I've recently been working on some Stevie Wonder tunes and licks on my Diatonic and its got me thinking about buying a Chromatic Harp. I dont really want to spend a fortune on one just yet so i'm wondering if anyone can recomend a fairly cheap Chromatic to get me started?
I've been looking on Ebay and i've noticed there is a large selection of Hohner Chromonica's for sale (second hand) which dont cost the earth. Does anyone know if a Chromonica would be a good Chromatic to start on?
hey ANT! i don't think going cheap on a chro is the best idea. but then again, it's not the worst idea if you just want to see if you like chros.
there are some old photos of wonder playing hohners 12 hole super chromonica, model 270. nowadays i'm positive he plays something vastly superior.
like you said, there are a ton on Ebay.
best not get anything with less than 12 holes. 16 hole hohners are much better sounding than the 12 holers as a rule unless the 12 hole is an artist model like toots theilmans hard bopper or mellowtone.(get one of these if available) also look for the black teflon CBH12 or CBH16 by hohner(THESE ARE AWESOME!)
if you see a 270 chromonica on Ebay, find one with a photo of the bottom cover plate. look to see if there is a star of david in the circle/coin the hands are holding. this means it is older. i own one myself and these sound and play better than the newer ones.(better brass so better reeds)
i personally would look for nice and shiny and no cracks and cardboard boxes that are red and black. i could go on and on but i feel i'm giving too much info.
Last Edited by on Jun 03, 2010 2:27 AM
Thanks MP, I was wondering about the amount of holes and which would be better, i've even seen some 10 hole chromatics but i'll stay away from them and try and find a 16 hole if i can. Thanks for the great advice. ----------
Last Edited by on Jun 03, 2010 2:44 AM
one thing to keep in mind is that chros have windsavers.( little plastic rectangular strips that act as valves) these get old and fall off or curl. this may cause minor buzzing or popping sounds
this is no big deal. you can buy new windsavers and glue from hohner.
12-holers are best. You can kill with a 16-holer, and the 10-holes are usually low-class.
Don't buy cheap chroms. It's not a diatonic you can easily improve. For example, if you get a Hohner Chromonica with a curved mouthpiece (don't buy that model by the way) - there's NO way you can stop air leaks then. Unless you rebuild it completely.
Chroms are very subtle stuff, you need to choose carefully.
Everyone who has reviewed it, likes the Seydel Saxony. I found a deal on a slightly used one. It plays easily but I'm not sure If I like the tone compared to some of the old Hohners I had. Stainless reeds.
I'm not sure about other models, but here's what I've tried so far: Hohner Chrometta 12 - total crap especially considering the fact it costs 50EUR in EU!! Don't buy under ANY circumstances...
Hohner Super Chromonica Deluxe - the one that was sent to me has serious problems. The mouthpiece is arched, so that when you put the reedplates - there are big holes on either side, and there's no way you can align them properly. I have heard however that you MAY find a good one if you are very picky. Its wooden body however is 100% problematic, as confimed by 6 people from harmonica.ru forum - it either deforms over time, of the mouthpiece screws get loose. So I advise to take choose something else as well.
Hohner CX series - positive reviews. Though, some say the plastic body is not comfortable and muffles the sound a bit...
Seydel saxony - I have tried all components but the reeds (from my configurator orders) - this is an awesome instrument, and the durable steel reeds are very well suited for chroms. Very expensive though... But in my opinion getting one is worth it if you need a serious thing that you buy once for a lifetime.
Seydel ChromDeluxe - Good, especially with the new acrylic body. Saxony mouthpiece is much more comfortable, but the deluxe mouthpiece is very airtight too. Good price/quality ratio. However, you might consider playing this one carefully if you've never played valves before. You can break valved brass reeds quite easy if you are not accustomed to playing chroms.
Swan - these are cheap (even cheaper than the Chrometta) - but much better than the Chrometta! If you need to try the chrom without cashing in too much, I advise to get one of them Swans. They are usually about $40.
I have a Swan 16-holer that I got about 10 years ago, and I didn't expect much, but it plays quite well, and even seems less leaky than my Super 64. ---------- Todd L Greene, Co-Founder
Wow!!It seems this chromatic business is a mine field. I really only want to dabble with a chromatic at the moment. I can't justify dropping £200 on a Chromatic when i've never played one.
I've been getting more and more curious about the Chromatic over the last few month's so i am really itching to try one, maybe Jim is right and i should try a cheap Swan to see how i get on. I have seen them on ebay but figured i wouldn't buy a swan Diatonic so the Chromatics cant be that good but maybe im wrong.
I think i'll keep checking ebay until i find something reasonably priced in good condition then if i manage to get on with it i may upgrade to something more expensive.
I certainly have a clearer idea of what to go for now,
Thanks again. ----------
Last Edited by on Jun 03, 2010 5:15 AM
Swan's a surprisingly good chrom for the price, or at least mine is. I don't think I paid 50 bucks for it, and my Super 64 was around 300. Would Toots choose the Swan? Probably not, but I ain't Toots! ---------- Todd L Greene, Co-Founder
I'm fine now Todd, thanks for asking. I had a punctured lung which really only healed about a month ago. I was going to have to have an operation to close the hole but the tear has managed to close up now. I still get a dull ache there now and again (especially when i play train rhythms, so i dont play those too much at the moment).
It was completly spontainious, air bubbles just popped on my lung and that was it, out of action for 3 months. Apparently it's commmon in tall thin men???
The more i look at that Swan chromatic, the more i think i might get one, thanks Todd. ----------
Maxim Nekrasov plays Swans. And he is really one of the best players I've ever heard.
