[Harp-L] Suzuki MANJI

[Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Congradulations to Brendan and Suzuki on what appears to be a fine  
new harmonica.  Suzuki is certainly knocking out interesting new  
products at a very fast pace: Overdrive, Pipe Humming, Firebreath,  
Pure Harp, now MANJI.  Sadly, though, the horrible naming has  
continued (I mean no offense, but I wouldn't consider the "Jon" model  
any better--and somehow "manji" conjures up images of the chippendale  
dancers, but I digress...:).  But, they certainly look like  
instruments well-poised in the market, clearly aiming at the  
"Improved Marine Band" target, which makes a massive amount of sense  
business-wise.

Now for some of the specific claims (all quotes Brendan from his  
response to Vern):

On comb material:

"However, what the PLAYER hears/feels/senses is another matter  
entirely. I,
like most players, do definitely hear differences when I play the same
reedplates and covers on different combs. That's what I'm talking  
about in
the video: what the player feels."


I would hesitate to say that "most players" heard differences--from  
this forum alone it would appear some do and some don't, and I've  
never seen a clear majority either way.  I don't doubt that many do  
believe they hear tonal differences when playing different comb  
materials, but there is no reason to believe that this is in any way  
a reflection of physical reality and not a mental phenomenon.  Which  
is not to dispute nor lessen the importance of such a thing, just  
what one believes and what is actually occurring are not always the  
same, and most likely not the same in this case.


"You can rail against the supposed 'illogicality' of it till the cows  
come
home, but I'm afraid players are passionate about different comb  
materials,
shapes, finishes etc for their personal use, and they will continue  
to be
so. That's why we keep discussing it on Harp-L over and over, and  
there is a
healthy market for custom combs."


People are passionate about a lot of things, however that doesn't  
mean that their passions have any basis in reality.  In any attempt  
to understand the physical machine that is the harmonica, passion and  
emotion need to be eliminated as much as possible.  Fortunately, for  
sales pitches they can be allowed to bloom in all their illogical and  
fantastical glory, as has always been the case--but by the same  
token, salesmen shouldn't get too mad when someone with a good sense  
of smell calls out what they may be shoveling.


"And actually, I don't think it is illogical at all: when you are  
holding the
instrument in your hands, it's against your lips, in your mouth, only  
inches
away from your ears, many senses come into play - far more than can be
measured by any machine. It's the sum of those sensations that make  
players
prefer one comb material to another. "


Taste and feel are massively important factors which vary from  
individual to individual.  They will play a huge part in what comb or  
cover material a person may prefer.  That doesn't translate to them  
playing any significant part whatsoever in the actual sound  
production of the instrument itself, though.

I have many wood-composite type resin combs and quite like them--they  
have a wonderful tactile feel and they don't swell.  Good reasons for  
choosing a comb material in and of itself.


"That COMBINATION of welding and highly accurate reed fixing  to allow
narrowed reed slots is what is really new and progressive about this  
harp.
It takes the out-of-the box harmonica reed performance to a new level  
never
before achieved. It's the first real improvement in this critical  
area since
the 19th century."


It sounds like an impressive achievement, but if people are skeptical  
about how great an achievement it is that is understandable.  How  
many times have fairly technical or minor changes to the design of  
the harmonica or the production process been touted as being "the  
biggest improvement since..."?  I seem to recall Suzuki's own  
literature on the Promaster is pretty much littered with that type of  
praise.  Not to single Suzuki out on this--again, it's pretty much  
par for the course in harmonica advertising, and so it's hard not to  
be fairly skeptical of all such claims, no matter the source.

Moreover, everyone will have a different scale for this.  For one  
person the introduction of all-encasing plastic  combs (LO) will be  
the greatest improvement since...;  for another the introduction of  
steel reeds will be the greatest improvement since...; for yet  
another person (say one with nickel allergies) the introduction of  
stainless steel covers will be the greatest improvement since...   
Which is to say for you (and perhaps for me) this is huge, but it  
might not be so for others.  In any event, I think you've made a  
strong case as for why you view this as such an important  
achievement, and so I very much look forward to checking one of these  
out myself.


"COVERPLATE SOUND
<snip>
As for whether opening the backs of the covers gives more volume and
projection - well, I agree, this is not so clear cut. The difference  
between
a 2-3mm lip at the rear of the covers hanging vertically or flattened  
back
to the top of the cover is probably so miniscule it may not be  
measurable.
However, if one extended the back cover lip down to the reedplates so  
it was
only 1mm from them and almost fully enclosing the reeds, there would  
be a
very noticeable effect. So it follows there should be some small  
difference
between having a 2-3mm vertical lip and none at all."


Not necessarily.  There may be some small difference, but at some  
point you get to where the opening is sufficient that there will be  
no difference between that size and opening it further.  I am not  
really taking a side either way here as to this example, just that  
the logic doesn't necessarily follow.  I think you probably summed up  
how I feel with this paragraph:


"Frankly, it isn't that important to me, but many players swear by  
it. In
opening the covers of the MANJI, Suzuki is simply giving the  
customers what
they want. Is that so bad?"


I would agree with that entirely.  I'd even go further and say it's  
good--certainly good for sales.

All in all this looks like another very nice harmonica from Suzuki,  
one which I plan on checking out for myself when they come on the  
market--a comfortable, non-swelling comb, very high reed to reed- 
plate tolerances and the typical Suzuki quality control, sounds like  
a very nice instrument indeed.

Also, I want to thank Brendan and Suzuki for all the wonderful  
YouTube videos they do on their models.  It's both a great sales tool  
and a great service, IMO.




JR Ross