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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
What Harmonicas are worth buying? Reviews?
What Harmonicas are worth buying? Reviews?
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Waldo
2 posts
Jan 07, 2012
11:40 AM
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Hey everyone,
I'm new to the world of harmonicas and there's a lot of good harmonicas out there that some people hate and some people love.
Could you guys post reviews of harmonicas to help me out? I'm looking to see which harmonicas are worth the money to try out.
A couple that have caught my attention that I've come up with a lot of both ends on:
Hohner Special 20
Hohner Special 20 560 low tuning
Suzuki Promaster
Suzuki Pipe Humming
Any others that are worth mention please post.
Thanks everyone!
Constantine
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Tommy the Hat
554 posts
Jan 07, 2012
11:49 AM
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I am assuming "new to the world of harmonicas" means a beginner player also. I am normally of the opinion that starting with cheap equipment makes things more difficult because sometimes the cheaper stuff doesn't work right or as easy; whether that's a harp or guitar or whatever. In the case of harps maybe it won't bend well enough and that hinders learning imo. On the other hand expensive isn't good either because...well...your a beginner! What if you quit in a few months. Not only that but why break the bank when it's possible you'll also be breaking harps.
That leaves my favorite position...middle of the road.
IMO you can't go wrong with a special 20. Just as good if not better for the same price if not cheaper is the Suzuki Harpmaster.
Visit "Rockin' Ron's 4less online for great deals and free (and fast ) shipping.
After playing awhile you can experiment with other harps after getting a handle of what you prefer.
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Tommy
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scrybe314
84 posts
Jan 07, 2012
11:55 AM
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First of all, welcome to a strange land, Constantine; we're glad to have you.
Harmonica choice is as individual as harmonica players, and it ultimately comes down to "play what feels right." Some people love Marine Bands, while others can't stand 'em. Special 20s are all-around great harps as far as I can tell. I love 'em to death, myself. It's not much as far as advice goes, but buy different harps and see what works for you.
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Steamrollin Stan
224 posts
Jan 07, 2012
11:58 AM
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Yep, i agree with Tommy,sp20's are ok by me.
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MrVerylongusername
2145 posts
Jan 07, 2012
12:02 PM
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1. forget the pipe Humming - an expensive gimmick.
2. Forget low tuned harps until you can bend well, you'll just get frustrated.
Everything else is so subjective you'll get a hundred different answers. One person will argue passionately that one harp is the best thing since sliced bread. Another will tell you it's leaky and useless.
Tone is subjective. Response depends on technique which varies from player to player. Aesthetics and playing confort are personal preferences.
You'll buy a truckload of harps over the years (if you stick with it). Try a few and work out what you like.
Tommy is right, aim for the middle of the price range and go with what your heart says. You'll have a chance to try something out later down the line.
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FMWoodeye
173 posts
Jan 07, 2012
12:32 PM
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Tommy is right about the Special 20 and Harpmaster. I own maybe a dozen Special 20s, two Harpmasters and a half dozen Lee Oskars. I also own four Promasters, two Manjis and an Overdrive by Suzuki. I recently bought a Hohner Crossover in C, and it is now my favoritist harp....so much so that I just ordered one in A. Still, why pay twice as much, especially when you consider that many new players are tough on harps. You're better off blowing out a Special 20 than a harp double its price. And you would do well to heed the advice of Mrverylongusername and avoid the low-tuned harps for a while. Bending is more difficult (or at least different) on these. Really, I tried a lot of different harps and came back to the Special 20 because of playability and affordability. I recently tried the Crossover only because of favorable reviews on this forum. Good luck.
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jimbo-G
65 posts
Jan 07, 2012
12:49 PM
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Exactly what everyone else said. I started on a hohner golden melody but now I hate them, I went through a phase of marine bands,but didn't like how the combs swelled up, had a harpmaster, that me relize I preffer the sandwich styled harps, now I have settled on hohners blues harp ms, which a lot of people consider junk but they work for me and that's what its all about really, just trial and error. But def don't buy mega cheap ones.
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nacoran
5071 posts
Jan 07, 2012
1:50 PM
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I'm slowly replacing my older harps with Lee Oskars. They are Equal Tuned and I play more single notes than chords so I like the sound better, but it took a couple years to train my ear enough to hear the difference and about as many people who can hear the difference prefer Just or Compromise Tunings. I've got a Seydel I love, (it's got long covers which make it more comfortable in my hands, but I can't afford a set of them). My second choice is Special 20's. I prefer plastic combs. Avoid gimmicky harps until you have a little experience under your belt (I'm also partial to low tunings and minor tunings but I can't afford to fill out my regular set with good all good harps so that's on the back burner for now.) Lee Oskars may not be as good for some advanced styles (overblows) but they take a ton of abuse. I've yet to damage one. Try different models in different keys. You can't necessarily compare an E Marine Band with a G Special 20 for sound, but you may find you like the feel in your hand and on your lips of a particular model more than another. (Marine Bands rip my lips up, but they do sound really good.)