Though my humble opinion on the whole chromatic matter would be to completely ignore the solo tuning and get something more reasonable. There are many tunings for chroms that are just plain better.
I have recently purchased a cople of Suzuki Chromatix harps(one in 'C' and one in 'F'). They are both excellent harmonicas with great tones. I had no issues with them at all. I also own about 15 other chromatic harmonicas (Hohners, Herings, and Huangs) and while they were all OK they all seemed to be missing something (either they were leaky or the slide wasn't working right, or the bottom range sounded too weak, etc).
I would recommend trying the 12 hole Chromatix - for the money they are a tremendous value.
I bought a super chromonica 270 12 holer off ebay for about 20 poundsGB (no star of David and in a green palstic case. I really like it and think it has a lovely tone but the bottom end takes quite a lot of breath. I intend to upgrade when I have more money to something new (probably next year!) ---------- "Come on Brackett let's get changed"
Last Edited by on Jun 04, 2010 1:09 AM
judging by how many i've seen floating around over the years, i would guess the 270 has been one of the more popular choices, as far as sales go, for chromatic harmonicas.
i really think that if all Ant138 wants is an inexpensive chro, just to see if he likes them, then a shiny one from Ebay should be sufficient.
most chros take more breath( unless they are expensive or set-up) than diatonics. it's just the nature of their construction.
Glad you're lung is healing up. I'd forgotten that you'd had a puncture! Like you, I wanted to get a cheap Chro to noodle about on to see if I wanted to pursue it. I read up on it, and decided to go with the Hohner Educator 10. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with it, since it cost LESS than a Marine Band. It's unvalved, so you don;t have to worry about that stuff, but it's still pretty airtight (leakier than a Marine Band, but more airtight than a Blues Band). Here's a couple of YouTube vids I made reviewing the thing. It'll give you a look under the hood, and then you can hear me playing it, and you can make up your own mind.
Sounds quite airy really :) A good airtight chrom is very difficult to play at first (after a diatonic), because it's very very responsive, and you have to play super-light.
Jim, I agree that it is quite airy. It does not have windsavers. It is not much more airy than run-of-the-mill diatonic, and certainly more air-tight than a $5 diatonic. Considering that it only costs US $30, it's a pretty good quality for the price. If one is mainly a diatonic player, and is only merely curious about Chromatic, this harp is a great way to dip one's toes in before deciding to take the "full plunge". It gets you used to the idea of slide, and of having a mouthpiece, and of playing a bigger harp, and you can actually play something on it (ie. it's more than simply functional, it's playable). Now if someone KNOWS they want to play chro, no matter what, then yeah, bypass this harp and buy one of a much better quality. Personally, I'm not sure I really want to pursue playing the chro, but I'm not sorry at all I bought the Educator. It's still fun to noodle about on, and it certainly is helping me build me skill on a slide harp. Maybe one day I'll actually want to continue with the chro, and I'll buy a better one. This harp will have helped me achieve many of the necessary skills that one needs tin order to play well on an expensive model, and I won't have to spend some time blowing reeds and windsavers out of the expensive one as I try to learn the basic skills. ------------------ The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
Isaac is the educator a slide harp as you mention or a solo tuned Chromatic? With hindsight, I wish i had got a solo tuned when I bought the Koch many nyears ago, but then I didn't know the difference and spent many an hour trying to work out why the notation in my 'play in a day' book wasn't right
Hey Isaac, thanks for posting the video, i didn't know about the "Educator". I'm Definitely more clued up about Chromatics now. I'll let you how i get on when i buy one,Thanx again. ----------
Well i was passing my local Cash Converters shop(Pawn shop) and spotted a 16 hole 64 Chromonica - Professional model for £35, so i've snapped it up.
I'm not sure if this is a good model or not? The Harmonica looks very old and comes in a very nice wooden box. I've not had a chance to really play it yet as i'm on my lunch break at work. I've had a quick go and its completely different to a Diatonic but i figured that already. I will let you all know how i get on with it and maybe put up a video.
I have noticed that some of the windsavers have broken off so i'm going to have to sort that out aswell.
If anyone on here can point me in the right direction for replacing the windsavers i would be gratefull. I live in the U.K. so i'm hoping to find some here without having to tap Hohner up in the states.
I have looked on the Hohner web site and all i can find is info about maintaining windsavers rather than windsavers for sale:( ----------
you'll find yourself running out of breath. Hang in there. It's a rush. Rod, Kim, William, and a host of others play it well. Listen til your head explodes. All the best, K
Ouch that is bad. Had the arched mouthpiece problem on the deluxe which eventually got sorted out. I have exactly the same problem on a second hand 270 I got on Ebay. True. For the money you pay for a 270 deluxe its shoddy.
I would say the cheapest good chrom is a Hohner 260! I like CX-12's, but they cost to much. So I play the 10 hole 260. Great little harp. It's like the 270 that a few people have already mentioned without the 11 and 12 holes that most people don't play anyway. I like it becuase its easier to hold with a mic and it sounds a little louder than the 270. I don't know why. It just seems louder to me.
It's interesting to speculate what my father's chromatic may have been. It was definitely Hohner. He got his first job in 1951, so he could have bought it new then, but it was a fallen-apart wreck by 1965, so it may be likely that he got it earlier, in which case it may have been a late 40s model, or, given his financial circumstances, if it was second-hand, it may have been a prewar model. ---------- Andrew, gentleman of leisure, noodler extraordinaire.
Well, if any one of you are interested I have two chroms for sale: Hohner Chromonika II in C (12-hole) and Hohner "The Chromonica" in G (10-hole). I have cleaned and polished them, replaced broken valves and sealed & repaired the wooden combs. I'll sell those for 50EUR / harp + postage (I live in Finland). Three months warranty included.
