Hello,
A salesman yesterday was telling me that Hohner’s quality control has been inconsistent for years. He suggested they often need work out of the box.
He argues that Seydel is the way to go.
In your experience, is Hohner quality a bit of a crap shoot?
I heard that they switch cheaper harmonicas to chineese manufacture and I think that this is the reason why current Silver Stars are worse than old ones. But quality harmonicas (Golden Melody, Marine Band) are still produced in Germany and these harmonicas are still good.
I like Hohners sound, but they are poor quality, at least in my experience.
The best quality wise have been Lee Oskar and Seydel. My Session Steels have been. VERY long lasting and durable.
I’m my experience, with my 11 hohner harmonicas they are great straight out of the box. Most are crossovers, but I I have two rockets, a special 20, and a chromatic 270 deluxe. All are outstanding out of the box. I don’t own any Sydels , but I do have three Suzuki pure harps. Which are also great. I love the Hohner feel and tone out of the box. They are so responsive for any playing, but I love the blues most. I hope this helps.
I can’t remember having a problem with SP20 or Marine Band Deluxe out of the box. Salesman may be subconsciously swayed by profit margin? Not sure. We all get into our opinions. Some people LOVE Seydels. It’s just a personal thing. Most beginner find them more difficult, in my experience.
From the research I’ve done, and I’m certainly no expert on the matter, supposedly Hohner was widely known to have experienced some quality control issues from the late 1980’s through the late 1990’s attributed to aging tooling and a change in company ownership. With the 6 Hohner’s I have (some various models) I’m extremely satisfied with each and every one of them straight out of the box.
My discovery 48 chromatic and SP20 in F have severe horizontal tuning gnashes in the reeds.
None of my other harps are like this, and I really expected better from Hohner.
Any mass produced instrument is have quality issues out of the box most of the time. I have every harp sent to a good tech and after that no problems have arrived. The saw marks on my first Crossover bothered me and air leaks were frustrating. Check the red plates to see if they are flat as well. All of this will be dealt with by a good tech. HARPSMITH is a very good one as he is fair, through, and friendly. He is also very helpful. He also tunes each read and will emboss the slots. I play what I like and like playing but have no interest in setting up a harp. I will clean and check reeds but that’s it. HARPSMITH goes services some of the best players around and there is a good reason for it.
As somebody who primarily plays Hohners and has owned various models from them, it is highly dependent on which series they’re from. Hohner has four series in their diatonic harmonica line-up: the Marine Band Series, the Progressive series, the MS series, and the Enthusiast series.
The Marine Band series is their main wooden comb harps which are often identified to having a construction similar to the original Hohner Marine Band. The harps making up this series is the Marine Band 1896, the Marine Band Deluxe, the Crossover, and the Thunderbird. As a result as being some of the most loved harps by the company, Hohner puts a lot of TLC into making these harps despite being mass-produced.
The Progressive Series is defined by two traits: they all have plastic combs and they have at least one thing that revolutionized the diatonic harmonica. The harps in this lineup include the Special 20 (which had the Marine Band moniker prior to the creation of the Progressive series in 2014), the Golden Melody (both old and new), the Pentaharp, and the Rocket family (which includes the original, amp, and low versions). This also is a high priority line, but I might be a little biased because most of my gigging harps are from this series.
The MS series is known for being a hodge podge of various harps defined by the Modular System, which allows any harp from this series to be swapped with another MS harp. I say that the MS series is a hodge podge of harps because this is where all of the other German made Hohners not in the aforementioned series are located. So you have the Blues Harp, the Pro Harp, the Big River, the Meisterklasse diatonic, the Blue Midnight, et cetera. Although this line might not be high priority in manufacturing, they are still beloved by many pros.
Lastly, we have the black sheep of Hohner’s lineup, the Enthusiast series. This is their budget and “beginners” lineup that’s infamous for taking many legacy harps from their lineup and turning them into terrible quality Special 20 clones. They are also one of the many reasons why there is a huge stigma surrounding harmonicas that are made in China. There’s only one possible exception to this lineup, it is the Hohner Blues Bender as from my experience, it plays okay. It might need some tuning done, but hey, not all harmonicas are perfect. Since they are made overseas (not in Germany), they are low priority for quality control.
Rocket is also a tough on to beat. Global competition has had an adverse effect on any manufactured. A Hohner rep told me Chinese completion has made it harder to maintain quality when countries like China are making harps and also copying Hohner.
With regard to combs may first crossover was a nightmare. A black deposit had been placed on the harp after it was assembled. I could tell be the out line of the comb keeping it from creeping in. It kept the 6 reed from moving. I soaked in with lacquer thinner and everything else but nothing would cut it. I let Hohner know and they sent another. I had air leaks and as a new harp player was mystified. I disassembled it and looked it over with a 10x and saw saw marks n the comb. I read reed plates need to be checked and sanded the comb flat. After a 2,000w et and dry sanding low spots were obvious. Plates needed straightening. I finally had a harp the played well and my journey began. I also got rid of the wooden comb as the inside was porous and not sealed. Moisture and porous wood are a recipe for frustration on an ongoing basis Why Hohner does this is a mystery to me. . Outside looked nice but the inside is more critical. I tossed the wooded comb and replaced it with a good one. You can do this to any harp and I always do after making sure it is flat. I clean my haps with a 10 second dip in alcohol and things have been fine since. I feel the Chinese have improved their harps but only by copying Hohner. Just have had good results since my first one. I do have a great tech that goes over any harp I buy and never have I have to deal with tuning each note. flatten plates or air leaks. It costs more but you get what you pay for. In the future harps will come from other developing nations as my softball glove was made in Vietnam. I strongly suspect the pros have this done as well based on comments from the harp tech I use. He takes can of the big boys and plays like me with equal Your last sentence is spot on emphasis on quality.
China earned their reputation for copying and making sweat shop harps by 15 years old kids working 15 hour days. It is cheaper and economics drives everything.
I like two Hohner harps in particular, the Crossover and the Rocker. Starter harps are a waste of money as you either throw them away or upgrade to a harp that should have been in the first place.
I clean my harps and when a light breath a couple of inches from a harp sounds the reeds its close or as good as I can get. All this being said a person plays the best music on the harp they have the most faith in. Like fishing you catch the most fish you have the most confidence it. Oversees rightly has a stigma, Hohner has a price for each harp they sell and for a good reason, quality and higher production cost.
Good taste in harps.