[Harp-L] Seydel Harmonica Model: SYMPHONY 48

[a ash]

In July, 2025, I emailed and warned music stores about stocking Seydel
Symphony 48.

Henk Kuik wrote on 24 Jul 2025, "You should mail this to Seydel. Their
service is very good, so I really don't understand the purpose of this
mail."
and
Muziekhuis Lyana wrote on 24 Jul 2025, "I agree! No problems with Seydel
and their service."

*MY BELATED RESPONSE:*
Sorry for my belated response. My horrible experience with Symphony 48 and
Lars Seifert, President of Seydel Germany, is very long. I tell the first
part of the story in this email. I will tell the rest next time.

This email is somewhat lengthy, but it is a learning experience. You will
see a case of "The biter is bit" or "He is hoist with his own petard", a
phrase in Shakespeare's Hamlet.

First, be aware that bulk purchasers like you are treated very differently
from individual purchasers like me. Once I visited a jewellery shop in
Bangkok to browse. An employee smiled at me, but when she realized I wasn't
a bulk purchaser, the smile changed to an unwelcome look.

I received my Symphony 48 from Germany on *May 20,2025* with severe air
leak out of the box. I emailed on the same day to Lars Seifert about this.
He replied quickly with many canned paragraphs (*see his full reply below*).

He said that I need time to break in the harmonica or I need to change my
embouchure. I have been playing chromatic harmonica for over 50 years and
that was the first time I heard the term embouchure and that improper
embouchure leads to lack of harmonica volume. I highlight that part of the
email in yellow. I heard of the break-in crap used by harmonica customizers
when purchasers complained their customized harmonicas lack volume. In
subsequent emails, he kept saying I need to change my embouchure,
deliberately putting me on the defensive.

Please watch the harmonica-comparison videos (most are shorts) on my
YouTube Channel @HarmonicaInfo (paste "@HarmonicaInfo" on YouTube search
box to find the channel). I have no problem producing expected volume on
other harmonicas (including Seydel Saxony, which has SS reeds). The problem
with my Symphony 48 is air leak and no amount of break-in time or any kind
of embouchure will make it sound louder.

Please notice the sentence, "We occasionally hear some players report that
they initially feel that their first SYMPHONY 48 is leaky and unresponsive."
That suggests there are other buyers who have received Symphony 48 with air
leak and complained. That is why I warned you about stocking the model. I
am doing you and consumers a favor.

As you may see, Lars Seifert was denying my unit had any problems and
fooling me around, duping me to keep my poor unit. He also discouraged me
from returning my unit by saying that the factory most likely wouldn't find
any problems with it. I highlight the two paragraphs in which he tried to
discourage me from returning the unit in light blue. (His behavior reminds
me of government officials who always deny any wrongdoings. I live in Hong
Kong and there is a recurring problem with drinking water. Even when one
can see particles in the water, officials still say the water is safe to
drink, but when they are asked to drink the water, they refuse.)

We had many communications on the following days about issues with my poor
unit, including valve noise and slide noise. He showed disrespect and
deceit (he is very skillful in twisting facts) and kept denying my unit had
any problems. I will provide you the details next time.

Fast forward to *May 27, 2025* when I decided to return the unit, asking to
exchange for a lower-value chromatic model(s) rather than a refund or
repair. Lars Seifert asked me to make a video before I sent the unit
back: "BEFORE
you send it back, I kindly ask you to record and send me a short video in
which you play the SYMPHONY 48 , so we can see and evaluate your playing
style and embouchure. This will help us a lot. " I wonder how a video would
help him see if I play Symphony 48 correctly, but anyway I made more than
one video to show him.

He aksed me to return my unit using couriers like UPS and FedEx to help him
avoid customs duty. So I returned my unit to Germany using expensive UPS
(around 64 Euro), at my own expense. I specifically asked him not to rework
my unit because I wanted to exchange for a lower-value chromatic model(s).
Unfortuately, he ignored my request and went ahead to rework my unit and
said getting back the reworked unit is the only option I have.

