Todd Parrott - The Suzuki Hammond Mouth Organ & Others

[DonnaRosas]

Maybe this was all true at 2008 ? By now regarding to suzuki itself the promaster, the promaster v and the hammond share the same reeds and combs. Could it depend on some variation in the production that you have suggested the hammond to be different?

You mentioned the meisterkasse. How would you rate the seydel favorite compared to the other "full metall jackets" ? I'm intending to buy one of those and start working on overblows.

[AceOfHarps]

@DonnaRosas - You are correct that the reeds and reed plates are the same in the Hammond as in the Promaster. I think the differences, according to findings reported from customizers, is that the Hammond combs seemed to be machned better and are thus flatter than the Promaster combs.

As for the Seydel favorite... though I have played them at SPAH, I've never owned one. I wasn't impressed enough with it to purchase one, but in general, I don't care much for Seydel harps.

[doveign]

i have a lee oskar harp it's a piece of CRAP ,, so i bought the bluesmaster hopefully it's a decent harp in that same price range

[journeyquest1]

The hammond does sound nice. It does use phospher bronze reed? I know i like the phospher bronze strings on my acoustic guitars opposed to the 80/20 brass that are too sharp and bright.

[AceOfHarps]

@journeyquest1 Yes, though I am a Hohner player - Golden Melodies mainly, which use brass reeds. Most of the tone of a harp comes from the shape of the covers vs. the reeds.

[journeyquest1]

@AceOfHarps I just ordered my first harp. A Special 20 in the key of C. I heard the GM is not as good for playing chords? I do like the shape though. Was wondering if the cover lip that curves over the comb gets in the way on the GM? Thanks.

[AceOfHarps]

@journeyquest1 The GM is tuned to equal temperament, which makes for rougher chords, but nice in-tune notes for single note melodies. The chords sound a little rougher, but not awful as some claim. I've used them for over 20 years. Nope, nothing about the GM cover plate gets in the way.

[journeyquest1]

My cousin was married to Norton Buffalo. I filmed him playing before he died. One of these days i will have to find the 8mm tape and convert it so i can load it on here. He was an awesome player. Im very much a beginner.

[AceOfHarps]

@journeyquest1 Norton was an amazing player, way ahead of his time even in the 70's. I think he played the harmonica for the movie, "Race For Your Life Charlie Brown" and did an incredible job. Let me know if you post the video you mentioned.

[journeyquest1]

@AceOfHarps He did a private little concert for us at our family reunion. So i was front and center filming. He played "Monkey On My Back" and some others. I will look for it. No one has seen this yet. Will let you know.

[werkis2]

I have to in D Hammond i love it :)

[sfsfhfshfs]

OOhh I want a hammond ! great imformative video mate thanks .

[angelotomandl12]

waht about the overdrive?

[AceOfHarps]

@angelotomandl12 I don't use the overdrive, as I don't need it to get overblows, and I'm really not crazy about the tone. It's an interesting design, but I don't find it too useful.

[gunzorro]

Ace -- Your responses in the comments are as informative as your demonstration in the video. Nice work! Do you know if the Suzuki Folk Master is made in China, and what is its quality? I've been finding I like the plastic combs like the Special 20 and Golden Melody and am looking forward to my first Suzuki Bluesmaster and eyeing the Promaster and Hammond. Great work, please keep the comparisons coming. Jim

[AceOfHarps]

@gunzorro  I haven't tried the Folkmaster, so I can't really advise, but I like the Hammond obviously.

[Diggsblues]

The Hammond is impressive. Bigger sound nice and

clear. I might get one now.

[chachoccs]

hey man Good vids, I'm learning to play the harmonica but I own a shitty one would yo do me a favor and recomend me one to go for if I wanted a Jerry Portnoy sort of sound. Thank u

[AceOfHarps]

I think he plays Marine Bands, but I've always liked Hohner Golden Melodies. However, a customized harp always plays and responds better. If you do go with a Marine Band, I would spend the extra money and buy a Marine Band Deluxe. Hope this helps!

[SuperCat]

Great video. I think I may pick up one of those Hammond harps. Like you I also tried the Suzuki Bluesmaster and after playing, struggled to understand all the hype people were giving it, it was'nt total rubbish, but it won't be taking over my Golden Melodies / Special 20 harps anytime soon!

[angrykoopa]

amazing tone!!

[stickman33]

Nice review. I just got a ProMaster 350V (valved) and it's the best out-of-the-box harp I've found yet. I haven't tried the Hammond. Like you, I was a bit disappointed in the BluesMaster. I don't think it's as responsive as my Lee Oskars, but the 350V blows them all away.

[aerospacepat]

I just got a Hammond- its great but not as good as I was expecting. I probably just need to give it some break-in time since one of my only slight issues is it doesn't bend as easily as my sp 20, but it is extremely air tight. I also have trouble keeping my overblows from squealing, but I'm still trying to figure overblows out and its probably more me than the harp.

[AceOfHarps]

Suzuki harps have shorter reeds, so the squeals you're getting are due partly to the harp. If you're trying to work on overblows, try the Golden Melody.

[darkdave25]

That was really useful! Thanks a lot! Brilliant playing too

[uharp]

Great information Todd. Thanks for sharing. Have you ever try the Promaster Valved harps? What do you think about those?

[AceOfHarps]

Thanks for your comment. Yes, I have tried the valved harps, but was not overly impressed with them. You have to play them a little easier, without as much force, otherwise the notes will not respond as well (because of the valves). Some harp players valve only certain notes, like 7-10 draw. Charlie McCoy also valves certain blow notes for certain songs. He did this for a Gospel album he did a few years ago. I do like valves on the draw notes for 7-10, but not on the entire harp.

[Nkatsikanis]

Really nice, I want to play the blues and minor music, is this Hammond Mouth Organ good for that and what key would you recommend

[AceOfHarps]

I would recommend the Hammond for any style of music, & as for minor music, I usually just use a regular major diatonic harp & play in 2nd position (cross harp) & bend the notes to get the notes in the minor scale. Of course you can also use harps that are actually tuned to the minor scale.

[quinoacat]

Have you tried out the Suzuki Harpmaster? It's built to the same design as a Bushman Delta Frost but uses brass reeds instead of bronze phosphor like Delta Frost. I have one in Db that seems to play much better than my Hohner MS Blues Harp in Db. The Hohner Blues Harps are leaky lip chappers that disappoint me like most all MS harps except the Meisterklasse which I like much better than my Promaster. The Harpmaster set me back a whopping 15 dollars compared to 28 for my Delta Frost High G.

[sarkastica2007]

This guy knows his stuff.

[MadHatter149]

Awsome advise. I'm just startin with a MS klasse in C. Please keep these comming.

[ReedMasterDude]

You may think that HA-20 is different from MR-350, but their physical specifications (slot lengths/widths, plate thickness, materials) are identical.

[AceOfHarps]

Yes, I am aware that these are virtually the same harp, however, Suzuki customer service did confirm when I spoke with them that the black finish on the Hammond does change the tone - gives it a darker, warmer tone. Perhaps I just got a "good apple out of the bunch" with this particular Hammond, because mine certainly plays & responds much better than any Promaster I have used. Again, this is just my opinion based on my experience, not the Gospel Truth. Try it for yourself - Take care!

[AceOfHarps]

I forgot to mention that I am also suspicious of the $20.00 price difference between the 2 harps. Is the extra 20 bucks just for the paint job, or are the Hammonds given extra attention from Quality Control? Suzuki says no, but the Hammond sure plays a lot better in my opinion. I like the tone even better than the Meisterklasse.