See Adams suggestions for what keys you'll want first. Most lessons are in C, although I'm partial to Bb myself because it fits nicely with my vocal range. Once you get to the $30-$40 range you are going to have something you can work with (although occasionally you'll get a dud.)
Welcome aboard. :)
(Oh, and don't miss the Where's Waldo thread! We have a map you can put a pin in that shows where everyone is fun. Nothing like finding out from people in your neck of the woods where all the cool venues are in your area.)
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Nate
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Last Edited by on Jan 07, 2012 1:51 PM
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tookatooka
2613 posts
Jan 07, 2012
2:01 PM
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Sp20 Everytime but don't let Hohner know or they'll hike the prices.
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Pistolcat
99 posts
Jan 07, 2012
2:26 PM
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I'm with the good Fat Melon here. The crossover is a superb harp. I can't find any fault with it at all... However, the sp20 is also really nice, airtight and responsive. Easy to open up if/when you want to. Get one in c and a and rip it.
Edit: i got a promaster that was a real dud. Choked one blow and almost choked three blow. Played really nice in the middle octave though. I don't particulary like the shape of the cover plates of it. It always feel like the harps slipping out of my mouth. That's a reason I will never try that Suzuki pipe. Looks like it is hard to lip purse well on that thing. Others really like the promaster coverplate profile though.
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Last Edited by on Jan 07, 2012 2:45 PM
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Tommy the Hat
555 posts
Jan 07, 2012
4:41 PM
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As as been mentioned, and I agree, it is very subjective. But I will also agree with the Crossover being a great harp. I recently bought a Marine band Deluxe and to me it is just as good as the crossover and $10 cheaper.
But, at the price of either of those harps which may be more in line with pro models, I'd start with a SP 20. Again, that's just me. But for 30 bucks you can't go wrong.
You will probably get as many different preferences, likes and dislikes as there are people on this forum.
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Tommy
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Waldo
4 posts
Jan 07, 2012
4:52 PM
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So I already have a Marine Band in A and I've ordered a Lee Oskar in C. I'll try out the Special 20 next, then the Manji and Harpmaster.
I've seen people say things about the lee Oskar Major Diatonica Harmonica being tuned differently, all I have found out is that it's tuned to 441 instead of 440, is that the difference? or is there other differences?
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Honkin On Bobo
881 posts
Jan 07, 2012
4:57 PM
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Echoing what The Hat Mr.V and others are saying here. Best advice I read when first starting out was just make sure you don't start out using what would be considered a toy (ie: extremely cheap harp). The article went on to say that Marine Band, Special 20, Lee Oskar and a number of others were all perfecctly well suited to learn on. The article was on the internet, i'm sure you could find it with a little googling.
With me, i figured as a beginner, i'd have enough to worry about without the issue of a swelling or warping wood comb. That eliminated the marine band. Tried a few plastics, settled on the Special 20.
It's all i play now.
Last Edited by on Jan 07, 2012 4:59 PM
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Aussiesucker
960 posts
Jan 07, 2012
4:59 PM
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This is an extract from a post I did on The Harmonica Academy forum.
"It was only over Christmas that my youngest Grandson Tom conducted a thorough search of my office & was happy to embarrassingly(for me) broadcast to all present that Grandpa had 60 harmonicas.
When you say it fast it's not a lot. When one considers that I started playing the harmonica 60 years ago (even though I didn't play for 50 years), it's only one harmonica a year.
Pre GFC when I came back to learning I discovered that I could buy good harps at ca 1/3 the cost online from the US. I had already a collection of harps which I was sold locally in the $40 - $50 price range like Hohner Blues Harps and cheap rubbish like Hohner Silver Stars. Although some folks like the Blues Harp I don't especially after trying better harps at prices much lower. Harps like the Suzuki Bluesmasters & Harpmasters, Lee Oskars, Special 20s back then were costing between $18 & $22, & Promasters were under $30, & delivery was fast, cheap & exchange rate about par. I was able to jag some Marine Bands for $13. I was buying harps 5 at a time and I found 100% consistency with Suzuki & Lee Oskar products but purchasing a Hohner was hit & miss. Hohner have since dramatically lifted their game.
