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New Special 20
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A440
144 posts
May 04, 2014
2:26 AM
I noticed on Hohner's website that the Special 20 has new a cover design, now carrying the "Progressive" series name. I am wondering: besides the cover cosmetics - are there other changes to the 2014 Special 20? It's hard to tell from the photo, but the comb looks a little smoother and more rounded, almost like a black version of the Rocket Comb.

Are any of you using the "new" Special 20? If so - please comment on wether there are any other changes, besides the wording on cover plate.

Also... I wonder if the change will cause the online sellers to discount the old 2013 Special 20s to clear out their inventory... that would be nice :-)

Last Edited by A440 on May 04, 2014 2:47 AM
JInx
767 posts
May 04, 2014
10:02 AM
really?! a new special 20? wow, this is big!

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A440
145 posts
May 04, 2014
10:18 AM
This may only be a cosmetic change to the top cover: addition of the word "Progressive" and deletion of the words "Marine Band". Or maybe there are other changes... which is why I asked the question.

There is only 1 photo of the SP20 Progressive on their website - it's pretty hard to tell if any other changes were made.

Last Edited by A440 on May 04, 2014 10:22 AM
A440
146 posts
May 04, 2014
10:21 AM
http://us.playhohner.com/instruments/harmonica/diatonic-harmonicas/progressive-series/special-20-classic/
MP
3196 posts
May 04, 2014
10:56 AM
The Rocket also says Progressive. The Sp/20 was one of the few attempts to replace the MB 1896. That's why it said Marine Band though it only shares the MB reeds and tuning.

AS an aside, the Golden Melody was a successful attempt at bringing back the US Navy Band harmonica. The originals are rare.
I've only seen pictures from collections. In interviews, Both Lee Oskar and Charlie Musselwhite have mentioned liking the old Navy Band harps.

I've already set up two Rockets. The comb slots are bigger and the screws and covers slightly different than the 20. Very good harps but
nothing to write home about.
just get a 20 and open the covers yourself. the forward screws would make a difference on an MB type but is mostly cosmetic (to me)


Original Pro harps were just a black version of the SP/20.
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Last Edited by MP on May 05, 2014 10:21 AM
arzajac
1359 posts
May 04, 2014
11:17 AM


It looks like the same color comb as the rocket. With slightly rounded comb corners and Manji-type covers, it would be a rocket! Hohner is making the Sp20 and the Rocket more and more similar (as though the difference was ever that big). I wonder why?


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A440
147 posts
May 04, 2014
11:48 AM
Hohner's marketing has created 4 product families:
1. Marine Band (MB,MBD,XO,T-bird)
2. Progressive (Rocket, SP20, GM)
3. MS Series (all the MS harps)
4. Enthusiast (low priced, Chinese-made harps)

...hmmm...
JInx
768 posts
May 04, 2014
10:43 PM
from now on we'll be forever referring to the special 20 as either old stamped cover and the new....it's historic!

change will freak out some of us, lol
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slackwater
51 posts
May 04, 2014
11:52 PM
The first Special 20 I had was actually called a Pro Harp! Then they took the Pro Harp name and made it into an entirely different MS type harp. They changed the cover plates on the original Pro Harp, renamed it and the Special 20 was born.
chromaticblues
1569 posts
May 05, 2014
4:05 AM
Interesting!
Damn now I want one (or four).
Pistolcat
615 posts
May 05, 2014
5:03 AM
If you are referring to the pic that Arzajac posted it seems pretty computer generated to me. I wouldn't be too sure that the change of cover plate design has come into effect just yet.
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Adam Hamil
134 posts
May 05, 2014
8:00 AM
This is a comsetic change. The Special 20 is still the wonderful instrument is has always been.

There have been no other changes than the coverplate cosmetics.
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C. Adam Hamil
HOHNER CERTIFIED Free Reed Instrument Technician
MP
3197 posts
May 05, 2014
10:23 AM
kudzu HATES SP/20s. He can be such a hater sometimes. :-) JOKE!!

@ slackwater- not really but close. The SP/20s pre-date the Pros. I know because I used to be able order whole sets for friends. My friend Jimmy wanted the new pro harps he'd seen in our catalogue.
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Last Edited by MP on May 05, 2014 10:30 AM
slackwater
52 posts
May 05, 2014
2:32 PM
Yeah MP, maybe your right. I encountered a Pro Harp before I saw a Sp.20 but that doesn't mean the Pro Harp was first.
They were exactly the same dimensioned combs though but I'm not sure if the reeds were the same.
There's something else I've wondered about too, maybe you can help. That is; which was first, Special20s or Lee Oscars? I seem to remember seeing Lee Oscars first and always considered that the Hohner ones were like their answer to Lee Oskars.
SuperBee
1951 posts
May 05, 2014
2:50 PM
First Sp20 I had was an MS harp. Still have it, and it's even playable and in tune thanks to a trip it made to Hawaii one time...
I didn't actually wake up to the fact sp20s aren't MS anymore until about 2010. I just never looked at another one after my experience with the first one I bought. I like them ok now. Not my harp of choice but sometimes I think maybe they ought to be.
Hey, I have a country tuned sp20. It's rather sharp. when I checked it turns out to be equal tuned. Anyone know is that normal for hohner's country tuned sp20?
Shaganappi
113 posts
May 05, 2014
3:34 PM
Am concerned - does this mean we will be banned from MBH if we only have Classic S20's? That only Special Specials will be welcomed? We are a conservative sort, aren't we? I will bet that most of us are on the standard diatonic even. Would be an interesting survey to see how many of us are cutting edge enough to have moved to any special tunings, half valvings, or much more, (I am talking about players that actually play - performing that is, MOST of the time on something other than the standard).

