I play SP20s pretty much exclusively - why I'm not real sure, but they just feel/sound and usually work right for me. I have a few of most mfgs. but I keep coming back to SP20s. I open up the covers and that's about all I usually do out of the box. They're usually tight enough on the low end and I can break them in fast.
Lately though I have had a run of bad luck - specifically with D and E flat keyed SP20s. W/in 30 days after purchasing and with < 10 hours of playing time, a draw reeds go out. Always a draw reed - which makes sense with the bending etc. It's usually the 4, 5or 6 draw reed. All of a sudden the reed goes half step flat and it's over after that? or is it? I'm assuming that a micro crack in the reed has happened and I can't save it.
Should I send it back to Hohner, open it up and try to tune the offending reed up, or just send it to the boneyard and get over it.
Other keys - G/A/B flat/C seem to last a lot longer adjusting for equal playing time. Is there something about these higher keyed harps that makes them more susceptible to reed failure?
-- Ross _______________________________________________ Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l