How can I tell if I bought a "fake" harmonica?
Hey Kinya,
I got a low tuned C harmonica and I opened it up and saw that the reed plates don't look new. I ordered it from ebay straight from Japan.. is there anyway to know for sure I was not tricked? Is it common to receive reeds in this condition?
http://s14.postimg.org/43e471cun/20150422_001243.jpg
http://s14.postimg.org/g7tdo0pqn/20150422_001300.jpg
Thank you harpsmith for the quick answer that really calmed me down :) I wasn't sure because of the condition of the reeds that look like they have "went through some stuff" but you made it clear that they work on it even before sending it out of the factory.
The harmonica plays absolutely fine, although it is so hard to bend 3 draw and below, I wonder if you have some tips regarding that. moreover I am really pleased about the coned shaped coverplate and I wonder if I can order JUST them to use for all of my harmonicas. perhaps you have that information?
Thanks again! :)
Hey there,
I'm kinda spooked out again unfortunately, I got in Suzuki's website and saw this;
"WARNING: DO NOT PURCHASE SUZUKI HARMONICAS FROM OVERSEA SELLERS!
It has come to our attention that counterfeit Suzuki Harmonicas are being offered for sale through oversea sellers. Please do not fall victim to these illegal sellers of Suzuki Harmonicas. Our customer service department has recently received phone calls regarding these fake harmonicas. Unfortunately, these products cannot be returned, warrantied or serviced by Suzuki Music USA. Authentic Suzuki Harmonicas can only be purchased through Authorized Suzuki Music Retailers in the USA. Do not purchase Suzuki Harmonicas from an on line seller that indicates, "Shipped from Japan". These products carry no warranty, cannot be returned or repaired by SUZUKI MUSIC USA and are most likely counterfeit replicas."
Do you recommend me to buy from USA only?
Hi, Crazymilk. I bought a low C Manji from an eBay seller myself. Do you feel comfortable posting who the seller was?
yeah sure I don't mind his account name is;
"greatjapaneseguy"
Why do you ask if I may ask?
I was just curious. I bought my Low C from the same seller. I don't see anything on mine that makes me concerned it is a counterfeit harp.
Hello All
Your close up photos revealed the signature "cut" of a Suzuki tuned reed. I would be stupified (and impressed)--if this was a fake.
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Hi Crazy Milk, Good to hear from you.
You do like you did ... send the Harpsmith photos ;o)
The images of the reed plates you sent me look fine--appears to be Suzuki. The markings shown on the reeds are the result of the tuning tools (mostly laser tuning, I suspect).
The Phosphor Bronze material that Suzuki uses comes in huge rolls (imaginge a roll of tape made of metal) that gets loaded onto a reed milling machine, that precisely shaves off material to create the profile of the "general" pitched (think chromatic scale) reed. Once the strip of metal has the correct profile, the reed punching tool stamps out the desired shape (sort of like the letter "T", with the horizontal part becoming the reed rivet pad). Twenty reeds of different lengths, widths and weight are then loaded into cassettes, that eventually make their way to the spot welding machine. Ten reeds are spot welded onto the reed plate, with surgical precision.
The last step of the process is to precisely tune each reed, so that when played in combination and comparison to each other reed, the desired temperament (Compromised Just, 12 Tone Equal Temperament, Just Intonation, etc.) can be heard. To accomplish this, the laser (and/or file) removes metal from the rivet end of the reed to "flatten" or remove metal from the free end of the reed to "sharpen". Again, this is what your photographs showed us.
Does it play to your satisfaction? By the photos, it appeared you made a good purchase ;o)
Your Harpsmith, Kinya