[Harp-L] FIrst look at the Seydel Saxony

[David Payne <dmatthew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't know when they will be more widely available in the U.S., hopefully very soon, but I had some of Seydel Saxonies reserved for folks who had ordered early and I got em today.
The obvious disclaimers are I sell Seydels and  normally play Seydel Chromatic DeLuxes, Hohner 270s and the occasional Hering 12-hole... so with those facts being disclaimed, here's what I thought:
I had expected something along the lines of a chromatic DeLuxe and I picked up the Saxony with the mindset that it would play like a Chromatic DeLuxe, only louder. I expected everything else to be comparable.
What I noticed more was a this remarkable evenness of response from one hole to the next and a definite tightness. I approached the Saxony expecting neither. I played "Lonesome Moonlight Waltz." My normal playing style is to play the entire B part in octaves,  but there is such a long consecutive string of draws that I normally play it in single notes, there's just not enough room in the old lungs to draw two holes at the same time in that part. I can do it with octaves on other chromatics, but my lungs are about to burst at the end of the part. But when I played the B part with octaves on the Saxony, I get to the end of it and I've got about a quarter of lung capacity left. That's the difference in playing that part with technique and passion and just getting through it without running out of lungs.
I don't know what role the steel reeds themselves play, I suspect that a large part of the tightness and even across-the-board response is due to the tolerances of the comb to reedplate and body to slide assembly. It is very well machined and gets a closeness that you just can't get with wood, as much as I love wood, I was quite taken with this. 

Dave
___________________________
Dave Payne Sr. 
Elk River Harmonicas
www.elkriverharmonicas.com