Hey @pnicholas1967 I’m with you on the Crossover. In my alone time, I’ve probably played Crossover key of A more than any other harmonica, and I’ve finally worn out -5 (it’s gone a bit flat and it’s choking.) Mind you I’ve been playing the hell out of this harp for 3 years.
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After reading your post I see you signed off as from The Great White North…. Makes me think of Bob and Doug… Take off, eh 
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Right on, eh.
Robert 
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Hey Slim,
I did get a Marine Band Deluxe recently. Love everything about it so far.
Thanks!
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DitchParrot
I just ordered a Crossover 20 to replace a Marine Band today. Its the plastic comb, ease of cleaning and the mouth beating was no fun. I am new but feel the ease of cleaning and not dealing with a wooden comb. Looking at the inside of the Marine Band comb pushed me over the fence. No sealant and saw marks on the comb, using a 10x loop really shows the difference. Marine Band sounds good but all things considered the Crossover 20 is better. I have long fingers that made the M B feel small.
I miss being able to catch large mouths as I had three lakes to fish in east Texas on my family land for many years. We stocked the first in April 1981 with 1 inch Florida bass, very small. My wife caught two five pound bass in one day two years after the stocking. The lake was FULL of perch until the bass grew to the point perch were their food of choice. The perch thin out at this point but east TX is great for growing large mouth.
We sold the land as my dad was getting very old. I drove by a few years later, saw the new owners and ask if they fish the main lake. A almost teenager said he caught three big ones in one day, They weighed 8,9 and 10 pounds respectively. I told him I probably caught each one several times. my biggest was a pair of eights.
Oh how I miss those blast and cast outings. Had em for over 40 years.
Scott4
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Yeah, those Florida-strain fish grow like crazy! In Texas you can even get scientific help for private ponds – biologists that will tell you things like how many 1- to 2-pounders you need to remove every year to maintain optimum health of the fishery and things like that. At this point, I enjoy the smaller waters much more than the huge impoundments. I do most of my fishing these days from an oar-powered one-person pontoon.
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DitchParrot
Initially too many bass were in the lake so I took everything out under 14 inches for three years before the bass got the bigger. I had to manage the lake and put several trees in near the drop offs and all were near deeper water. The bass finally were very heavy for their length. I loved to fish at night with a top water. I would rather catch one nice one this way than three with a salt lizard. I lived a few hours away close and cold fronts ruined many planned trips in the spring.
I had many friends that caught the a really big bass, 6+ for the first time. I sure miss fishing as the Texas hill country does not have any timber hunting for mallards or good bass fishing. I am more glad I had something like this for so long than I am sad its over.
Scott4
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Yeah, I hear that. That’s the one drawback with Florida-strains – they’ll absolutely shut down and pout in a cold front.
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Congrats @DitchParrot - my favorite harp for chordal playing in the keys C and below!
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DitchParrot
I always tried to fish a day before a front hits. Like the harmonica timing is everything. I knew there was something that triggered the bite and killed it as well.
I really like playing my Harmonica as its great no matter how hot, etc. it gets playing is always fun. I know only three songs now. I want to learn three more soon. I pick songs that make me move up and down the the harp. I feel once I have 5-6 good tunes to practice w/o tabs the learning curve will improve. Like fishing I am self taught. The B 2 B lessons do help significantly. It took me 3 years the catch a bass on an artificial bait. I never get things easily but never give up.
Scott4
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Yep, it took me almost a year to get through the B2B course even though I worked on it every day. There were some individual lessons that I spent multiple weeks on before I felt like I had it to a satisfactory level. I’m most of the way through Breakthrough Blues now and it’s been a lot smoother due to my diligence in B2B. Gonna try Will Wilde’s Master Harmonica Class next and I’ll be prepared for a “Wilde” ride.
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DitchParrot
I am about 30 % through B 2 B. I am going to go over the parts that helped with single notes and whatever follows that i will need to play the type of music I enjoy. Not much on the jazzy stuff.
I have four nice harps Crossover and Le Osker. I have to say the Lee Osker is hard to beat, especially single notes. It plays very easy.
Never been one for classes but B 2 B involves something I enjoy. Many people have talked about a starter harmonica but I feel the ones you plan to play going forward make more sense to me to learn on. I had a couple given to me and both are gone. One with nails and the other had a cracked reed. Both were old and had not been played in several years.
Once I get 5-6 songs down that require moving up and down the rest is primarily practice, which I enjoy. In south Texas when it is well over 100 F daily its the best thing to do for fun. What type of music do you enjoy? I like the slower stuff like Sound of Silence and similar songs. When you make a mistake it shows. Frankly mistakes are on of the best way for me to learn something like the harmonica.
Regards
Scott4
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I guess I’m kind of the opposite. I like fast, loud stuff with a lot of “dirt” in it and I love bending notes. I like a strong mix of chords and single notes and a lot of wailing on the 4-hole. I’ve loved trains all my life and thus I have a great regard for train imitations. A lot of great ones have been done and I want to learn as many as I can.
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Hello @scott4,
I’ve been playing a little longer than you, if you count learning on the harp for life 
.
I feel like I don’t want to commit myself to a specific genre of music. I like the soulful slower songs, but also a lot of fast ones. But with the fast beats from 140 I reach my limits, because I’m not learning the harp for too long. But in small steps and with good daily form it gets better.
Because you mentioned the song “Sound of Silence” here, I just recorded it a few weeks ago. This song is not difficult, but a lot depends on the feeling here.
If you like, I’ll put my version here for you to listen to. Have fun!
If you like, go straight to my channel (@harpdreamermusic). Maybe you’ll find even more inspiration for yourself, from replaying to self-composition and improvisation, everything is included, even if everything isn’t perfect for me yet 
. But it’s great fun and the development goes on.
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DitchParrot
There are at least two train lovers on this forum. I have had 17 train trips, of which 15 were steam powered. I had a nice big room to run my H O trains. I focused on U P 30s through 40s. No room now as I down sized. I have three U P DCC steam. Two 4-6-6-4 Challengers and one 4-8-8-4 big boy. They have little use. No room.
Don’t know where you live but almost all steam engines in Texas have been restored and are operative. Steam trains and planes with props will always be a favorite of mine
Scott4
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Hey Scott, I’m in northern Arizona. I just rode a steam train a couple of weeks ago from the town of Williams to the Grand Canyon and back. It was great fun.
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I have been in northern Arizona and remember seeing a large steam engine in Flagstaff. It was display only. It had 12 drivers and was articulated so it could make it around the curves without straightening the track. Do you remember the wheel alignment of the engine you rode behind?
Scott4
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It was the one in the photo at the top of this page.
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I agree. For this reason my Marine Band sees little light. I have focused on getting single note play improving from day one. Its finally starting to do so and Crossover has become the harp of choice. My only complaint about my M B is the reed plates very in much need of help and mine has only one screw on each side. I still maintain the harp you feel the most comfortable wit is the one you will be more successful with going forward and the Crossover is my choice.
Scott
Scott
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