bazzzzou
97 posts
Jun 26, 2011
7:55 AM
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I want to ask you guys wich is the best out of the box harmonica for overblow, the golden melody, the suzuki fire breath, the marine band crossover,...?? and can you put an order like 1st 2nd 3rd......
I can do 4 5 6 overblow clearly on a couple of my harps but sometimes the reeds are squeeling and its hard to play them in gigs.
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harpdude61
874 posts
Jun 26, 2011
10:30 AM
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I had a couple of Firebreaths and they did overblow right out of the box. It is a solid harp but does not compare to my Golden Melodys. GMs are not always gapped the same so you will need to learn to adjust gaps. I just seem to have more control of the pitch of the OB with my GMs.
Not tried a crossover?
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HarpNinja
1484 posts
Jun 26, 2011
10:40 AM
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Hohner Crossover. Try C. You can get them to OB out of the box, but they, like ALL other OTB harps, aren't optimized for it.
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Mike
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
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jim
874 posts
Jun 26, 2011
10:56 AM
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The topic is BS.. (imho)
if you need overblows - customize it. The rest just blows.
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Free Harp Learning Center
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groyster1
1156 posts
Jun 26, 2011
11:10 AM
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@jim
quite blunt in your assessment but yes custom harps are superior to oob harps
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jim
875 posts
Jun 26, 2011
11:14 AM
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well yes, a bit blunt.
What I mean is - even if you CAN get overbends on a stock harmonica, you will only torture people's ears if you play them. It will sound harsh and seriously out of tune.
If you go down the slope in a truck, chances are, you can go as fast as 150mph. Does that make the truck capable of going so fast?
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Free Harp Learning Center
Last Edited by on Jun 26, 2011 11:15 AM
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HarpNinja
1485 posts
Jun 26, 2011
11:19 AM
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I agree with Jim. But if we're talking OTB, which is not optimal to begin with, then Crossover.
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Mike
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
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Greyowlphotoart
614 posts
Jun 26, 2011
11:19 AM
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'like ALL other OTB harps, aren't optimized for it'
I agree with HarpNinja. Given that any player can buy any harp from absolute beginner upwards, it would be a risky strategy for harp manufacturers to set the gaps close for easy overblows. It is so easy to choke a blow reed if the gaps are set too tight, even for experienced players.
There is a tendency when you start playing harp to play with too much force (I know I did anyway) so you can imagine if a player does this and the gaps are optimized for overblows they will pretty soon be going back to the store demanding their money back because a blow note won't sound.
So I believe the general tendency with harp manufacturers is to play it safe and set the gaps a little too wide if anything which can produce an 'airy' and unresponsive harp.
Harpdude61 said 'GMs are not always gapped the same so you will need to learn to adjust gaps.' This is good advice. I would recommend Harpwrench (Joe Spiers) gapping videos which helped me a lot. I was pretty clumsy at gapping at first but learned how to do it fairly quickly and it has paid off. I check all my new harps now and gap them to suit my preferences for overblows.
Of course that is not to say you won't get a good OOTB harp for overblows once in a while.
BTW I've just picked up my Golden Melody in C which I haven't played recently and just remembered what a great harp it is. It's loud and has a wonderful tone and 4,5, & 6 overblow a treat (after gapping). I'm also able to raise the pitch of the overblow easily and I'm not an experienced overblower.
I haven't played the Fire Breath or the Crossover yet but they are well reviewed harps so I might give them a try.
Grey Owl YouTube
Grey Owl Abstract Photos
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harpdude61
875 posts
Jun 26, 2011
11:30 AM
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He is asking which harp is best out of the box jim....Ricci did his first couple of albums with stock GMs that he simply gapped. I can spend 10 minutes gapping an out of box GM and the pitch and tone are fine on 4,5,6 ob and 7,9,10 od.
Custom harps are best. I have a set of Buddha GMs. Fantastic...but a lot of players are not ready or have no desire to buy customs.....pretty darn good overbends are available to them by learning simple gapping, proper technique, and some serious wood-shedding.
Last Edited by on Jun 26, 2011 11:33 AM
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HarpNinja
1486 posts
Jun 26, 2011
11:41 AM
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@harpdude61
Gapped...so not OTB.
Also, while you can hit those notes, I feel the tone is different than when set up right.
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Mike
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
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Todd Parrott
526 posts
Jun 26, 2011
12:30 PM
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I'd have to agree with Mike on this one. The out-of-the-box overblowability of the Crossovers has really surprised me. However, I still favor the Golden Melodies for the tone.
As for overdraws, there is no good out-of-the-box harp for those.
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MP
1734 posts
Jun 26, 2011
12:40 PM
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i agree, crossovers.
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MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
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bazzzzou
98 posts
Jul 01, 2011
10:39 PM
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thanks guys!!! I just dont have enough of money noy for cutomized harp, but i can get 6-5-4 overblows on most of my harps, I think that I will try with the crossover!
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MP
1755 posts
Jul 02, 2011
12:07 AM
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bazzzzou,
try rockinronsmusic4less no shipping charge. btw, hohner has an 8-10% price increase effective aug 1st.
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MP
doctor of semiotics and reed replacement.
"making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time"
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