So…I just had the crazy idea to buy a Huang Star Performer in the key of F#. I could not for the life of me find a Gen 1 Hohner Golden Melody in that key on Reverb or EBay, so desperate times call for desperate measures at this point. I value the beautiful aesthetic of the original Golden Melody, but I got the Huang harp for two main reasons. The first one being that this was one of Norton Buffalo’s harps of choice near the end of his career (the other being the Huang Silvertone Deluxe) and the second reason is that I want to do a little customization on it to make it playable for gigs. Let me explain.
From what I’ve heard from the singular demo on one of the EBay listings for the harmonica model (the demo being on a Db), it sounds like it actually has a decent tone and relatively in tune. However, what I noticed from that demo is that the harp sounds like it has some gapping issues and air leaking out. So I want to customize it to where it sounds to at least semi-professional grade. I know that back in the day, Cham Ber Huang himself would customize these harps himself for the pro musicians who used them.
This thread will be documenting my quest to see if this cheap harmonica could be salvaged nowadays. I mean for $19USD you DO get what you pay for, but I’m very much an optimist when it comes to gear. I think a lot of harmonicas do at least have some positive qualities to them, but I also will point out the negatives of the models if I need to. A lot of the opinions I have about certain harmonica models are from my actual experiences with them as well as being very honest. I have not received the harmonica yet, but I will post my first impressions here in this thread when it does.
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I just got the harp in the mail today. Here are my first impressions on both its appearance as well as how it actually plays.
This harmonica was brand new when I purchased this, but the case and harp itself looks like they haven’t been touched at all since the 90s. The actual case is more or less a cardboard sleeve, but the looks of the case doesn’t really matter when compared to the instrument’s actual quality.
As for the appearance of the actual harmonica, there’s no denying that this is a clone of the Hohner Golden Melody. However, there are some differences that should be pointed out. Most notably, the comb is thinner and is colored black in comparison to the Golden Melody’s iconic cherry red comb. Another thing I noticed was that the Star Performer’s reed plates are a lot more visible and appear thicker, similar to a Hohner MS harp.
Here are some pics of the Star Performer by itself as well as a physical comparison to the Golden Melody.
The reed plates on the Star Performer are held together by nails instead of screws (it is an older harmonica after all). But however, I was genuinely surprised that this harp is actually pretty good for being a budget harmonica. It may be that this is the highest standard key, but the Star Performer responds a lot better and is more airtight than what I thought it was going to be as it has a similar response to an older Hohner harp with nails, but is slightly breathier. I can do growls and throat vibrato with ease, but have a raspy quality to them. In terms of tone, the Star Performer sounds like a reedier version of the Golden Melody but it doesn’t have the warmth that the latter had. So far, I’m liking this harmonica but it could be improved on a little bit more.
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Yes , what a clone for sure . I see what you mean about the box also but other than that , a direct clone .
Best with the customization and keeps us posted
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@KeroroRinChou found this on Reverb . Old style Golden Melody key of F# / Gb
MusicMasters Reveb Store Tallahassee Florida
https://reverb.com/item/33714921-hohner-golden-melody-key-of-gb-f
Update: So I actually just found out something about this harp. I was just practicing on the Star Performer when I heard something jiggling on the inside of the harmonica as if something was loose. As curious as I was, I had to open it up to fix the issue. That was when I noticed that the whole harmonica is held together with flathead screws. Not even just the cover plates, but the whole thing. When I opened it up, it turns out the whole reason why the harp didn’t sound as airtight as I wanted it to be was because one of the screws holding the reed plates together was a little loose.
So I actually got this wrong in my first impressions, which is pretty rare for me. But hey, you learn something new every day. I will be posting a full video of me playing this harmonica soon.
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Would’ve liked to have seen photos of that
