honer special 20s

[bill gardiner]

 i ordered a special 20 in A,when it came in it had progressive on the cover, it appears they are doing away with the classic 20S, i bought it for a back up because the 20 im using now is about ten years old plus a few more,so i havent played it much,but i know one thing the gap on    t he reeds was huge and it  took lots of air,its better after gapping, but they dont seem the same to me ,any body with any experience on these new harps?

[Matt]

I haven't tried one of these new ones, but here's a comparison video which might confirm your own experience.

https://youtu.be/6SAZxMMgdFE

[Matt]

I still haven't bought one of these new SP20's and I probably won't, after reading reviews and talking to a few players.

In my opinion, the changes made to the instrument are all about cost, and so far this seems to extend to cutting the amount of time spent setting up and tuning the harmonica before it is shipped. Moving the model into the 'progressive' group of products really does seem like demotion into a lower quality level rather than a clever restructuring for 'marketing' reasons.

I own over one hundred classic Special 20 harmonicas, they are my main harp for gigging and teaching. They are good out of the box, durable, warm, easy to maintain and clean. I have come to rely on a certain level of quality that allows me to purchase these harps with confidence that I probably won't need to dick around with gapping and tuning straight out of the box.
I own half a dozen MB Crossovers, a few Deluxes, two melody makers, Big River, a few Blues Harps/Pro Harps, Suzuki Bluesmasters, Lee Oscars in harmonica minor tunings.

If the quality of the 'Progressive' Special 20 (build quality/design and tuning/setup) turns out to be lower than I am accustomed to, I will be looking to Seydel for a new workhorse or building all of my SP20's from scratch using old reedplates, cover plates and screws with new reeds.

Let's hope that the initial batch released were not an indication of the quality we will see in the future.

[wyredmusic]

I got a  rocket(progressive) in special 20 Bb and I don't like it at all. The square holes are wider, cheaper plastic comb. Cost cutting I guess.