I Bought 6 Cheapo Harmonicas (To See if they Sucked)

Gear
1

Are dirt cheap harmonicas any good? :thinking: My current favourites budget champs are:

1️ The Fender Blues Deluxe ($12)

2️ Hohner Blues Band ($9)

These are what I usually recommend for beginners who want to dip their toes in the water before splurging on a $40-$50 harmonica like a Lee Oskar or a Special 20. But…

…there are soooo many other super cheap harmonicas, I thought I should check them out to see if there were any “sleepers.”

Is there a cheap-o harmonica that can upend the reigning champs in the budget category? Check out my 6 cheapo harp shoot-out and see if you really do get what you pay for.

BTW - here are the tabs for what I play in the first shootout if you fancy a little play-along:

3:02 -2 -3 -4 4 -3 -4’ -4 -5 -4 -4’ -3’ -2 4-3 -2

3:07 -45 (trill) 6 -5 -4 4 -3’ -2 -2” -1 1 -1

3:16 -8 -8 8 -8 -7 -6 6 -5 -4 -4’ -3’ -2

4 Likes
2

Nice video. I always encourage my student in other instruments to spend a little extra on an instrument if they can. They’ll be happier in the long run, but if they can’t do that, videos like this help. Thanks!

4 Likes
3

Right on @DukeSilver, my pleasure! Yes, better to save up a few bucks for one that’ll last for years, if possible. Agreed. :facepunch:t3:

3 Likes
4

I’m so sorry @Luke but I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when you tried to play the Small Fish :joy: I once as a child bought a cheap harmonica for like $1 or $2 (it had blue cover plates) and apart from hole 1 sounding like a ship’s horn as if someone had tuned the reed 3 octaves down, the holes still worked better than the Small Fish

Very impressed with the sound of the Souidmy

3 Likes
5

:joy: I had fun with this one!

2 Likes