*Incredible*: He said the rework is a courtesy from Seydel because I voided
the warranty by dissembling/assembling the unit (he uses the term
alteration, very tricky of him). OMG!!! Disassembly/assembly of a harmonica
(to work on reeds/valves and to clean) is a regularity for harmonica
owners. Why would disassembly/assembly void warranty? Can you provide the
name of another harmonica manufacturer that says disassembly/assembly voids
warranty? I followed the instructions of Greg Jones's YouTube video on how
to dissemble/assemble Symphony 48 when I dissembled/assembled my unit (Greg
Jones is Seydel serviceman in USA). My unit was no better or worse
afterward than when I received it out of the box.

Fast forward to *early July, 2025*. He hadn't (and still haven't) remedied
my purchase and so I decided to put those videos on YouTube for the world
to see. If Lars Seifert didn't ask me to make a video, I won't be able to
show people how poor a very expensive Seydel harmonica could be. I guess my
YouTube videos would reduce the sale of Symphony 48. This is a case of "The
biter is bit" or "He is hoist with his own petard". The universe has its
way to deal with bad guys.

My purchase could easily be dealt with at the beginning. In USA, just
refund or replace the product, no question asked. Unfortunately, Lars
Seifert chose to alienate customers.


*Greg Jones, Henk Kuik, Muziekhuis Lyana ...:*  The reworked unit is at
Seydel Germany.  Should you want to help mediate, please ask Lars Seifert
to provide me exhchange for (i) One solo-tuning VOLCANY  *or*
 (ii) Two DE LUXE STEEL's, one in solo-tuning C and one in A, all with
regular warranty and hopefully testing before shipment to avoid another
saga of poor product.  If the exchange has no problem, that will be the end
of the matter and I won't write another email with details that will
embarrass Lars Seifert and I won't file complaints with consumer
organizations in Germany/EU (complaints will have a permanent record and
damage trade reputation).  However, the videos about Symphony 48 on YouTube
will remain for interest of the public.

Sincerely,
Rudy Hung


*Tuesday, May 20, 2025*
Hello Dear Rudy,

I´m sorry to hear that you are not 100% satisfied with your new SYMPHONY
48. I´m very shocked of what you describe, because usually we hear exactly
the opposite. ( However, not many players change from the SAXONY, but from
other brands.)

Of course the SAXONY feels different from a SYMPHONY 48 ( it better should)
because it´s different in a number of ways. Above all in the dimensions,
the slide the covers ... simply everything. All harmonicas have different
dimensions, but those two models differ more from all the others than they
differ from each other. We have different holes, channels and reeds. Some
players get used to the differences easily, while others take a while to
train their muscle memory, especially players who have been playing for a
long time a different model ( wether SEYDEL or a different brand) and are
used to a certain size and materials.

We occasionally hear some players report that they initially feel that
their first SYMPHONY 48 is leaky and unresponsive. But after a short
break-in period, the vast majority of players find that this model responds
better, are louder and the feeling of air leakage disappears completely.
After this initial experience, they replace all their instruments from
other brands with Seydel.
It could possibly also be just a minor issue with the reed gaps that could
be adjusted within a few seconds to fit your personal playing style
perfectly, but without any experience about how to do that I wouldn´t
suggest to try that on your new harmonicas.
Maybe you could try to adjust your embouchure slightly, just to see if that
makes a difference. Some players did this and find that it makes the harp
play fine and this way they realize that it´s not an issue of the harp
itself.

*Producing high volumes and good sounding notes is not a matter of high
playing pressures but a result of playing with the right embouchure.*

Good tone and clear, clean notes do not come by playing forcefully, but by
playing with proper embouchure.

Try different mouth-cavity shapes if you want to play notes in different
pitches - low notes require a longer air-column than higher notes - so if
you find the right "room" for a particular note you will find out that you
can make it "sing" without raising the playing pressure too much.

