Customer Reviews

Hohner Old Standby Harmonica, Key of C

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

 

 

This harp is ok to have as a spare, but I would not recommend using it to learn on. It just sits in my truck as a spare harp to mess with during lunch breaks and when I have to wait on someone. It is alright for this, but its prob better to invest another 10 dollars and get a nicer one. The Marine Bands from hohner are a favorite of mine and are perfect to learn on. Its ok for the price.

I just got this for Christmas after requesting it along with an instructional booklet. It was the cheapest available harmonica and I wanted to get a feel for the instrument before investing a lot of money into it. After just 2 days I really enjoy it, but compared to my grandfather's old harmonica, which was given to me as a surprise bonus, it just doesn't seem very airtight by comparison.

Also, this Hohner is made in China, as opposed to Germany like my grandpa's old one. I don't know if that's common for all Hohner products now or just this one, but that may also explain the quality difference.

When blowing into it I can hear a lot of air escaping for single notes when you pucker your lips. I can't blow through the 1-hole at all with this harmonica, for example; all I hear is air escaping. If you prefer to use the tonging method for single notes this harmonica might work better for you, but tonging just doesn't feel natural to me. Chords, however, seem to come out just fine.

For a beginner, I definitely recommend a higher quality harmonica if you're really serious about learning. If I didn't have my grandfather's harmonica to compare it to, then I might have thought the problems were from my playing, rather than from the instrument.

Not being a serious harmonica player, I have no way of evaluating the tonal quality of this thing. However, it's stood up to 2 weeks of play by my 3 kids (ages 4, 3, & 1) with no problem. It's been dropped repeatedly, blown pretty hard, walked on by the baby, and otherwise generally mistreated. After all of that, it still plays well. It takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. And at this price, what more can you ask for?