I recently received two Seydel’s One in the key of Bb and the other was a low C. I’ll start with the Bb.

Firstly the Noble comes standard with matt covers and I had asked for these to be replaced with the polished covers. I also asked for the Bb to be equal temperament tuned (like a GM).

In short, After a day of playing I can say that I was very happy with it. It plays perfectly. I say after a day because the first few times I played it, it just didn’t seem right. Can’t really explain it other than it just was not what I expected. Looking back a few days later, I’ll call it tightness but whatever it was, after a few hours of playing and a rest over night, it was fine. Not just fine, it is brilliant. I love it. It feels great to hold, it’s very heavy (105g) and every hole plays easily and true to tone. The bends seem a little harder than say a GM, but I find I was choking some bent notes on other harps and I am not doing this with this one. The one note that seems to give me grief is the double bend on hole 3, but I think it is me as I struggle to get this on any harp coming from the non bent draw 3 in a clean single move.

Pros: Sounds good, responsive, feels really great, looks good.

Cons: Did not play well for the first few hours of playing. Mild metallic taste when new (I should have rinsed it fist). Little harder to bend than all my others.

Would I buy again? Yes

I understand that it is a matter of personal taste but unless something changes, I have found the harp for me. I am no longer looking around trying out different harps as I have found the one that seems to fit me. There may be better harps out there, but not for me.


Now for the Low C.

I was so disappointed when I first tried it. It sounded terrible when I first played it, or I should say tried to play it. It was just like being a brand new harp player and struggling with the draw 2 hole but it was on all holes below hole 6. I just could not get any of them to sound right. It was very unresponsive to the point I could not play a single tune even something slow and simple like “on top of old Smokey”. I pulled of the covers to take a look and all the gaps looked fine, they were rather large gaps, but I guessed that was to be expected with a low tuned harp. Over the next few days I kept picking it up and giving it another go. It was only when one of the kids said “that sounds ok” I realised that it was coming good, or I was adjusting to the harp. I was most likely half bending every note unintentionally.

So after a few days, am I happy with it? Well, I think the harp is what it is, a low C and I have nothing to compare it with. I think I need to be a little more skilful before I could or should judge the harp. Each time I play it I seem to make it sound better, occasionally I have belted out something and when it comes out right, it does sound good in Low C. The low notes just rumble and resonate throughout the room. They don’t stop resonating when you stop playing, they keep vibrating well after moving to the next note. If I can learn to get it right, this thing will sound great.

Pros: Feels great, Looks good, Sounds good (when I get it right)

Cons: Much, much harder to play for me, definitely does not play well when new, same mild metallic taste when new. Not a harp for beginners.

Would I buy again? The Noble yes. The low C, will need to get back to you on this one.



Post Edited (2011-02-21 19:09:00)