Low notes require a longer air column that higher notes. If you play with
proper embouchure and understand that your mouth cavity is a part of the
instrument, you will discover how to make the harmonica sing without
excessive air pressure.


Left: Mouth cavity for playing low notes (like the vowal "U"), middle:
mouth cavity for medium pitched notes (like the vowel "AE"), right: mouth
cavity shape for playing high notes (like the vowel "E")


*Your embouchure, the shape of the mouth cavity in combination with the
position of the lips, tongue, and teeth, affects the tone of the
instrument. You and your harmonica form a “functional unity.”*

Well, it´s always difficult to evaluate an instrument from the distance.
But what I read in the fault description sounds very much like a players´s
problem ( a not optimal embouchure) that effects the valve function
possibly or even the reed vibrations. The reed slot tolerances of high
quality instruments, especially on the SYMPHONY 48 instruments are as
narrow as possible in order to create absolute airtightness. However that
is not a quality issue that can be fixed, but a phenomenon that only the
player can influence by the playing technique used for the SYMPHONY 48.

Attached you can also find some more information about harpresponse.

I`m very much afraid that if this harmonica will be returned to us that we
would find nothing wrong with it , but find it in a perfect playing
condition. So we wouldn´t know what to do with it, but we can only clean it
and return it to you. But in case you don´t get the correct information
about it, the same phenomenons would most likely happen again and you would
be even more frustrated.

It´s great that we have the chance to inform you upfront about those things
and ask to test the harmonica again under those circumstances. And if
possible have the issue verified by a second, also experienced player,
teacher who may confirm that there is a physical problem with the
instrument OR (more likely) would also find nothing wrong with the
instrument and give tips about how to play it to avoid the issues you have
mentioned.

The instrument needs to be in a perfect condition and we are happy to take
a look at it after it would be returned to our service center. But I want
to give those information first, because in 9 out of 10 similar cases we
can avoid the effort and costs of a return by supplying those information
and have the player look at the instrument again with a different
perspective. The possibility of returning it later, if the problems
persist, will not disappear.

If the return should still be necessary, please send it back to the factory.

Please enclose a printout of our email correspondence so that we have a
good description of the fault.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Best regards,
*Lars Seifert*
*SEYDEL HARMONICA TEAM*

From: info at xxxxx
Sent: Thu, 24 Jul 2025 17:37:46
To: Henk Kuik <info at xxxxx>
Cc: gomez <cgomez21 at xxxxx>, info at xxxxx, info at xxxxx,
info at xxxxx, info at xxxxx, info at xxxxx,
info at xxxxx, info at xxxxx, info at xxxxx, info at xxxxx,
fred at xxxxx, apeldoorn at xxxxx, info at xxxxx,
info at xxxxx, info at xxxxx, info at xxxxx,
info at xxxxx, info at xxxxx, patrick at xxxxx,
info at xxxxx, wilma at xxxxx, hendrikvandenbroek at xxxxx
Subject: Re: Seydel Harmonica Model: SYMPHONY 48

I agree!
No problems with Seydel and their service.

Muziekhuis Lyana

Verstuurd vanaf mijn iPhone

Op 24 jul 2025 om 13:53 heeft Henk Kuik <info at xxxxx> het volgende
geschreven:

Hide original message


You should mail this to Seydel. Their service is very good, so I really
don't understand the purpose of this mail.
Henk Kuik
Kuik Muziek
Ndderland
gomez <cgomez21 at xxxxx> schreef op 22 juli 2025 00:05:24 CEST:

Dear Music Stores,

I bought a new, expensive Seydel SYMPHONY 48 harmonica two months ago. It
has severe air leak. Watch this youtube video to find out more: *copy-paste* "
Seydel Symphony 48: Big Disappointment '' in youtube search box to find it.

It appears this Seydel harmonica model lacks production consistency,
resulting in many inferior units. Please be careful of this model when
stocking. Your customers would yell at you when they receive a poor unit.

Sincerely,
Harmonica Info