I happened on Seydel harmonicas by accident when my local music store
acquired a bundle of them a year or two ago. As a local supermarket chain
here says in their advertisements: "I came for the price and stayed for the
quality!"
I thought it would be easy to buy a few more on trips to Germany and
Austria, but in all the music shops I visited in Vienna and Hamburg I just
got blank stares. One store owner even confided "the quality is not so good
you know!"
Apparently under the old state owned regime the instruments were produced as
a mere commodity to be sold by the kilo not the piece and mostly in the
Eastern Block.It has taken some time for the word to get around - even in
Germany - that Seydel now produces high quality harmonicas.
However on a visit to Berlin two weeks ago, I eventually struck oil.
Seydel's Dr. Becher kindly referred me to "their man in Berlin" one Igor
Flach, a formidable blues style player who sells harmonicas on the side, via
an on line shop www.harpshop.com. I spent an enjoyable few hours with Igor
and left his appartment a happy man with a Seydel Standard Chromatic in G
and an 1847 Blues harp with the stainless steel reeds. I know that I shall
be back for more.
Beannachtaí
Aongus Mac Cana
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