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Philosofy
831 posts
Jul 05, 2017
7:37 AM
I thought it would be nice to have a thread dedicated to current and out of business harmonica manufacturers.

Off the top of my head:

The big 3: Hohner, Suzuki, Seydel. Hohner is the largest, Seydel is the oldest, and Suzuki is in Japan.

Other active harp brand names:
Lee Oskar
Easttop (a new Chinese brand)
Huang
Yonberg


Which ones am I missing?
Rontana
416 posts
Jul 05, 2017
8:29 AM
Lots of names out there, such as Hering, Bushman, Johnson, Kay, Merano, LoDuca and probably more. Recently "harmo" popped up, which was addressed in a thread a few days back. Pretty low quality on a number of these.

I have no idea if some of this is simply rebranding of different names from the same plant. I suspect yes, but am too lazy to investigate.

It may be analagous to how, years ago, Kay and Harmony guitars were sold under a ton of different names, by Montgomery Wards, Sears, JC Penny, etc. Brands included stuff like Old Kraftsman, Silvertone and Truetone (sold in Western Auto stores) but the list goes and on and on. The instruments were basically the same animal, with a few tweaks. If I recall, even a lot of Stellas were Harmony.

Not necessarily a bad thing. I've got a Harmony archtop from the 1920s, and a True Tone/Western Auto "Speed Demon" from the 1960s. Both still play very well (I don't play very well, but the guitars do).

Last Edited by Rontana on Jul 05, 2017 8:52 AM
AppalachiaBlues
30 posts
Jul 05, 2017
1:27 PM
I would contend there is the "Big 5":

Germany: Hohner and Seydel
Japan: Suzuki and Tombo/LeeOskar
China: EastTop (including the many other brands they produce).

10 years ago, I would not have included EastTop, but would have instead included 'Brazil: Hering'. I don't see much from Hering these days. They were the only big producer based in the Americas for any extended time.

Last Edited by AppalachiaBlues on Jul 05, 2017 1:33 PM
nacoran
9508 posts
Jul 06, 2017
10:27 AM
I've talked to some people in Brazil on FB. Hering is still around. They just don't do much exporting these days.

Somewhere around I have a list of all the brands I've run across. Most of them are defunct.

I think East Top may have something to do with the lower priced Bee brand.

There is another Chinese brand named Blessing. I don't know if they are still active.

There is Swan...
http://swanmusicstore.com/index.php?main_page=page_3

There was the Brazilian brand Bends for a while...

Okay, found the list... some of these are model names, not actual brands. I was looking at listings on eBay at one point...


Ace
American Ace
American Freedom
Albert Sys.
Atom
Bandmaster
Bee*
Bell Brand
Bends
Blessing*
Blue Danube
Blues Bayou
Blues Buddy
Bluesman
Blue Star
Blue Steel
Bohm (F.A. Bohm)
Boomerang
Brunnbauer (Ph. Brunnbauer)
Bushman (Buckeye Trading)
Butterfly
Canary
Carmento
Clover
Chase
ChengGong
Chordet
Cid
College Band
Contest
Doerfel (Dorfel?)
Dompfaff
Down Souther
Dulcet
Duretta
Dragon Fly Harmonica
Emmet
Empress
Ergo
Essenbach (Carl Essbach)
Estrella
Excalibur
Excelsior
Feinste Sileck Stimmen
Fischer (Joseph Fischer)
Flying Eagle
Friedel (Emil Friedel)
Glass (Franz Glass)
Golden Bird
Golden Butterfly
Golden Cup (Leo Shi)*
Gretsch
Guo Guang
Hadson
Hans Eisen (Stainless Steel)
Hardwood Harmonicas
Harmonic Reed
haRmonic Solutions
Harmonix*
Harp Depot
Harrison
Hero
Hering
Hess#
Hilaria
Hohner
Hot House
Hotz (F.R. Hotz)
Huang
Huricaine Harps
H.S.G.
The Indian Elephant
Jailhouse Blues
Jambone*
Johnson
Kaptain Kool & the Kongs
Kalbe
Kay-Chicago Blues
Kratt (US)
Klingenthal
Koch (Ands. Koch)
Koch (Wilhelm Koch)
Koch-Harmonica Werke
Koestler
Kratt (WK Kratt)
Kruse
Langhamer
Lark
LaVoie Harmonicas
Loduca Bros.
Lombardi
Longhorns
Ludwig (Gebr. Ludwig)
HarpsCool
KHS (Taiwanese)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KHS_Musical_Instruments
Magnus (American)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Harmonica_Corporation
Martinelli
Melissa and Doug
Merano
Messner (Christian Messner & Co.) (Ch. Messner)
Minyata Eagle
Mississippi Harmonica Co.
Miwha (Korean)
Miyata Brand
Mondial
Monzino
Music Master
Musima*
My Chum
Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
Odin (Swedish)
Olympic
Opera
Orion
Oskar (Lee Oskar)*
Parot
Pee Wee
Phonix
Pinochio
Pohl (Peter Pohl) (P. Pohl)
Popular Delicia
Planetone (Tribal Planet)
Puretone
Radiotone
Rauner (F.A. Rauner)
Rennesance
Rheinperle
Richter (Anton Richter)
Richter (Joseph Richter)
Robert Dolling
Romel (William C. Romel)
Rolz (Hans Rolz Co.)
Sanita
Saxonia
Schlossmeinel
Schlott (A.S. Schlott)
Schunk (Johann Schunk)
Schylling
Serenata
Seydel (C.A. Seydel Söhne)*
Schoenhut
Schylling
Skylark*
Sonara
Spranger (M Spranger)
Star Band
Strauss
Suasa
Suzuki*
Swan-Victory*
Swaine & Adeney
Sweet Music
Swing Band
Tatiri
The Blues
Thorens (Swiss)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorens
Tombo*
Torahachi Machino
Toy Star (Star?)
Tower
Turbo*
US Blues
Vermona
Vinetta
Violin King
Weiss (Ch. Weiss)
Weltmeister*
Weydlich (Carl Weydlich)
Wurtt (Württ. Harmonikafabrik)
Yamaha#

