Re: [Harp-L] Suzuki Sub30 Ultrabend -- Review

[Mike Fugazzi <mikefugazzi@xxxxxxxxx>]

I changed coverplates:

http://flic.kr/p/ddDYyG

After a month with this harp, I think it is a fantastic blues harp for 
blues players if you set your gaps.  I have an aggressive and hard attack 
for an overbend player.  While I hardly flatten or break reeds, I know I 
play harder and louder than guys like Filip Jers, as we've A/B'ed.  I guess 
I play more like Brendan.  I play rock and blues and find I can wail away 
on the SUB30 with no issues.  

I will never have to worry about choking reeds on this harp, and I know I 
can avoid any unwanted noise.  

The key is, you have to set your gaps!  The valves work great, although I 
am going to try some other ones as time permits, but simply gapping and 
using open cover plates is a huge step forward.  It definitely responds 
well to embossing.  The reed profiles themselves were really solid with 
just the offsets really needing to be changed.  I have two more coming this 
week and will see how they turn out without such extensive modifications - 
I really did go all out on the first one.

I am going to try and avoid taping down reeds on C and D.  I am very 
content with the results from doing such on the A, though. 

On Friday, September 21, 2012 9:57:18 AM UTC-5, Mike Fugazzi wrote:
>
> Just another update...I picked up a Session Steel in A, which is similar 
> in 
> apperance to the SUB30.  The Steel has not been tweaked at all, but if 
> reminded me of the stock SUB30 in A.  I compared the two directly, and 
> felt 
> the SUB30 played much better as a Richter harp after full customizing.  I 
> don't have a stock SUB30 to compare to, but I'd say the SUB30 can be 
> compared in playability to a Session Steel moreso than the Hohner's I've 
> compared against. 
>
> IMO, the SUB can be played as a blues harp.  Meaning, you don't have to 
> play jazzy to utilize it.  It works fantastic for blues too.  I am a rock 
> player more than anything, but I also play blues with a strong attack and 
> tongue blocking, etc.  It has responded well to that type of playing.  I 
> felt valved harps and a lot of overbend harps had to be played with a 
> different attack to really play well...my style tends to be more in the 
> middle.  I probably play too hard compared to a lot of jazz diatonic (ok, 
> I 
> know I for sure do) guys, but I don't blow through reeds like some blues 
> players. 
>
> Again, IMO, if you take the time to at least gap the SUB30 to your attack, 
> it will work out just fine.  If you can do some embossing on all the 
> reeds, 
> it will play even better.  If you want it to be even more responsive and 
> have a brassier tone, then you work towards that too. That is a lot more 
> work, but to each his (or her) own. 
>
> Mike 
>
> On Sunday, September 2, 2012 9:09:48 PM UTC-5, Elizabeth Hess wrote: 
> > 
> > I bought a Suzuki Sub30 Ultrabend harp at SPAH.  I might have preferred 
> > one in A, but there was only one A to be had, and someone else beat me 
> to 
> > it.  So, mine is a C.  Danny G. was selling them; his SPAH price was 
> > $185.00. 
> > 
> > Then I attended the seminar presented by Brendan Power and Filip Jers. 
> >  Brendan and Filip played beautifully.  I asked what I thought was the 
> > obvious question:  "Are those out-of-the-box harps you're playing, or 
> have 
> > you worked on them?"  Both had been worked on. 
> > 
> > My initial impression is that the "new" or "extra" notes -- blow bends 
> on 
> > the lower six holes and draw bends on the upper four holes -- worked 
> quite 
> > well, and the timbre sounded like regular bent notes, which they should, 
> > because they use added, "sympathetic" reeds, so the physics should be 
> more 
> > or less the same.  And the embouchure technique required is intuitive to 
> > anyone who can do regular bending well.  What I didn't like about this 
> > harp, out of the box, was that all the regular notes had a "congested" 
> sort 
> > of feeling when I tried to play them, and my litmus test, 10 blow bend, 
> > both whole- and half-step, barely played at all.  Brendan did some work 
> on 
> > my harp later, at the Suzuki booth -- a bit of gapping and some light 
> > embossing -- and 10 blow-bend on my Sub30 does work, now.  But the 
> general 
> > issue of regular notes not feeling "right" when I play them remains. 
>  (My 
> > working harps to date include Hohner Special-20s, Seydel 1847 Silvers, 
> > Seydel Blues Sessions, and 1 Lee Os! 
> >  kar.)  That the chambers feel "crowded" on the Sub30 makes intuitive 
> > sense:  There's an extra reed AND a valve in each one.  Brendan 
> suggested I 
> > have it customized, which seems kind of a shame, given what it cost 
> > initially.  I am not a high-power tech, but I can do basic and advanced 
> > first aid.  I took mine all the way apart and did some gapping work on 
> the 
> > lower reeds.  They are better, but still not as satisfying to play as on 
> my 
> > regular harps.  Rather a lot of work for smallish return. 
> > 
> > The Sub30 rewards softer, gentler playing than this jam rat is used to. 
>  I 
> > do get more satisfying results playing it through a mic and amp -- and 
> > letting the gear do some of the heavy lifting -- than just playing it at 
> my 
> > desk with Band-in-a-Box.  So, some of my issues with this axe are 
> strictly 
> > due to my personal playing style. 
> > 
> > Getting all the chromatic notes on a diatonic harp fluently and well 
> > remains an elusive goal.  Overblowing takes embouchure development and 
> > finicky tech work.  I own a PT Gazell harp, and spent some time with PT 
> at 
> > SPAH getting pointers on how to play it well.  But no-one is going to 
> > achieve PT Gazell's tone in an afternoon (or two, or ten).  Or Brendan 
> > Power's or Filip Jers  (Sub30), or Carlos del Junco's or Pat Bergeson's 
> or 
> > Todd Parrott's (overblows).  It still takes work, no matter which path 
> you 
> > choose. 
> > 
> > I think the basic design principle of the Sub30 is brilliant.  That one 
> > doesn't have to learn an alternate note layout (as with the Power 
> Bender, 
> > which also requires either overblows or valves to get  *all*  the notes) 
> is 
> > a big plus.  As manufactured, I think that the Sub30 would be best for 
> > someone who plays more soft jazz than muscular blues, who is very 
> > comfortable working on gapping, and who hasn't already invested a large 
> > amount of time and effort in learning to overblow or play a valved harp 
> > well. 
> > 
> > What we all want is "Everything Fred Astaire did, only backwards and in 
> > high heels," out of the box, and not too expensive.  The Suzuki Sub30 
> > Ultrabend, as currently manufactured, is a decent step in that 
> direction. 
> > 
> > Elizabeth 
> > 
> > 
> >