Does anyone have an idea? Has such a survey been done, at least for the more known players? Probably everyone has experimented on a few other harps but how many actually have moved on close to completely?

I would say that before we can actually move out of the house of the standard sound to something MODERN, that the instrument would have to change dramatically from what Sonny Terry used. Suppose that combining with loopers would start to count as a different instrument.
SuperBee
1962 posts
May 07, 2014
7:09 AM
Absolute bargain for one lucky sucker
MP
3199 posts
May 07, 2014
11:25 AM
Good morning slackwater. The SP/20 pre dates the Lee Oskars. LO appropriated the basic SP/20 design and added key stamps in first and second position so you don't have to transpose. Maybe he was tired of harp players playing in the wrong key? :-)
He left out some of the better features. SPs have better and more reed plate screws. ( original SPs had nails, BIG ones-so did GMs. Also the SP covers are deeper than LOs. To compete w/ LOs replaceable reed plates, replaceable everything; Hohner came up w/ an even worse harp than the Marine Band (at that time) The MS Series harp. The MS series SP/20s and MBs were never released in the US. The only MS SP I ever saw was one SuperBee sent me for repair. Either Bee or another fellow whom doesn't speak American also sent me a Marine Band MS harp for repair. It looks like a Big River.

BBQBob says this MS MB was supposed to replace the 1896 MB just like Hohner tried w/ the Special Twenty. It was hated world wide.

PS- Like Shagnappi I'm concerned about being banned from MBH for owning un-Progressive harps. It's bad enough that I play Little Walter tunes, and think looping is cheating. I even think a lot of middle aged white dudes hate rap and hip hop but pretend not to and say stuff like "it's a viable art form" so as not to appear uncool. :-)
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Last Edited by MP on May 07, 2014 2:19 PM
Goldbrick
427 posts
May 07, 2014
11:35 AM
Not uncool " insensitive to an urban art form and out of touch". A sad group we are. Gabba gabba Hey ( oops showing my urban roots)
MP
3200 posts
May 07, 2014
2:25 PM
Insensitive? I agree. We can't all be (S)ensitive (N)ew (A)ge (G)uys. The acronym may be pushing the envelope w/ humorless PC types.
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jnorem
189 posts
May 07, 2014
5:27 PM
I have maybe a dozen SP20s, they're the harps that live in my case, the harps I play for the people. Some are really old, but new reed plates and basic maintenance keep them going just fine, so I'm not interested in what Hohner has done to the SP20 to make it better or different. Leave the damn thing alone; the SP20 is a great harp as it is.

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Shredder
393 posts
May 08, 2014
6:20 AM
Yes jnorem I agree, If it an't broke done't fix it!
S/P 20 my harp of choice, G/M is 2nd.
Mike
HarpNinja
3872 posts
May 08, 2014
6:45 AM
"...so I'm not interested in what Hohner has done to the SP20 to make it better or different."

Seriously? Since the 90's they've changed the alloy, tightened the tolerances, and have moved to stainless steel covers, which has improved the playability and longevity of the instrument. Those weren't worth the effort???

I like the old covers, but the change is purely cosmetic. My main set of harps are all SP20's.
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Mike
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Gnarly
995 posts
May 08, 2014
8:10 AM
Most of the 40 harps in my gig case are SP20, some are pretty old and most of those sport TurboLids--
See, when I decided to start making my own altered tuned harps, I dug up my old broken harps to use, replacing reeds and learning repair in the process. And most of those were SP20--John Frazer got me started on those in the 80's.
Since I am employed as a harp repair guy by the US distributor for Suzuki Japan, I try not to promote the competition, but let it be said:
There ain't nothing wrong with a Special 20.
TheoBurke
627 posts
May 08, 2014
9:11 AM
" I even think a lot of middle aged white dudes hate rap and hip hop but pretend not to and say stuff like "it's a viable art form" so as not to appear uncool."
Well, maybe on the white-guy-wanting-to-seem-hip part, but I do know more than a few Caucasian fellas, between the ages of 35-50, who do like a good amount of hip-hop. I am also acquainted with some African-American associates , friends and work mates and those I know in larger social circumstances, who don't care for rap or what it stands for. It's hard to generalize as to who likes what. For me, hip is not my thing, but I'm too old to actively dislike it. When the heats hit and the sampling is used creatively, with imagination, it gets my interest and I might even focus on the lyrics to appreciate the fiery (if limited) world of street rhymes. The human beat box thing does dot really impress me, though, as they sound , to my ears, like variations of Mel Blanc's characterization of Jack Benny's car, the Maxwell
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Ted Burke
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheoBurke?feature=mhee
(Sorry, I just had to include this.) Anyway, I do think that hip-hop/rap is a viable art form and presents, in fact, a diverse range of artists and styles. Not every legititmate form need appeal to every person who comes across it, though. To each their own. Last note, Special 20s are perfection itself, and I likely be buying them exclusively after trying out the products from other worthy manufacturers.
http://ted-burke.com
tburke4@san.rr.coM
Goldbrick
428 posts
May 08, 2014
9:46 AM
Not to turn this into a genre discussion, but I remember when I was radio DJ back in the early 80's a record company exec told me that hip hop would get a big push because it was the cheapest product that could produced,
Pre recorded tracks for the most part and a 1 hit artist who would probably not get another shot.
They learned this from the dance hall Dons in Jamaica.
Afrika Bombaataa and Grand master Flash are proof that the genre has potential-- by the time you had the Super Bowl shuffle it just became too many guys saying " hey- I can do that too"

Last Edited by Goldbrick on May 08, 2014 9:53 AM


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