Wuxi-Suzuki (partnership)

#Fairly Contemporary
*Still Made
Bold Major Brand



Still Need to be Alphabetized and Checked for Duplicates:

A.A. Schlott Dompfaff
Brunnbaur and Sohn
Carl Essbach Weidersehn
Unsere Lieblinge
Thomas Rosenkavalier
Thomas Zigeunerbaran
William (Anton)Thie / Friedrich Wilhelm Thie
Carl (A.) Essbach
Matth. Hohner A.G.
Royal (Emmet) (Richter)
T. Meinhold
C.H. Meinel (Meinel)
Edmund Paulus
P.H. Brunbrauer
Carl Essbach
Richter (Meinel & Herold)
Meinel & Herold
Blue Bird (Bohm?)
Johannes Adler
Borrah Minnevitch
C.H. Messner (Ch. Messner)
Tomba* typo?
Migma?*
Kostler*
Wm. Kratt (U.S. made)
Kain Z.
Valencia (Kostler Co.)
Carl Pitsch
Cupid Brand Hockey
Mississippi Harmonica by Regal
BBB
ELA
Gebr. Meinel, Klingenthal
VEB Klingenthaler Harmonikawerke
Gebr. Gündel, Klingenthal
Popular (Czech)
Thomas Zigeunerbaran (Hans Rolz?) Swedish
Luxe (Swedish)
Schlossmeinel (bakelite)
F.A. Rauner
Carmento
Joseph Fischer Charmant


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Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009
nacoran
9509 posts
Jul 06, 2017
10:37 AM
Several of these got bought by Hohner. Some were branded harps rather than brands... someone paid a harp factory to throw their name on a harp, and some are models, not brands.

When I started playing 10 years ago you would see a lot of ads for cheap Meranos and Johnsons. Blessing, Bee, Huang, Bushman, Hering, Harrison, Tombo(Lee Oskar), Suzuki, Bends, Seydel, Weltmeister, Leo Shi and Swan are all ones I've seen being sold new during that time.

Fender now has a line of harps, but they are rebranded. I know they have models made by Seydel and by Tombo, as well as several others.

And of course there are tons of customizers and comb makers. Far fewer companies make their own reeds. That seems to be the logical way to divide them into aftermarket manufacturers and manufacturers. Turboharp, Brendan Power and Winslow probably deserve separate mention since they have designed harps that are different in ways beyond just tuning differences (Turboslide, Overdrive, discrete comb).

----------
Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009

Last Edited by nacoran on Jul 06, 2017 10:39 AM
1847
4256 posts
Jul 06, 2017
11:40 AM
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WinslowYerxa
1362 posts
Jul 06, 2017
12:08 PM
EastTop and Bee are both brands of Jiangsu East Musical Instrument.
===========
Winslow

Check out my blog and other goodies at winslowyerxa.com
Harmonica For Dummies, Second Edition with tons of new stuff
Join us in 2017 for SPAH in Tulsa!
WinslowYerxa
1363 posts
Jul 06, 2017
12:15 PM
@nacoran: "Turboharp, Brendan Power and Winslow probably deserve separate mention since they have designed harps that are different in ways beyond just tuning differences (Turboslide, Overdrive, discrete comb)."

Thanks for the mention. However, Brendan didn't come up with the Overdrive. It was a Japanese guy; I remember meeting him in Trossingen in 1997. Brendan did come up with the X-reed idea independently (and later) from Will Scarlett, and has plenty of other ideas that are original.
===========
Winslow

Check out my blog and other goodies at winslowyerxa.com
Harmonica For Dummies, Second Edition with tons of new stuff
Join us in 2017 for SPAH in Tulsa!


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