Either one will be fine. I play mostly LO’s for reasons I’ve posted before, but I still have and play a Siedel Session, Golden Melody, Marine Band, Hohner Blues Harp, and a couple Bushman Soul’s Voice. Last week’s gig I played in the keys of A, C, D, G, Ab, Eb, F#, Am, & Em. Tonight will likely be the same. Single notes? Chords? Rock, Blues, Country? Melodies? It’s not the harmonica, it’s the player. Have fun!
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That is a very good philosophy to have for the harmonica. I own a lot of models, but I mainly play Hohner Golden Melodies. I view the harmonica as a versatile instrument, no matter what model I play. I mainly play country and gospel, but I’ve been getting into melody playing as of the past few weeks because of Christmas. I also like to play rock and blues.
A lot of harmonica purists view the Hohner Marine Band as the only harmonica worth playing for anything and treat Little Walter as a God not to be disrespected, so they hate anything except for Chicago blues. They also saw any other model, but mainly the Golden Melody, as not good or even terrible because they hate equal temperment and plastic combs. The blues purists made me not want to buy the Marine Band for a long time.
I recently bought a Marine Band in a Pittsburgh music shop and it’s pretty good, but also underwhelming because a lot of people tried to force me to play only it. I like the Marine Band, but I think it’s overrated by the community. It’s worthy of its legend status, people need to understand its flaws are worth putting out.
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KeroroRinChou
We had a lot of fun last night. Josh is a fine song writer, and we play a lot of original songs. Some has a rocky feel, some a folksy feel, and quite a bit of bluesy stuff. We also played some classic blues by Taj Mahal, Son House, and the like. I played mostly LO’s, but also a Golden Melody and a Blues Session, depending on the key I needed. I play them interchangeably without much thought as to brand. Sure, a Golden Melody is a smooth feeling thing, but on the mic that’s the last thing I’m thinking about. The only trouble I’ve experienced with certain harps is they don’t last long enough. Thanks for the chat.
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Lee Oscar - The special 20 is a good harp, but the LO has a tough quality to it that I appreciate. The company has excellent service, and the harps are easy to play.
Supposedly, LO harps won’t overblow, but after 2 years of play, I am not even there yet. LO harps are very easy to bend to.
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I am 18 months into my journey and have some Hohner crossovers and one Oskar. I am a big fan of the Crossover, especially with a plastic comb. I am adding another and it will be a Crossover. A plastic comb helps air leak problems and I clean mine by dipping them in alcohol. I let it soak for about 30 seconds and it is clean and ready to go. Today I cleaned mine and the humidity was 13%. By the time I got back to my chair it was dry. I play the same tunes or try to you like and a Crossover will be great for this. The Oskar is very large and difficult for me to fit into my mouth comfortably. It plays single notes well but songs are not close to the Crossover. Just my opinion.
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