oda
217 posts
Mar 03, 2010
11:29 AM
|
Hiya folks,
Who here has and treasures their perfect harmonica? I have a SP20 I bought 2 years ago. It was my first harmonica in the key of C. It's the best playing harp I have. It's extremely easy to hit all the bends and yank em and pull on em. It's my perfect harmonica.
Do you have one?
|
DirtyDeck
23 posts
Mar 03, 2010
11:36 AM
|
A fellow Northern-Irisher?!
Mine's a Hohner Blues Harp in C, wee wooden beauty, plays a treat! Bought a Lee Oskar in Bb there today, dunno if I'm diggin' the plastic...
|
Ant138
356 posts
Mar 03, 2010
11:46 AM
|
----------  Gotta be my Seydel solist Pro in Ab its the best out the box harp i have,it might even be magic. i'm waiting for my first custom harp by Ben Bouman to arrive so my favorite may change soon..
Last Edited by on Mar 03, 2010 11:47 AM
|
jonsparrow
2482 posts
Mar 03, 2010
11:50 AM
|
my perfect harp has to be my self customized marine band in C. C isnt my favorite key but this harp plays perfect. i donno what i did that i cant do to the others but this harp is so nice.
----------
|
dfwdlg
98 posts
Mar 03, 2010
12:05 PM
|
Mine's a Golden Melody in "C".
Currently on the shelf as it has Jason Ricci and Rick Estrin authographs on it.
I had achance to play A/B it against a prototype B-Rad that Jason let me try last year. It played just as easily as the Rad but only 3/4 as loud.
I now have a Lotus GM harp from Buddha in G. Plays as easily as the C. Very nice
|
rbeetsme
219 posts
Mar 03, 2010
12:08 PM
|
I hope mine is in the mail from Brad Harrison.
|
Stickman
241 posts
Mar 03, 2010
12:20 PM
|
Not your B-Rad Jon?
I killed the 4 draw in my perfect harp. I replaced the reeds but its just not the same. B^(
----------
The Art Teacher Formally Known As scstrickland
|
jonsparrow
2485 posts
Mar 03, 2010
12:22 PM
|
well i didnt make the b-rad. so the other one means more to me cause i put hours of work into it. but ya ofcourse the b-rad plays better.
----------
Last Edited by on Mar 03, 2010 12:23 PM
|
MichaelAndrewLo
223 posts
Mar 03, 2010
12:22 PM
|
Mine WAS a seydel 1847 classic in C. Played great, but the "steel reeds last longer" thing turned out to be BS. Hopefully I will find the perfect one in the next couple months!
|
GermanHarpist
1193 posts
Mar 03, 2010
1:15 PM
|
No, unfortunately I have none...
----------
germanharpist on YT. =;-) - Resonance is KEY!
|
barbequebob
563 posts
Mar 03, 2010
1:29 PM
|
There ain't no truly perfect harp because what's right for one player is crap for another, plus FAR too often most players do not take their playing technique into account as apart of the equation.
----------
Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
|
congaron
614 posts
Mar 03, 2010
2:25 PM
|
I like all mine about the same. Maybe a little nudge toward my marine band in A for playing without anybody else...followed closely by my marine band in D. If I take only 3 harps to work, they are my marine band in A and D and my blues harp in C with the big river covers. I take the C because that's what other people have more often to play along with.
when I'm with the band, they are all the same to me, I just play whatever the song calls for.
|
nacoran
1305 posts
Mar 03, 2010
6:39 PM
|
I like my LLF Seydel Blues Favorite. That's probably no surprise. My second favorite though, is a Piedmont in D. I have no idea why it plays so well. It may just be I don't have many good harps above C.
----------
Nate
Facebook
|
Stickman
242 posts
Mar 03, 2010
6:44 PM
|
I disagree BBQBOB. I think the OP meant that one harp that just works perfectly for you. Not a certain brand or model but that one particular harp that feels good, sounds great,may even look good (mine had the perfect vibration that made it feel like it was purring).
The Art Teacher Formally Known As scstrickland
|
nacoran
1309 posts
Mar 03, 2010
7:08 PM
|
Stick- I love that feeling on low harps, starting maybe on G, where the harp vibrates after you stop blowing. Sometimes you can even take it away from your mouth and hold it up to your ear and see how long it will sound.
