BRHemp
1 post
May 25, 2017
2:26 PM
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Anybody tried these yet? I am just getting back in the game after a 20+ year layoff and was surprised that harps have gone up so much in price.
I saw the Fender Blues Deville harp and am interested. Need to replace most of my harps and saw that these were about $15-20 less than the old Marine Band and Special 20's I used to use. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Sarge
611 posts
May 25, 2017
3:03 PM
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I don't know anything about the blues deville, but I would suggest you look at the Easttop harmonicas.
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Wisdom does not always come with old age. Sometimes old age arrives alone.
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indigo
375 posts
May 25, 2017
4:34 PM
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I had one but it was(for me) a feedback monster.I am pretty sure fellow member Superbee has one and has done a few mods that have made it a good harp amp.
I second the Eastop recommendation.
Last Edited by indigo on May 25, 2017 4:35 PM
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SuperBee
4725 posts
May 25, 2017
7:16 PM
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Oh yeah, that's my amp but I think the 'fender blues Deville' reference in the OP is to a rebranded harp of Chinese manufacture.
I don't know anything about those except that I'm not interested in them. I expect they're probably overpriced to take advantage of the 'fender' brand. I know there's another harp sold under the fender name which is a Session Steel, with John Popper's name associated to it in some way. All this stuff is just gimmicks imho. Unless your business somehow depends on the product your name is on, it's meaningless.
Last Edited by SuperBee on May 25, 2017 7:17 PM
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Martin
1175 posts
May 26, 2017
4:54 AM
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Recently I bought one Fender Blues Deluxe. Could be a slightly cheaper sibling to the Blues Deville.
Not very impressive -- certainly not when it comes to tuning.
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Halffast
60 posts
May 26, 2017
7:41 AM
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The first harp I ever bought was a Blues Deville in C . Playing it for very long actually cut into my lips and it wasn't very loud . Filed off the front ridges of the reed plates that the covers sit behind and radiused the front of the comb and reed plates together somewhat . That made the harp much more comfortable to play and eliminated the lip cutting problem . Took a Dremel tool to the backs of the covers and opened them up quite a bit , giving a bit more volume . It was not very leaky but I sealed the reed plates to the comb ( carefully - tedious job ) with a caulking compound making it very air tight . This was all a pain but resulted in a very nice playing harp . It needs reed tuning way less ( only once actually )than my other SP20 , L.O. , or Suzuki Harpmaster harps . Still using it and have considered buying more but not sure I want to go through the modification process again . I'm now a big fan of the Harpmasters as they seem to be the best out of the box playing harps for my money and I gig with them without issues .
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dougharps
1450 posts
May 26, 2017
8:43 AM
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For low priced harps I believe that Easttop is the best I have encountered. I bought some T008Ks (riveted reeds) from Danny G at SPAH and liked them a lot. Since then I have picked up a few more from Rockin' Ron's and a Low F with welded reeds from Danny at HarmoniCollege.
I should mention, I don't like powder coat on covers as it seems to drag when I am playing fast, so I did swap covers for old Big River covers. You may not find powder coating on covers to be an issue for you as many do not see this as an issue.
The ones on sale from RR are noted on the site to have no guarantee and may need adjustments to gapping or rarely some minor reed tuning. Because of that lack of guarantee they are bargain priced. Only one Easttop I bought from RR noticeably needed some tuning on just one reed, and it is fine now. I think it must have been a factory error because it was tuned to a non Richter pitch. The rest of them were great!
All the harps I buy, of whatever cost or pedigree (except for customs) need gap adjustments, so that is not an issue. RRs continues to provide excellent service. I now have 8 well playing Easttops at a fraction of the cost of others. In a side by side play and switch, in some keys I find them comparable or better than harps costing considerably more. If you are ready to tweak gaps if needed, they are an absolute bargain. If you want a guarantee and to pay a little more, Danny G at New Harmonica is the way to go. Danny is the US supplier for Rockin' Ron's.
