[Harp-L] Second reed failure on a Suzuki Fire Breath

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I own 4 Suzuki Fire Breath harps (C, A, F, Bb), and I like the sound and general playability (though I generally need to adjust the draw 3 reed to get the right action).  However, my first Fire Breath, in C, had a complete failure on the blow 4 reed after only a few hours of playing.  I have now had a similar failure, this time on the draw 5 reed, on the Bb instrument.

This harp is the one I used to record all the harmonica parts on my piece "In The Night," and it's a nice-sounding and playing instrument.  But it hasn't been worked that hard for that long, and it's pretty disconcerting when reeds go straight from fine to failed without passing through slightly-out-of-tune first or otherwise giving any warning.  It's especially disconcerting because it generally takes me years to blow out a reed on a Lee Oskar. 

Suzuki's service team has been attentive and helpful.  But any service has to be delayed to some extent, and a blown reed is a problem instantly.

All this by way of saying that I'm not adding to my collection of Fire Breaths pending further investigation.

FYI, The Seydel Blues Soloist Pro in Db that I bought at SPAH in March is slightly out of tune, which isn't surprising given that it's been my main practice diatonic since then, but is otherwise doing fine (with the exception of a few creases in the cover plates, which aren't particularly sturdy). Pretty good value for money, I'd say.

Regards, Richard Hunter
latest mp3s always at http://broadjam.com/rhunter