Re: [Harp-L] Does anybody like the Suzuki UltraBend out of the box?

[philharpn@xxxxxxx]

 I like mine!


The key of C  SUB 30 that I bought at SPAH works fine. I get a sound out of all 10 holes and the blow bends on the first 6 holes work. When I first got it blow 6 seemed a bit slow but today it works just fine. I just played a few block chords.


 I don't know if the SUB 30 is just tuned, equal tempered or a compromise tuning. Which means my Sabine STX-1100 chromatic tuner with its equal temperament amber, green and red LEDs only tell me how close the notes (reeds) sounding are to equal temp. 


To me the main purpose of the SUB 30 is the additional blow bends. I would no sooner tape off the reed plate than I would tape over the first four holes on the harp. If you don't want the extra notes via low end blow bends and high end draw bends, another model harp is probably what you want. 


(When the new Hohner Marine Bands came out a few years ago, there were comments on Harp-L about how terrible they were. Mine always worked great. No problems whatsoever then -- or now.)


I think over the decades I have had one harp reed go flat -- on a harp I used for teaching over several years. Other than that, my reeds never go flat and never wear out. Partly because I am not a heavy duty player who blows the reeds out of the harp -- I breathe thru my harps -- which probably extends the life of the reeds. 


The feel (playability) of SUB 30 is different from the XB40 -- a little more restrictive in the blow bends. The XB40 is a little easier to blow bend -- which means it's like a slippery trombone and easier to get the noise between the notes. 


I heard the number of SUB 30s that were available at SPAH -- less than 20?-- but I can't remember the number. Without knowing what the production run was, I suspect that the flawed harps represent only a few out of the batch. All I know is that I got one of the good ones. 


Hope this helps,
Phil Lloyd








-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wed, Sep 12, 2012 7:14 pm
Subject: [Harp-L] Does anybody like the Suzuki UltraBend out of the box?


Brendan Power's endorsement carries a whole lot of weight for me, as does 
his history with the technology.

I also listen very carefully when Richard Sleigh tries out a Suzuki 
UltraBend and concludes that it needs work to be useable.

So I'd love to hear if someone has bought one of these instruments and just 
said Wow, this is just plain great out of the box!

Since the Lyndon Johnson administration, I have never once monkeyed with a 
harmonica reed except to remove a piece of dust or a mustache hair, and I 
can barely even do that well.  But that being said, it's been rare that 
I've wished I had reed-monkeying skills since plastic combs showed up in 
the mid-70's.  The quality of diatonic harps has grown mind-bogglingly 
since Hohner got competition.  I can't think of the last time I wished I 
could tune a reed.  (I don't blow them out of tune.  Ever.)

So, I'm just wondering if anyone has had a good enough experience with a 
Suzuki UltraBend that an undemanding player such as myself could consider 
getting one lacking the modification skills that are now so common in Harp 
Land.

Ken