I’m aching to replace the Bb Special 20 that I have. The bad news is that there isn’t a Bb GM for sale and I don’t want to sacrifice my soul to the corporate overlords over at Hohner to get a GMP. So I’ve been looking for a harmonica that is comfortable to hold and has Equal Temperment-style intonation. I want an ET harp because of my playing style specifically. I have that 90s Terry McMillan “rip n’ snort” thing going on in my sound and I use a lot of double stops and chords when I play. I talked to Todd Parrott about this and he suggests tuning up the Special 20 to ET like he does on his used non-GM harps, but I’m saving it as an absolute last resort as I’m not a DIY kind of person like he is
I’m currently looking at a Suzuki Bluesmaster for the next harp I’m looking to buy. I feel like it would be a good choice for me, but I’m not sure. I tried the Lee Oskar and hated how hard it is to reassemble the harp and the squeal on the 2 draw whole step bend, tried the DaBell Story and hated how sharp it sounded, and tried the Kongsheng Bluebird and hated how it squealled on the blow bends, especially on hole 10 which I use often. I like the tone of the Bluesmaster from the videos I watched of it and I like its cover plate design, but I don’t know how it compares to the GM. Does anybody have any experience with the Bluesmaster and how does it compare to an original Golden Melody?
Hi @KeroroRinChou ,
The Suzi BluesMaster that I have is probably in the same overall category as the Seydel Blues Session (which has brass reeds), but IMHO it is definitely a step below the Hohner GM models.
I use these as my “experimental” harps. They don’t cost too much and you can practice harp customization techniques on them knowing that if you mess up then you have not lost too much money, while if your handy work is a success then you now have a harp that is pretty damn good 
That’s just my approach to this and perhaps it will help you.
Regards,
– Slim 
Thanks for your straight out description on the various harps. Hope you get more responses.
Hey @KeroroRinChou - I’m not really a big Suzuki fan in general, so consider that, but I’m with @Slim the Golden Melody is better. Hear them here:
Can you try it with the original GM. I don’t play the new one.
It doesn’t matter which GM you use – the Suzuki Bluesmaster just cannot keep pace with the GM. Don’t think that I mean to totally dismiss the Bluemaster: I have several and like the bang for the buck. It’s simply a level below what you get with a GM.
Regards,
– Slim
@Slim Yes my point exactly. No sure where my old GM is. Couldn’t find it before leaving town. But I’d steer clear of the Bluesmaster @KeroroRinChou. I don’t think you’ll be happy with it.
Now if you are still interested in getting a good harp, for a good price, I have something for you: Conjurer harps. They are made in China, I believe. You can get them via Amazon. I have the top of the line model (according to their own listing) which is model WH1006. It is really impressive and cost me about U$ 28 (since I bought it via Amazon in Germany I paid 26.99 €). It is black with the covers open at the back for good projection, plays bends easily without any reed tweaking, and sounds sweet.
I also bought one two steps down in their own listing, model WH1002. It has a blue ABS comb with chromed coverplates, looks almost identical to a Seydel Blues Session or Seydel Session Steel, but it plays more easily and bends more easily without tweaking, and cost about U$ 21 (for me 19.99 €). I really find that to be a super buy for the buck!!
They also apparently (according to the little printed page that came with the harps) make them in the following keys (from low to high pitch):
Low F, G Ab, A, Bb, B, C, Db, D, Eb, E, F and F#
They also make these harps in regular/standard Richter tuning, Country tuning, Paddy tuning, minor tuning and natural minor tuning (although I do not know how the minor and natural minor tuned harp are labelled).
Best regards and happy harping,
– Slim
I don’t play extremely cheap harps from China. Most of them, except for Kongsheng’s, don’t even work with the style I’m going towards.
My Conjurer harps seem to me (especially the WH1006) to be every bit as good as the Kongsheng Mars harps that I have.
– Slim