Customer Reviews

Hohner Piedmont Blues Harmonica Set

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I picked these up today and for the price they are a steal. I have blues harps and marine bands and Oskar and I like these because they are easy to play and bend notes easily plus since they are plastic, you don't get the metallic taste in your mouth and I am sure they won't rust! I am not a professional musician, but have played harmonica for many years and find it very easy to bend the notes on these harps.

I really recomend this set for any beginners.
Good playiblity, and they have a very nice warm tone.
Plus you get a nice case to use as you upgrade to better harmonicas.
I am a beginner and like these better than the Hohner Big River.
The Big River has a higher tone and is harder to play for a beginner.
You can't go wrong buying this set at such a good price.

Let me start by saying all I wanted to do with this is use the case for my more pricer harps thinking the harps that came with this set were just toys. These harps are not the best but for $20 dollars it is one H*LL of a deal ! Not toys at all. IMO very good first harps to learn on with nice tone. I'm keeping mine for back up and fishing trips. Trust me, there is nothing better for casual playing or first time users. $20 dollars for 7 harps and a case. WOW. Get one and try it out for yourself and see what I am talking about. Hope this review helped some one out.

This is either a great product or a terrible rip-off. Why you buy the set will determine which side of the fence you fall on.


Right Reasons to buy this Set:

1. You want a case for 2-7 harmonicas. A case that's reasonably attractive, secure, and not enormous (about the size of a very thick hardcover book). Try to buy just a similar case and you'll pay anywhere from $17-$40--so $20 isn't bad. If this is your reason, then the harmonicas are nothing more than props, like the cardboard TVs at furniture stores.

2. You need a case (see above) and you're a little curious what harmonicas in different keys sound like. You're not really going to play them, but you want a loose idea of the difference between them. This means you'll keep the case and throw out the harmonicas within a few minutes of trying them.

Wrong Reasons to buy this Set:

1. You or someone you love wants a harmonica(s) to play. NOPE. These are something less than children's toys. The plastic covers aren't airtight against the comb so you have blow three times as hard to get any tone. The covers are a really cheap plastic and your mouth will not slide against it. And the plastic has an awful chemical smell/taste. Discounting the case, these are less than $3/harmonica--including the case it's probably more like $1.25--and you get what you pay for. Instead, find someplace local (a music store, or Cracker Barrel) and buy a Hohner Blues Band for about $5. Or go to a music store and buy a beginner's harmonica for between $10-$20. Whoever wants to learn to play will get much further with these choices.

This set is a high quality plastic kid harmonica set . If your a beginner this set will help you understand how different keys work bettor with different songs. At least 2 harmonicas are not going to work. Forget doing any bending. The case is nice and I will be putting some nice harps in it.

I own and play about 15 harps from the Hohner Super64, 2 Chromettas,3 Double Echos, EchoLuxe, Blues Harp, Marine Band, CrossHarp, Pocket pal etc.
I can only comment on MY experience. The first thing I did when I received the kit was try each harp blow and draw on all 7 Harps, much to my relief showed no problems whatsoever. Light as a feather with no Metal Covers, which is GREAT if you are going to use a Neck holder while you play guitar like I often do. Did notice SLIGHT plastic (NEW) smell that I actualy kinda liked, and was pretty much gone after 30 minutes of delightful playing. Sounds just like Hohner Pocket Pal blues harp (C) to me, just lighter in weight. I actually LIKE the plastic covers, as plastic doesent pit and discolor, which can happen quickly on metal covers of lesser quality harps. Bends are easy. No problems at all, nothing but good to say about Piedmont set. Dont forget, you have to break in a harp SLOWLY so be gentle if you feel a week reed from an over draw or blow, you can often coax it back in by playing very lightly and then slowly increase. (Read online how to restore and service Harp reeds) Ive had several Harps do this from time to time, and then play fine. I suspect the harp often gets blamed for operator misuse, although defects are always possible. My wife thought I paid $125 ( ha ha! ) I truly like the mellow tone especially playing with Acoustic guitar. All are right in tune. Frankly AMAZED at $30. Thanx Amazon and Hohner !

Extremely good value for the money, as you'd expect from any Hohner product.

I play the harmonica hard, and every harp in this set plays the same as the next. Having a harp in each key that - other than the different key itself - plays exactly the same makes transitioning from one to the next very easy. The only problem I found was that the key identifier easily wipes off the harp, forcing me to have the set engraved so I can identify each key correctly.

I'd buy this item again in a heartbeat.

This is a good set to buy to extend your array of harp keys but NOT as your first harp.
They are not good harps to learn on - you will become very frustrated (and may quit) learning to bend on these harps. You can play bends on these harps ok after you have the technique down. But it is very difficult to learn the technique on these.
They play adequately if you are a casual player, already know basic playing techniques and want a cheap way of extending your available harp keys.
They are rather thin sounding compared to my Hohner Special 20 or my Lee Oskar and don't bend as easily.
But for the price they give you a great range of keys when you are ready to expand you playing to jam with others or jam with CDs in a variety of keys.
I recommend buying this set AFTER you have first bought a good Hohner or Lee Oskar key of C so you can play along with the various lessons available on the Web to learn your playing fundamentals.
I did it in the other direction and bought these first and almost gave up because I was finding it impossible to learn to bend on these. After learning to bend on the Hohner and Lee Oscar now I can come back and bend adequately on these. So don't make these be your first harp to learn on.

I've played harmonica for 50 years and I own hundreds of harmonicas. The only reason I bought these is because I like to see all harmonicas and I teach harmonica and sell them and give them away. Real harmonica players don't normally buy cheap harmonicas, which is why there are so many good reviews of this harmonica, they were written by people who don't really play harmonica.

First off, forget about the fact that it says "Hohner". Hohner is one of the oldest harmonica companies, and they were the standard for many years. They're German. A few years ago they were bought by a Chinese company, so now there are Chinese harmonicas that say "Hohner" on them. The German Hohners are still good harmonicas.

The case is very nice. However, this is one of the worst playing harmonica I've ever played. I've bought hundreds of Chinese harmonica, and this is the worst example I've seen. They are "airy", it takes a lot of air to make a sound. This might be because the plastic covers aren't smooth, they're textured and your lips don't make a good seal on them. The reason for the plastic covers is because they're lighter. I looked into importing harmonicas from China, and the shipping is as much as the harmonica itself, so making it light is important from a cost perspective.

A good player will make it sound good, but he'll hate playing it. The Hohner Bluesband is another Chinese "hohner", and it's really quite nice (they sell them at Cracker Barrel restaurants for $5, but they only have them in the key of C). Amazon has them in a set of 7 keys. All the suzukis are good, including the "easy rider", a cheap harmonica.

Being easy to bend is not the mark of a good harmonica. One of my favorites, the Golden Melody, is hard to bend. All harmonicas bend. You can play these, I'm not saying they're terrible, the only truly terrible harmonicas I've seen recently were made in India. The case is very nice. But there are better harmonicas in this price range. I'm Harmonica Bruce on youtube.

The case is nice but the harps are cheap. I was told they are the best. not true in my case they are not that good. They have failed, plus they have a very nasty smell and taste to them that I dont like so I say pay more for a better harp you will be happy that you did, Thanks From Mad Matt Blues