Or come to SPAH and try and buy there!
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Doug S.
Last Edited by dougharps on May 28, 2017 1:11 PM
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Rubes
1019 posts
May 28, 2017
4:27 AM
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Don't be such a Scrooge...! They're crap cheap pieces of rubbish! Sacrifice other areas of your life man and get some more Marine Bands etc....!
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Old Man Rubes at Reverbnation
Dads in Space at Reverbnation
Last Edited by Rubes on May 28, 2017 4:28 AM
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shakeylee
647 posts
May 29, 2017
4:40 PM
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I wouldn't be surprised if the fender blues deville harmonica and the easttop came out of the same factory.
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www.shakeylee.com
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dougharps
1451 posts
May 29, 2017
5:47 PM
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@shakeylee
I looked at them again... you may be right. Very similar harps.
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Doug S.
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Sarge
614 posts
May 29, 2017
6:38 PM
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also looks like a Swan
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Wisdom does not always come with old age. Sometimes old age arrives alone.
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cyclodan
153 posts
May 29, 2017
6:54 PM
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I bought several of the Fender harps a while back (8-10 months maybe). They are heavy and bright sounding, quite loud actually. I think they are pretty good playing harp, especially for the money. I had a C and a G go flat pretty quick but the G,D and F are still going strong. I honk on the G a lot in D, as well as for A and A minor songs. I do think they look a lot like the Easttop. (edit: I meant a C and an A went flat)
Last Edited by cyclodan on May 30, 2017 7:05 PM
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MP
3447 posts
May 30, 2017
7:06 PM
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----------Well,
It is basically a Hohner MS Series harp. MS for Modular System. In other words, replaceable reed plates in answer to the Lee Oskar harps coming on the scene. MS harps include The Meisterklasse, the Blues Harp, Big River, Blue Midnight, Steve Tyler, Bob Dylan, and some other names. Martin Guitars once had a Hohner harp for sale. I'm not surprised Fender has a harp but what took so long? I mean really. I've been playing harp through Fender amps for decades. My very first brand new amp was a 71 Princeton. Blackface circuitry but silver panel. I digress. Anyway, my friend Joe Lempowski plays MS harps and loves them. He's a very good player. Very few people customize them. The best of the MS series was not The Meisterklasse even though it has thick reed plates.. The best MS guys have thick reed plates. I had an MS Pro Harp I loved. Thick reedplates. The reeds on MB 1896s, MB Deluxes, Crossovers, Rockets, SP/20s and Golden Melodys are the best in my opinion. Great reeds good sound. These reeds are not as wide and they are a little longer than MS harps. But, hey, play what you like but if you don't like the drag of paint then better leave it alone. I forget what I'm playing once it hit's my mouth. It make me wonder why I'm so fussy for certain models......almost. :-)
Reasonably priced Reed Replacement and tech support on Hand Made Series Hohner Diatonic Harmonicas.
'Making the world a better place, one harmonica at a time.
Click MP for more info. Aloha Mark
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bluestube
1 post
May 31, 2017
1:25 PM
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Hi
I recently stumbled across the Easttop harps. I thought they were such a great deal. I've bought a dozen of the K version they run <$20 and sound better than my meisterclasse.
I've been using Special 20 and Meisterclasse for a few years and when I go to the suitcase for a harp now, it's an Easttop.
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nacoran
9473 posts
May 31, 2017
2:55 PM
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Rubes, I think Easttop is a player now. The one I got is pretty comparable to Special 20s or Lee Oskars in quality (my sample size is one harp, but it's nice harp.) Maybe not as good as a Crossover or a Seydel, but very nice harps.
Rockin Rons has them, but there seem to be places online underselling even him, although shipping seems to be from China so from what I've heard it takes a couple weeks.
https://www.amazon.com/easttop-harmonica/pages/14634442011
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Nate
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