Customer Reviews

Hohner Echo Harp 54/64 Harmonica Key of C/G 54

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a nice 20 hole tremello, key of C on one side, G on the oter. Has beautiful tones, very easy to hit descrete notes and harmonies. Have no idea what the last guy was rambling about, but I can strongly recomend this harmonica.

This has to be one of the best examples of a wet tuned European style tremolo out there. And, it's been around in this configuration for a very long time.

It's not a "blues harp" in the 10-hole diatonic style and it won't wail blues all that well. It's for tune playing and it's exceptional at that. 16 holes stacked (tremolo tuned) on each side (32 to a side) with two sides (in C and G) with 64 total holes - hence the model number 54/64 (model 54 / 64 holes)

It's wooden combed and the reeds are bell metal. The tone is traditional. The scale is a modified Richter as opposed to the Scale-tuned of the Echo Celeste or the Asian tremolos. That makes it a little easier transition for 10-hole players and a bit of an annoyance for folks that want a full scale under hole 4. It's "nails in wood" construction too. This is important for those who don't care for wood combs or nails - or for those who prefer the tradition of wood combs with nails.

The tuning of this series (models 54 through 57) is very wet. It's very near French musette tuning and much wetter than the Asian tremolos. If you want to play tunes then this one is a really good choice. The price looks a bit high until you consider that it's double sided so you get a C and a G tremolo harp in one pocket sized package.

After nearly 40 years of intermittant playing (soft and melodically...I don't blast them out on an echo harp!)as embellishment on my guitar or autoharp (an especially nice combo!)pieces, I think the old girl is getting a little flat (barely!). You can tweak a 6-string to the harp, even a 12, but an Autoharp?? Forget it!.

So I look up the Hohner Echo Harp on Google and almost dropped my teeth at the prices!!! The box is the same design as my somewhat dilapidated one, and I think I paid about $25.00 40 years ago. The $89.00 Amazon price is a good one (considering inflation and obvious product durability), as my first efforts found prices of about $125.00. Good old Amazon!!

I'll probably keep the old Echo girl to play along live with my 47 year-old Gibson J-50 that I grew up with(talk about an aged Mahogany sound and honey-gold Spruce top!), but since I'm making CDs to save what aging has left of my music, a bit less approximate ("Close enough for Folk Music!") tuning may be useful.

With the Echo, I play the straight chord (ex "G" with "G", etc) and trade off with vocal melody, guitar melody, and harp melody, unlike the blues harp approach.

By the way, the Echo Harp is a bit more "Facial Hair Friendly" than other harps I've played! LOL

I love this Harmonica. It looks great. Sounds great. The "echo" or tremolo sound is like playing an organ or accordion. I love this thing. Even if you can't play a note you will sound great on this almost no matter what you play. Amateur to professional you will just love this. Can't figure out what the guy who rated this one star is talking about. Good price on Amazon.

This info. is important, I would have purchase this Harmonica in seconds had I known..Please Email Me! Thnank You! ..Phil