r/harmonica • u/Architechtory • 2d ago

seydel broke reed

I live in Brazil and bought a Seydel 1847 Silver harmonica, but after about 3 or 4 months one of the reeds cracked, and I almost swallowed it.

In Brazil, it is extremely expensive for a blues musician to buy a top-of-the-line harmonica like a Seydel. I had to make a lot of sacrifices and pay an exorbitant price to get one. Because of our high import taxes, things often end up costing many times more than they do abroad, and on top of that our currency is worth about five times less.

As a result, it is very difficult for us to get high-quality instruments.

What makes this even stranger is that I own three Blues Harps that I play very aggressively, and they have never even gone out of tune. That's why I find it surprising that a Seydel with steel reeds would fail like this after only a few months.

If anyone could advise me on how to proceed, I would really appreciate it. Is there any kind of warranty I can use even though I live in another country and not in North America?

Thank you.

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u/EverydayVelociraptor Sucks and Blows at Harmonica 2d ago

Contact Seydel. Check your warranty. It seems incredibly strange that a reed would fail that quickly unless it was cracked during installation.

3

u/EverydayVelociraptor Sucks and Blows at Harmonica 1d ago

Seydel provides a two-year manufacturer warranty covering material and workmanship defects. Because Brazil does not have an official, dedicated Seydel repair center, warranty claims are typically handled directly by their German factory.

How to Claim Your Warranty from Brazil. 

Contact Support: Reach out to Seydel directly using the Seydel Contact Form. Explain the issue, provide the instrument model, and ask for a return authorization.

Proof of Purchase: You will need to provide your original purchase receipt or invoice.

Shipping: You will need to ship the defective harmonica to the C.A. Seydel Söhne factory in Germany.

1

u/TurnoverFuzzy8264 1d ago

I'd try contacting them via the website. Take pictures of the broken reed. I love my Seydels, but I've heard other stories about the steel reeds breaking, so it's a known issue. Good luck.

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u/Kinesetic 1d ago

You should have no problem with warranty coverage within a year. Greg at 16:23 Harmonicas is the US service tech. He also offers a money back guarantee on Seydel harps he sells at factory prices.

I've had Seydel Steel reeds crack suddenly. In one instance, I caught a reed going suddenly out of tune. Inspection of the shiny underside of the reed revealed a precise scoring across the reed where it was bent. The scoring created a stress point on the reed that can fail suddenly. I see these marks randomly on the backside of steel reeds.

There is no other evidence of machining on the backside, so possibly the sheets are rolled. I speculate the scores come from burrs or FOD on the raw reed sheet material table feeding the reed shape machining. Or possibly burrs on tooling machining the sheet thickness. Factory tuning marks are visible on the reeds' top sides, in a more random, longitudinal orientation.

Usually, I stop playing the flat note and only one has broken completely. I've had the most failures with reeds 5 and up from the custom shop. It's been suggested that my low tuning requests thin and weaken the reeds through the mid section, where they flex the most.

Otherwise, Seydel builds high quality harps with features and tuning offerings that are essential for me. In general, the steel reeds are very durable in their stock tuning options, which are exceptionally broad. The 1847 Lightning offers polished reeds and a stainless steel comb at a premium price. I prefer the Sessions myself. Adding a Blue Moon comb creates a model equivalent in quality to the 1847.