A Mel Bay Publications, Inc. Webzine
December 2009 · Bimonthly
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In this issue: Solo Groovin' | Microphone Choices: Your Questions Answered! | 70 Years in the Making | Chromatic Roundup Review, Part 2 |
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70 Years in the MakingMonster Harmonica Workbenchby Kinya Pollard On a recent hot night at San Jose’s popular blues haunt, the Poor House Bistro, Suzuki endorsee Andy Just called me onto the bandstand. It was one of the few times I broke my own rule of never playing an “out of the box” harmonica on a gig without empirical knowledge of the instrument. It took the new Manji (M-20) diatonic harmonica, built by Suzuki, to push me to take that leap of faith. I had a B-flat Manji, so decided to perform the Paul Butterfield (of course) version of Nat Adderly’s “Work Song.” The Manji was spot on—very responsive with terrific voicing—so much so, my confidence almost allowed me to overblow on the number five reed to hit the raised 7th (E ;o)
As a Harp-Tech, I have always been a fan of Suzuki’s craftsmanship. The harmonicas are a marvel of precision engineering. As a harmonica player, however, I became frustrated with Suzuki Harmonica’s lack of “vivedus” (Latin: ‘to live’, ‘be alive’). Fortunately, the new Manji by Suzuki altered that belief system.
Named after the founder and CEO of Suzuki Musical Instruments, who built his first harmonica over 70 years ago, the Manji diatonic harmonica is positioned to be a game changer in the universe of high performance harmonicas.
Tech Corner Audiences who sit in the front row of a Comedian’s show, intuitively know they are at risk of being spotted—fodder for the rest of us to laugh at. Similarly, when I am offered a new harmonica to play, it doesn’t take very long before I have all the pieces spread out—fodder for my workbench! That is precisely what I did with my new Manji. The overall length, weight and mouthpiece holes of the Manji are almost identical to the Hohner Marine Band. The width is 1/16” wider.
Cover Plates
The stainless steel cover plates are comfortable and the vents provide good “near field” monitors so the player can hear every nuance they tease out of the reeds. The rear hem of the cover plates have been folded flat to open the back of the harmonica for unrestricted sound projection (a.k.a. loud). Although springy, in order to prevent bowing or crushing, my only recommendation would be to either add stiffeners to the back opening of the cover plate, or center install top and bottom posts (between the reed plates and the inside of the cover plate).
Closer examination revealed that the perimeter of the comb resembled the porosity of wood, while the mating surfaces (sides that touch the reed plates) of the comb appeared smoother.
Many harmonica players, including myself, use vertical foam harmonica cases. Unfortunately this hides the key signature located on the back of the harmonica. I would appreciate having the key signature printed on the end of the harmonica as well.
Reeds & Reed Plates Harmonica Manufactures across the globe are fighting for reed dominance. They hire the brightest alchemist to conjure up new recipes, blending the right amounts of exotic metals to create reeds of the optimum length and weight that will produce the longest lasting and best sounding reeds. Suzuki spot-welds (no rivets) a phosphor bronze reed mix for the Manji.
The Manji plated reed plates match the 0,9mm thickness of the Hohner Marine Band.
As if perfectly flat reed plates mated to a perfectly flat comb were not enough, Suzuki engineers wanted to ensure there would not be unwanted air leakage between the mating surfaces, and therefore, specified eight reed plate bolts.
The closer the tolerance between the reed and surrounding reed plate slot, the greater the efficiency of air through the instrument. The benefits are quickly realized for the player with a louder sounding and more responsive harmonica.
A critical feature of high performance harmonicas is the close tolerance between the reeds and reed slots. You can see this for yourself by shining light behind the reed with a light table. If you see excessive light surrounding the reed, there is air leakage. This inefficient use of your breath through the slots will compromise the playability of your harmonica. For most harmonicas, Harp-Tech's must regulate the tolerance by “shrinking the slots.” This is accomplished by the technique known as embossing (sizing) each slot (see past issue “The Comb Over” Aug’08). Suzuki makes this step unnecessary, because the Manji was already manufactured with incredibly close tolerances.
In this photo, you will see light surrounding the sides of the #2 reed of this stock Hohner harmonica.
Now closely examine this photo of the stock Manji, and you will see less light surrounding the #2 reed. We’re talking millimeters here.
Note: For players who do not manage their oral hygiene, there is a down side to close tolerance reed slots. Harmonicocus will easily coagulate between the reed and slot, and until you clean out this nasty obstruction, your impacted reed will be rendered unplayable. Tuning Modern 12TET tuned harmonicas tend to voice better in the single note playing environment, and conversely, less favorable for chordal playing due to its “jagged” sounding chords. For in-depth information on tuning, read Richard Sleigh’s section on tuning from his book, “Turbocharge Your Harmonica, Volume I: Straighten Up and Tune Right!” http://harmonicamasterclass.com/turbocharge.htm For the Manji, set your chromatic tuner to 443hz (many harmonicas are calibrated at 442hz). This slightly sharper tuning strategy allows the Manji to cut through the cacophony of a noisy bandstand. I was surprised that many of the Octaves would “beat.” This occurs when the lower and higher reeds of the same pitch are out of tune with each other. For example, one draw was +8cent and the four draw was -7cent. Closing Thoughts Celebrity Hands “Play the notes people want to hear” © 2008 Kinya Pollard [ top ]
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