----------
Nate
Facebook
|
jonsparrow
2489 posts
Mar 03, 2010
7:28 PM
|
"Sometimes you can even take it away from your mouth and hold it up to your ear and see how long it will sound."
lol i do that too. i love low harps too. i love my low Eb. such a nice sound.
----------
|
Aussiesucker
565 posts
Mar 03, 2010
7:45 PM
|
Love my new Hohner Crossover in Ab. Its fantastic.
|
rbeetsme
222 posts
Mar 03, 2010
7:47 PM
|
Bob is right as always. Most working players seem to be playing Marine Bands or Golden Melodies, but I never really cared for either. I went through about 5 different brands some time back and then one day I was in Cracker Barrel and bought about a dozen harps to pass out to kids. I found one in my car later and kept as my car harp. It sounded pretty good! It wasn't the harp, I just got a little better and adapted to the way this cheapo played.
|
isaacullah
787 posts
Mar 03, 2010
7:59 PM
|
Unfortunately, I don't have one single harp that doesn;t have an achilles heel. Each harp in my 1st string lineup has some aspects that I love, but they all have at least one thing that I don't like too. If i could only combine them all into one giant Frankenharp.... No. That's a bad idea! Bad Isaac. Go to bed!
----------
------------------
The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
|
Iggy
36 posts
Mar 03, 2010
8:04 PM
|
----------
The best harmonica one can own, is the one you love to spit on! -- Iggy
|
nacoran
1314 posts
Mar 03, 2010
8:27 PM
|
Isaac- A couple of my other favorites are Frankenharps. I've got a G Piedmont that I gapped and put a CHEAP, let me say that again for emphasis, CHEAP cover on. It doesn't have any writing and I've had to remove it several times to take dents out. I've also got a Piedmont with a Blues Band cover on it that sounds nice. It's a bear to play but it has the warmest sound of any of my harps. (I've got two sets of Piedmonts, what the heck, they were so cheap that it was just like getting a reasonably priced harmonica case that happened to have harmonicas in it. 14 harmonicas and 3 or 4 of them sound nice.)
My theory is I've been less afraid too mess around with the insides of my cheap harps so I've got a few that are gapped pretty well. I've also got some with snapped reeds.
----------
Nate
Facebook
|
Iggy
38 posts
Mar 03, 2010
9:05 PM
|
FRANKENHARPS!........This is what all the top customizer's did! Took their favorite parts and built their own creations! The key thing then to do is repeat it for every harp you own! If you love to play all the keys you own, more magic will come out!
----------
The best harmonica one can own, is the one you love to spit on! -- Iggy
|
Kyzer Sosa
165 posts
Mar 03, 2010
9:46 PM
|
sp 20 in C...Id also add that i think its neat most of us feel that way about our C's
----------
Kyzer's Travels
|
mankycodpiece
129 posts
Mar 04, 2010
7:17 AM
|
i prefer the low keys too.
i play the SP20 low D more than any other,but,the easies harp to play is my SP20 G.
|
HarpNinja
240 posts
Mar 04, 2010
7:49 AM
|
I have a MB in A that I did all the reed work on. I can play every overbend and sustain them with vibrato and bend them up in pitch...except the 1 overblow.
I also have a Bb and C GM that are the same way. All the notes and bends just pop out and sound great. The only con is they were old harps of mine that I tweaked. I think they are all at least three years old. I bet the same effort into a new harp would be even sweeter.
These will all fall a place when I get my Buddha harps.
----------
Mike Fugazzi
vocals/harmonica
MySpace
YouTube
Twitter
Facebook
Album Ordering
|
isaacullah
788 posts
Mar 04, 2010
9:16 AM
|
nacoran: yeah, actually, I HAVE built a couple "frankenharps". I have one C harp that's MS reedplates (yuck), a rainbow colored Buddha comb, and Special 20 coverplates. It's loud and REALLY comfortable to play, but I prefer the tone my C Marine Band (almost completely stock). I also have a D Spec 20 that I put bluesband (yes, the $5 harp) coverplates on. Actually it sounds really good. The thinner coverplates add balls to the tone. But they aren't really as comfortable in the mouth as the stock spec 20 coverplates...