I have unopened sets of Bluesmasters. Its still my favourite day use harp. I think where I miscalculated was that on the MBH forum I was reading about the short life of some harps(weeks & only months) so whilst things were good & prices comparatively very very cheap I stocked up in the expectation that I would be replacing them frequently. But Suzukis & Lee Oskars never seem to wear out.
Today I am not buying many harps ca 2 to 3 a year & I am going for the best OOTB brands/models like Hohner Crossovers & Suzuki Manjis. Both exceptionally good harps but different tunings & different uses. I would play eg Celtic fiddle tunes preferably on a Manji whereas country or folk tunes IMO sound better on a Crossover. I also really like the Lee Oskar alt tunings.
But as someone once said you don't count the cost of a hobby as it never looks good. Measured against a slab of good beer which costs ca$50, a Harmonica is still pretty cheap, & I'm not about to give up on either."
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HARPOLDIE’S YOUTUBE
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gene
995 posts
Jan 07, 2012
6:20 PM
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Click for some reviews.
Last Edited by on Jan 07, 2012 6:24 PM
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Jehosaphat
152 posts
Jan 07, 2012
8:00 PM
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Its all good advice for sure.
If your aim is to play straight 'chicago' type blues i'd go with the SP20,if you are a melody,tunes type player i'd go with the Lee Oscar.
Actually i would buy one of each in (say) the key of C and try them out playing along with some backing tracks.
They are tuned differently so they both are more suitable to a particular Genre of music,though once you get more skilled you can play both to pretty much any thing.
Because of its Equal Temperment tuning the L/O lends its self to different positional playing.
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nacoran
5075 posts
Jan 07, 2012
9:59 PM
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Waldo, no, it's more complicated than that, but it's not something you HAVE to worry about. Basically, Western (as in European) music, and actually a lot of music around the world, breaks octaves up into 12 notes, although we usually only use 7 of them at a time- that's why if you bang on a piano without knowing what notes are in a key it sounds terrible! Tunings have to do with the mathematics/physics of how sound waves interact. The problem is, there is another bit of math involved. If you play a guitar string, and then put your finger dead in the center of that string the new note you'll get is exactly one octave higher. If you do it again with what you have left of the string it will be one octave higher. It becomes a matter of fractions. 12's don't, mathematically speaking, mix well with a system that goes 2-4-8-16-32-64-128, etc.
The math, unfortunately, creates some problems for tuning instruments. There are actually lots of different tunings, but at the extremes you have Equal Tuning and Just Tuning. In practical terms, if you are playing single notes an Equal Tuned harmonica will sound more in tune, but if you play a Just Tuned harmonica the chords will sound smoother (it's got to do with wave interference patterns, like if you are at the beach and the waves coming in from the ocean intersect with waves from a wake of a boat at a different angle. In some spots the waves get taller, magnifying each other. In other spots they cancel each other out a bit- except with sound. There are also Compromise Tunings, that are, well, a compromise between the two extremes. Lee Oskars (and their parent company Tombo) and I think most of the Suzukis are Equal Tuned, as is the Hohner Golden Melody. Most other harps are some variation of Compromise Tuning.
BUT- for most purposes, any variety will work. Compromise As your playing style develops you may decide you prefer one to another, or you may decide it doesn't matter much. It just means that some of your notes are tuned a few cents flatter. I play mostly Equal Tuned harps, but, for instance, I deliberately play my Special 20 on our bluesiest song because it's got more chordal playing and less single note melody.
The confusing part is that the word 'Tunings' is also used to refer to harps that have notes in entirely different spots. You can play a minor song on a major tuned harmonica (or vice versa) but a minor tuned harmonica will have more chords in the minor scale available. For someone starting out, these tunings where notes are in different spots are much more important. There are all sorts of different varieties and schemes for these kinds of tunings too. The 10-diatonic harmonica actually is one of those schemes- Richter Tuning. That's your basic blues harp. I own about 50 harmonicas- 4 tremolos (a kind of harp popular in Asia- all of them in something called Solo Tuning- 1 chromatic harmonica (a harp with a button) and 1 minor tuned Lee Oskar. All the rest are Richter Tuned 10 hole diatonics. You could go through your entire journey through the harmonica world with just Richter tuned harps and never play anything else and be amazing (although Jazz harmonica is often played on a Chromatic.)
If you want some good reading on the first kind of tunings, here is a link to a great article on Slate (it's actually a review of a book, but the article does a pretty good job of explaining.)
The Wolf at Our Heels
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Nate
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Waldo
7 posts
Jan 07, 2012
10:57 PM
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Oh yeah, all my tuba teachers lessons on sound waves are coming back to me now haha.
I'll let you guys know how the Lee Oskar works out for, should be here by Wednesday.
