I want to buy one of these 12 harmonica sets. (Links to the pages below) But, for the life of me, I cannot tell if they are standard/richter tuned. I’m just starting out, so all I want are 12 standard tuned diatonics. Is that so hard? lol If anyone can tell, let me know. I think the seller is actually easttop, but I could be wrong. Hopefully not a scammer because the price seems right.
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Also, sorry if this topic has been answered a hundred times. I searched easttop t008k on here and didn’t see my question answered, therefore I posted lol. New to the forum and excited to interact.
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More likely than not, from what I can see they are Richter/Standard tuned.
Read This: The “Easttop Blues 008K” is not always tuned to standard Richter tuning the “008K” model is available in both standard Richter and the special Paddy Richter tuning. When purchasing, you must specify whether you want standard tuning (which is usually identified by just the key, like “C”) or Paddy Richter tuning (which is often specified with the key followed by “Paddy”, like “C. Paddy”).
However, if by chance you’re new to playing harmonica, and just my 2 cents worth, I’d strongly recommend staying clear of this and rather invest your money in one good quality harp such as the Hohner Special 20 in the key of C which is all you’ll need for a good long time. That way you’ll know that you have a quality harp and not one (several) that can be a tad iffy as to their quality and not fully knowing if it’s your performance or the fault of a cheap harp.
Even RockinRonsMusic.com, a well known and reputable harmonica dealer, gives a caveat about the quality of the Easttop Blues 008K harp. HERE: “There is no warranty on these folks. You might need to gap or tune to make a really nice affordable harp”.
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Thanks! I’m definitely not making the decision quite yet! Thanks for the valuable input!
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Hi @palbatross , reading your post in the introduction thread, you probably know a lot more about music than I do. That said, I’ve been playing harmonica for about 2 and a half years and have barely found a need for all 7 keys that I have, so I wouldn’t know what to do with a set of 12. Then again, you did say that you want it, not that you need it, and they are clearly two completely different things.
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YES. Unless it specifically mentions another tuning it’s standard/Richter
And also like pwherda said, maybe just get a Special 20 in C for now.
Why? When I was learning to bend, I was able to bend on it because I knew for a fact that it was the “standard” everyone else was using and that it was possible so there was no “excuse” and thinking “ooh maybe the harmonica is just not that good/ maybe it’s not possible with this specific harmonica.” Also the thing is built like a tank and withstood me learning to bend on it, which was a violent and unseemly process.
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Yep! Those are standard tuned just like you’d want. Pretty killer deal if you need all 12 keys!