Anyway, I was joking above about being able to take all my harps and make one giant one, but really, I WOULD like to take out all the postive aspects of my harps and combine them into a new harp, leaving all the things I don't like behind. Yes, I realize that this dream is achievable by buying a custom harp. One day, I will have the money to do so, and I will do just that!
----------
------------------
The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
|
nacoran
1317 posts
Mar 04, 2010
10:38 AM
|
Isaac, did you open up the backs on the Blues Band cover? I think the closed cover gives it a very warm sound.
----------
Nate
Facebook
|
Honkin On Bobo
228 posts
Mar 04, 2010
10:46 AM
|
My perfect harmonica is the one I play like a cross between Little Walter, Magic Dick and Adam on.
I haven't been able to find that harp.
|
harmonicanick
653 posts
Mar 04, 2010
10:56 AM
|
These will all fall a place when I get my Buddha harps
Have you ordered the golden melody Buddah harps Mike?
We would love to have a full comparison/review from you, as soon as you get your head and mouth round the new arrivals?
|
harp honkin
13 posts
Mar 04, 2010
12:58 PM
|
Love my marine band crossover and my Delta Frosts, Got some pretty sweet Suzuki's also
|
hvyj
177 posts
Mar 04, 2010
2:10 PM
|
My Buddha harps are as close to perfect as an instrument is likely to get. Better than my Suzuki Hammonds.
i really like my Hammonds but the Buddha harps are superior instruments in every respect.
|
isaacullah
792 posts
Mar 04, 2010
2:21 PM
|
nacoran: yeah, I did... I used to just do that automatically on all my new harps, although now I've actually started doing less and less to my new harps. In fact, I really on just redo the gaps on them now. I also replace combs sometimes, but not on every one... I've just stopped embossing and pretty much all that stuff. For me, anyway, it seems the 90% of the improvements I was making were coming from careful and considerate setting of the gaps. I'm not saying that that extra 10% isn't important or worthwhile. It is. It's just that that extra 10% takes 90% of the time to do! And I just don't have that much free time anymore.... So I settle for 90% good harps....
----------
------------------
The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
|
Bluefinger
123 posts
Mar 05, 2010
5:50 AM
|
Seydel Solist Pro with 1847 covers. They all play equally good, QC is top notch. Sometimes a MB Deluxe works better when playing amplified, because they sound more aggressive and cut better but I LIKE the Seydels better.
----------
If it ain't broke you just haven't fixed it enough ...
|
congaron
622 posts
Mar 05, 2010
9:15 AM
|
yesterday it way my marine band in D. I was playing with the two effects generators on my 32 channel mixer and got a real good tube distortion and guitar amp mix by playing that harp and tweaking the settings...which i have locked into memory now!
Right before that it was my marine band in A...those two harps just kill for me. the D lets me overblow holes 4-6 right out of the box, so I'm working on my chromatic scale in the middle register.
|
Sarge
32 posts
Mar 06, 2010
10:11 AM
|
My favorite right now is a Bb soul's voice custimized by Mike Street. I'm having him put his magic and nicely made combs on 4 others.
----------
Wisdom does not always come with old age. Sometimes old age arrives alone.
|
MP
41 posts
Mar 06, 2010
10:34 AM
|
every time i finish customizing a version of the MB it's my favorite harp. most of 'em belong to my customers and friends but i get to dick around with 'em briefly and that insures i don't send out something sub-standard. SEYDEL's blues solist pro is a favorite also.
|
waltertore
236 posts
Mar 06, 2010
9:04 PM
|
Harmonicas are throw away instruments for me. I play stock MB's and Delta frosts and none stand out. Some sound a bit better than others out of the box, but overall, they are pretty generic. My guitars I get attached to because each one has its own unique sound, feel and shape, and all they need is new strings whenever I break one, which happens once every year or two.
I am attached to these two though. I got them from sonny terry. Walter
----------
walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year.
2,000 of my songs
continuous streaming - 200 most current songs
my videos
|