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Constantine
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GMaj7
1 post
Jan 08, 2012
9:34 AM
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Nocoran,
Really well done on the explanation. I will probably cut and paste from it ...:)
Is it correct to use the word temperament when discussing the relationship between individual notes?
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nacoran
5077 posts
Jan 08, 2012
11:36 AM
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GMaj7, thanks. Yes, and if temperament was used to describe it there would probably be less confusion between the types of 'tunings'. It's one of those cases where it pays to be precise with language. :)
edit: lor has some of the related math in this other thread (which is also on the front page right now.)
http://www.modernbluesharmonica.com/board/board_topic/5560960/2728218.htm
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Nate
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Last Edited by on Jan 08, 2012 11:38 AM
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crispyagain
55 posts
Jan 08, 2012
12:49 PM
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Special 20s are good, but if you can afford it get a Seydel 1847. imo
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atty1chgo
208 posts
Jan 11, 2012
5:51 PM
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I have only been playing with any level of continuity for about three years. My first harp was a Special 20. I still like them, but I am now a firm devotee of Suzuki Manji (I have 5) for durability, quality and tone. They are well constructed, can take the punishment, and they have volume.
But alas, I now have 3 Hohner Marine Band harps - B flat, C, and D. I find myself enjoying them more and more. I refuse to buy any more cheaply made harps, which is why I stay away from the less expensive Hohners, as well as Lee Oskar harps, which I find to be a poor quality product. Just my two cents.
Last Edited by on Jan 11, 2012 5:55 PM
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kudzurunner
2924 posts
Jan 11, 2012
7:31 PM
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I've been using Marine Bands for more than three decades. They have a great sound--every out of the box MB harp does--but there notable variability between the easiest-to-play MB and the hardest-to-play. Some are alive and easy to play; some are dry, even dead, and harder to play. The worst are plainly sub-par and I always want to stomp them; I usually resist that impulse. The best are absolutely terrific. (They make me want to stomp Special 20s and Golden Melodys.) The variability can be maddening, but they remain the sound that I like. I used stock MBs on about half of the tracks on my new album, SOUTHBOUND. I used MB's on "Grazing in the Grass," "Old McDonald in Mississippi," "Tore Down," "Why Not," and "Green Tomatoes."
I've had bad luck with MB in G, and I found that the MB Deluxe in G was a much better, easier to play harp. From now on, that's all I'll play in that key. I think that the Deluxe is a great upgrade and I'm sure I'll experiment more with them in the future.
I like the Crossovers and in fact I used an F on several tunes in my new album. They're very quick and easy to play. They overblow slightly easier, but for general non-OB playing, they're like holding onto a sportscar while it careens beautifully around dangerous cliffside roads. They're fun. They're for showing off. Close listening, though, has made it clear to me that sometimes the brightness of the Crossovers--they're notably brighter than regular MB's--is a little too much. That's especially true in my one-man-band incarnation. It's probably also true for folks playing acoustic harp in duo contexts. It's not really a problem in band contexts. I used the F on "Southbound" and "Sanford and Son Theme." I may have used the A on "Home to Mississippi."
Finally, I have two Joe Spiers Stage I Marine Bands, a C and a high G. I used the C on two cuts: "Sanford and Son Theme" and "C. C. Rider." I used the high G on "Alley Cat." I certainly couldn't have played the latter cut on a stock MB. Joe's are tight, quick, easy to play, overblow more easily, and don't stick even though they're gapped to a narrow tolerance--whereas the Crossovers get a little sticky on the high draw notes, at least when you attack them hard, as I do. And Joe's harps aren't as aggressively bright as the Crossovers. They're expensive--roughly four times as much as a stock MB and almost twice as much as a Crossover, based on the prices I've paid for the various harps, but they're worth the money.
I resisted playing anything but stock MB's for many years, but I've enjoyed broadening my palette in the past couple of years to include hot-rodded versions of the MB. I still can't stand Special 20s and Golden Melodys.
Last Edited by on Jan 11, 2012 7:48 PM
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groyster1
1680 posts
Jan 11, 2012
8:19 PM
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I went to see wallace coleman play today at the blue plate special hes always played mb1896 he has them sealed and tweaked to some degree same with henry perry a local harp player who has always played mb1896 but my complaint is those effin nails-I really hate them-I have 3 mb deluxe I bought from todd parrott the best ootb harps ever
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jiceblues
57 posts
Jan 12, 2012
1:36 AM
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I tried many different harps . Now ,my personnal choice is :
MB DELUXE
SP20 whith DYMONDWOOD comb ( from HETRICK ,these are great for the price )
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