Customer Reviews

Lee Oskar 1910-C Harmonica

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this harmonica as an absolute beginner, and I loved it from the beginning. It sounds warm & vibrating.

Since then, I bought more expensive harmonicas. Still, this is the harmonica I love to play with the most because of its warmth, its sonic stability,and its simplicity(size, structure)-->makes it easier for you to show off techniques.

I highly recommend it, especially for beginners.

Don't be put off by the price. This is a the best harmonica I have ever played. It's comfortable to play and you can get amazing bends out of it. Plus I have been playing it for over a year and it's still going strong. It will save you money in the long run.

I have owned about 30 different harps, including 5 Lee Oskars. The Lee Oskar is the best. Sounds good too. It bends easily when you want it to, and does not bend when you don't want it to. If you don't know how to bend the notes, get a Lee Oskar and learn how. Then you can bend notes on any of the others, but it is harder and does not sound as good. If you pay attention to the videos, most of the professionals use this brand. If you are a beginner, buy this because it make you sound better.

I am a grandmother of nine!!! I heard a man playing harmonica in a furniture store while his wife shopped and it was wonderful! Instead of being annoyed, everyone within earshot was all smiles and a small crowd formed. I wanted to be able to do that also as I love music. I had tried piano and was all thumbs- but this Lee Oscar Major C Diatonic Harmonica is just the berries. It took me some time to figure out the breathing but there are lots of sources for good instruction. I would practice in the evening while my husband read. I kept saying "Honey, do you know what I'm playing?" He would say no. After about a week of this routine, my husband started to play "name that tune"! I have been so thrilled. This is a great harmonica with beautiful tones and the best price around. You won't regret this purchase if you love harmonica. I especially like the fact that the reeds can be replaced, if necessary, by unscrewing the case. This Lee Oskar harmonica is great- but the bottom line is practise. At some point I know I will feel comfortable enough to play in the hardware store while my husband shops!

I have been playing Diatonic (Blues) harmonica for more than 10 years now - started off with a couple of Hohner as gifts, caught the bug, added more to the collection, then one day needed a Bb harp and my local music shop had only a Lee Oskar. It was more expensive, but necessary, so I took the plunge... and now I have 10 of them (8 different keys, plus backup spares in the keys of A and D (the commonest blues keys) just in case...)
I could not believe the difference, both in tonal quality and the "tightness" of the build allowing less wind leakage through the reeds, and meaning it takes less effort to play and, especially, to bend the notes.
Someone has written in the reviews that it has a limited amount of notes. Let me tell you there are a lot of notes hidden within this small exterior just waiting to be extracted after some practise - and it is the ability to bend down to notes that gives this ultimate blues instrument the maudlin sound necessary for layin' back in a rocking chair and mourning the death of yer best dog!!
Best examples of maestros are Absolutely the Best Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee or Little Walter. (Stevie Wonder and Larry Adler play a different type of harmonica, the Chromatic, which has a button that slides a plate across to open a second set of reeds that gives all the notes, but also has a less bluesy feel and less ability to bend a note.
If you want the heavy, hard rocking, raw blues sound you will need a Shure Green Bullet 520DX Dynamic Harmonica Microphone microphone, or to play more pure blues a simple Shure SM58 will suffice. (other mics are available, but these are my favourites)
And expect to get a blister on the tip of your tongue to start with - another thing that is less prevalent with the Lee Oskar since the plastic tongue board is kinder than the wooden Hohner ones I have played (you use the tongue for blocking notes whilst playing others and for some trills)
Have fun - and remember that a Lee Oskar might be more costly, but it will last (apparently) for ever, and will make you sound better as a beginner. After that, buy a couple of books on technique, a few blues harmonica compilation CD's, Gob-Iron: The Blues Harmonica Anthology and just play along. I take 3 or 4 with me where ever I go on business (usually in the keys of G, A, C and D) and have got up on stage and jammed in the US (Chicago, LA, Orlando, Atlanta, Indianapolis), Japan, China, India, France, Germany.... the blues is international!! Try taking a guitar on a "hand baggage only" business trip :-)

I bought this and a Hohner Special 20 key of C harp to test them both out. This harp is a great harp, pretty much the exact same as the Hohner Special 20 in overall quality. "Feels" a little more airtight, brighter and louder than the hohner, but in side-by-side testing the effect is diminished.

The Hohner Special 20 just seems to have this little extra...expression to it. More life or something.

Both harps very bendable, etc. Real high quality.

As for the replaceable reed plates...Amazon has this harp marked down to about the $25 level. Reed plate replacements are about $19. Now I realize that at retail that's half the price of a RETAIL harp, but only $6 less than a "whole new harp" otherwise.

With this in mind, I would generally recommend beginners start with the Hohner Special 20. Just a slightly better or at least more fun-sounding and fun to play harp with a little more animation and expression available "free", in my opinion.

Simply put...For the price...This is THE harmonica for any beginner. The tones from this harp are warm and sweet. I find it very easy to bend notes and play hard core blues then turn around and play more melodic pieces. Don't be afraid, go for it, this is the one!

I am just learning and wanted a good quality Harmonica to start with... This one fits right in with that... I recently was able to try another 'run-of-the-mill',less expensive one found at a local store. This was not a kid's plastic variety, but one that, from an uneducated perspective, looked like it would also be a perfectly adequate harmonica to start with. Was I mistaken! I was glad that I did the research and bought the one I did! Several sites on the web recommend this type/brand for people just starting out and while there may be others that can be used for the purpose, this one lives up to the hype.

I am extremely pleased with the quality of this purchase and the featured capability to replace the reed plate if that should ever be needed, rather than buying a complete new harmonica. I consider myself a beginner and wanted something that would be durable and long lasting for the money I had to spend. I had considered the Hohner Piedmont Blues 7 piece harmonica set but after reading some of the customer feedback I decided to go for the Lee Oskar diatonics which are of better quality.

This is a fantastic harmonica. Great tone, and comfortable to play. I have not been able to put this harp down since I got it. It is a solid piece, not flimsy at all. You'll be most likely to have this piece for a long time. Enjoy!