Wow @Slim, exactly my taste! She gives me goosebumps! The song is almost as “young” as me, wonderful! I downloaded the song straight to my Deezer playlist. I immediately have many ideas for further whistle trains on my harp.
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Speaking of “This Train is Bound for Glory” I think @Luke mentioned Terry McMillan’s version in another thread.
Todd has mentioned many times that he’s also influenced by Terry and is probably the biggest influence on his playing style. He told me during my most recent lesson that he loves teaching people various harmonica styles like blues, but when it comes to talking about Terry McMillan with somebody else, it feels very nice to him.
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Greetings, I just ordered a Wilde Tuned 1847 Classic yesterday (Monday) and apparently it will arrive by Friday here in the US! Really looking forward to playing this after your review. Thanks!
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Oooh! Just watched your demo video! Going to put this on my Christmas list. Where do you get them?
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Hi @peg_T
Either direct from Seydel or direct from Will Wilde or from a good music store or through Amazon.
Regards,
– Slim 
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Quick follow-up: received the Wilde Rock yesterday in the mail. So, order on Monday, received on Thursday making it a three day delivery. That is really appreciated! It was well packaged and looks great. Now to get the playing going. Thanks again Luke for your review!
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Thanks, Slim
Will be checking that out.
Glad you got your new Wild Rock, Skip I hope you will enjoy it and let us know how you like it.
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Also Rockin Ron’s.
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Hi Slim hope this finds you well. I noticed you commented and mentioned all the tunings I’ve been looking at and considering. Let me preface my question by saying yes, I am a beginner so I will continue to learn richter tuned harps.
My question is this, what’s the main difference in the Wilde tuning and the Powerbender tuning? Is Wildes tuning closer to the power draw? What is the Parrot tuning? I love Todd’s playing (I grew up singing and playing southern gospel so I’m familiar with his work) so hearing that he has a tuning has me intrigued.
Out of the 2 it sounds like you’d take the powerbender over the Wilde tuning so what is it that makes it the better option? I’m someone who plays mostly country, Americana/ folk and some rock but not a lot. So what would you recommend?
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The two can be compared by looking at the tuning layouts on the Seydel harmonica site. Use this link to get to the overview page of their “Specialties” and then click on the desired “specialty” (e.g. Wilde Tunings, or further down the page Power Tunings).
Yes, it is.
Parrot tuning is simply a “standard” blues harp that has the draw 7 (-7) reed tuned to be a semi-tone lower than it normally is. On a C harmonica, -7 is normally the note B. The Parrott tuning has this retuned to be Bb. With that you no longer need to do an overblow on hole 6 (+6o) in order to get Bb in that higher octave.
It is very easy to retune any blues harp to make it into a Parrott tuned harp using just a few simple tools. I have done some retuning and modifications on many of my harps. One example can be listened to using this link (modified G harp) and another (a modified Hohner Big River Harp in D) can be viewed on my YouTube short video using this link:
Which harp tuning you select is dependent upon various factors: the types/genres of music you usually play, your personal preferences, the price, etc. None of the listed tunings is necessarily “better” until you know what the music is that you wish to play, have experience using these different tunings, etc. It sounds like you might like either a “Country” tuned harp (draw 5 is then tuned to be a semi-tone higher than normal – very handy for country style music) or one the Wilde tuned harps (many like it for rock music).
Regards,
– Slim
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Thank you slim for such an in depth answer. Yes I have a country tuned harp and I pick it up often when playing tunes that call for the major 7 is 2nd position (which as you say is a lot of country songs). Yeah you know I was watching clips last night of the Wilde tuning and powerbend. Both seem to be great tunings. I think I’ll just get one and then the other to play around with them and figure it out.
I do want to try and use my licks from pedal steel on the harp so once I grow as a player a bit more I’ll figure out which tuning is best for that.
I think my first go will be the Wilde tuning after reading and listening to what they say. Decisions are hard when these guys can play like crazy. 
