Customer Reviews

Hohner Special 20 Harmonica, Key of G

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

 

 

Hohners Special 20's are legendary for their sweet melodious sound and they do deliver on that. However, they appear unforgiving if overblown. The reeds will detune or fail. As a relative harp newbie, I realize my playing style (or lack of it) may well contribute to these failures. However, I have read about blown reeds on this brand and model of harp written by more experienced owners. For example: "My sole Special 20 seems to have blown a reed within the first two days of owning it (the 4 draw), so I can't say I'm impressed with this harp. I'm not that hard on these things and this is the only one of almost three dozen new harps to do this. I hope this isn't an example of the typical build quality. But that alone makes me shy of buying more." - http://www.ianchadwick.com/essays/harmonicas.htm
I really like the way they sound, but I have created a small "dead harp" pile of them in the corner of my room. Hohner does not offer replacement reed plates on this model. I am still looking for a set of good sounding, well made, inexpensive, durable harps. I may be dreaming the impossible dream.

My folksy boyfiend always talked about how he wanted to learn to play the harmonica, but he didn't have one. For his birthday, I surprised him with the Hohner Special 20 Harmonica, Key of G and the Hohner Special 20, Key of C, as well as a case and a harness. He loves them!
I decided on the Hohner Special 20 after some research. I read that they were a good harmonica for a first-time player; they were well made, but not so complicated that playing them would frustrate a first-timer. In two weeks, he has both of the harps broken in pretty well, and he can almost bend a reed.
I would definitely reccomend the Special 20 harps for a first-time player, or as a gift for a harp player!

Good harmonica, well made and easy to play - has a soft tone.
Easy to pull apart for cleaning, smooth comb does not cut your lips like the standard Hohner Marine Band harp does. However, I prefer the Lee Oskar equivalents as they have brighter tone and are better quality.

I've been trying out lots of different harmonicas recently, which has given me a great opportunity to compare them all. This Special 20 was the first I tried. I found it perfectly fine at first, until I started trying other models. Now, I find it to be very "stiff", and some notes are difficult to play, but are easy on other harmonicas. Also, notes seem to get stuck more easily. I wouldn't recommend this one.