler) and shipped from Germany, at a turnkey/ including shipping price around $70 US. (I also ordered one "Blues Session, their plastic combed model, and got both for right at $100 shipped). They'll take Paypal or  credit card to order. Recall that this company makes the Bushman harps.  I own a Bushman, am not that crazy about it, and can tell you this new model is entirely different, and SO much better in my opinion.



The Favorite Black's black anodized aluminum comb is nicely shaped with somewhat rounded lateral edges to each hole, giving a great soft feel and a nice weight.  It has "thicker than most" chromed reedplates and tight chrome covers.  The seal is great: no leaks here. It is a plenty-loud harp.  I don't want to get into the issue of tone of the aluminum vs sealed wood vs plastic vs titanium comb (again) but can tell you I like the timbre of this harp a lot.

 

The reed setup and tuning seems to be meticulous: I can see that Seydel spends a lot of time on each of these, their flagship diatonic harps, and I think they succeed in putting out a product that most will appreciate for its quality, including beauty of the harp itself, playability and tone. The entire harp was in very good equal temperament tuning with non-beating octaves.  Gapping was absolutely great, as I could overblow 4, 5, and 6 out of the box, and the entire harp was very responsive. With most other harps it takes some gapping work to get the10 blowbend  on a C harp, but not on this harp: 10 blowbend out of the box!  The reeds didn't have any arc to my eye.  The only thing I did to the harp to get the action where I wanted it was very slight gapping on two draw reeds that I felt were not perfectly balanced (in gap) with their opposing blow reed after some breakin, but I'm really splitting hairs here; any list members who know me can attest I'm a fanatic. 

 

What I am most anxious to discover is how this harp holds up to playing over time: will its life be measured in dog-years, like every Special 20 I've ever used, or will it last a good long time, like an Oskar, or like Toots!?  I'd like to see it more easily available through any of the stateside on-line retailers (hopefully there's no contractual conflict with Harp Depot and the Bushman harp line here).  Any lurking harp-sellers let us know if you have any info.

 

I'd like to hear what other folks think of this harp, especially in other keys. Here's the Seydel link on this harp model if anyone is curious:

http://www.seydel1847.de/epages/Seydel.storefront/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Seydel/Categories/Products/Blues/Favorite_Black

 

Zig