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Hi, i know this is an old topic but it just popped up and it piqued my interest because I love Will Wilde’s playing. I’m pretty much a novice having only been playing about theee months. Ive just finished the single notes module and am just starting to get exasperated with bending (lol, i’ll get there. I can do it, just not consistently or in tune). But regarding the Wilde tuned Seydels. Do you think it would be an easy transistion for a novice like me to play or would it just confuse matters and i’d be better off sticking to regular richter tuned harps? My main harp for this course is a Hohner Crossover C but I do have a Seydel 1847 in G which i love. I much prefer the Seydel harp and would like to buy more in different keys but i’m unsure whether to get the conventional tuning or risk the Wilde tuned version.
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Hi @chris3
To be really honest, the Wilde Rock tuned harp requires very good draw bending skills (meaning: precision in achieving the target note, consistency in hitting it even at the initial draw (rather than “sliding” into it from the unbent note) and control). And this must be done at the higher end of the harp – which is (for the majority of beginners and even intermediates) more difficult than at the lower end draw bends.
Of course, you might be the exception here, but to make things initially easier (and cheaper) you might consider starting with a Wilde Rock tuned Session Steel model harp in the key of A or G (because most find draw bends at the upper end of Wilde tuned, PowerDraw tuned or PowerBender tuned harps to be easier with lower keyed harps) – and the Session Steel models are significantly cheaper than the 1847-based model.
Regards,
– Slim
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I just want to clarify what it is about the Wilde Tuning that makes it easier to cop guitar riffs, and that is the draw -6 being the note that you usually have to play the blow 6 for.
There are so many rock guitar riffs, that when translated to the harp would be like:
-4’-4 -5 6 -5 -4 (repeat over and over really fast)
And those kind of riffs are so much easier to play fast when you don’t have to change air direction:
-4’ -4 -5 -6 -5 -4
You’re literally just sliding and so you can play it lightning fast.
There are so many different tunings, I can’t remember which other one(s) have the -6 = 6 on a standard tune, but I believe I’ve tried them all, and the only one I might consider is picking up is the Wilde-tuned personally.
But right now I play equally often Standard and Parrott-Tuned, followed by Natural Minor occasionally, and Country-tuned every once in awhile.
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I love Terry McMillans version of “This Train Is Bound For Glory”.
Terry always brought energy to his performances. Check it out.
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I’ve seen it many times before. Terry’s actually my favorite harmonica player with my friend, Todd being a close second. However, the “Marching to Zion” performance of “This Train” doesn’t give his playing a lot of justice. He performed this song many times during his TBN appearances. Feel free to check them out.
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I agree with @KeroroRinChou that Mr McMillan’s TBN appearances are better showcases of his harmonica skill. I first found his music many years ago while searching YouTube for different versions of “This Train” – and his renditions really impressed me! Nevertheless, thank you for thinking about me and sending me the link. 
Regards,
– Slim
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Oh yeah for sure Terrys TBN appearances are fantastic. I’ve seen tons of his video performances as well as got the chance to see him lay in person. He always blew my mind. I believe he was primarily a lip blocker (I call it that for Luke) and the music hr played most of the time lines up with the genres I have played my whole life.
Btw thank you for all the input you share on this forum.
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It’s so cool that you got to see Terry play live. Even though I heard about him long after he died, he was the best harmonica player in the world in my opinion. He played with his heart and soul unlike anybody else and combined both country and blues harmonica together to get his signature sound.
The reason why I got into his playing was because of, probably his most famous work as a session player, Garth Brooks’s “Ain’t Goin’ Down ('til the Sun Comes Up)”. His harp on that track sent chills down my spine because I never heard a harmonica player taking up actual solos before. His solos on that track were not only filled with a lot of energy, but they were also filled with a lot of emotion. More specifically, I really loved his powerful, but sweet tone and his big throat vibrato. He was also one of the few harmonica players who can make the instrument growl, which I learned how to do when I first started out and has become a huge part of my own sound since then.
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The way that growl was something I wanted to do from the first day I got a harp. I figured it out, I think…. About like snoring into the harp. 
Yes Terrys playing on Garth’s stuff was insane and inspiring. Always blew my mind. I saw him in a gospel music setting but he still tore it up.
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