WHAT!??? Do they NOT know who I AM!!??? Outrageous!!

@@Tim48103No. I think they were going to let me go until I asked them if they knew how to overblow.

@@mcconlogue1898 best comment of the lot.

It's a Carhartt, but not sure it's "stock": I know a guy, lol.

They are cool, but need Andre Coelho-level attention to mak playable...

IKR?!!

@garygilleran4871 completely agree!

@@Tim48103 I took Charlie’s advice and bought two Hohner Special 20….his harp of choice. They ain’t cheap!!

@@garygilleran4871 No, they're not, but they're a good, solid workhorse of a harp. There are cheaper harps out there that do a great job (Kongsheng, Easttop, JDR, Conjurer) but it helps to know a little about how to tweak reeds and such to improve their out-of-the-box performance to where they'll match a stock Special 20. With the SP20, if you can't do something, you know it's you and not the harp.

lol.... maaaaaybe.....

@@Tim48103 I heard the OB, and it sounded perfect. Y'all have a great energy, thank you for sharing. Let the good vibes toll ! 😊

@martinwest5499 absolutely. BUT, I would caution against buying a whole set as a beginner. Get a C harp, practice on that, and then later on, branch out to the other keys as you develop your repertoire and/or start jamming with other people....

Thanks for the advice.which I will take on board cheers

Yeah, I know, but the point was that it works fine, even around a few corners. For your typical live gig situation, you're rarely more than about 20 or 30 feet from your amp (I'm never more than a few feet away, really), and over those distances, this rig is solid.

That's a "Lil' Honker II" from Bone Daddy Microphones - one of the best, most robust little harp mics on the market. You can find them on Bone Daddy's Facebook page. Cheers!

Yeah, I haven't been able to find them lately either. Maybe they've been discontinued, I don't know. Sorry!

I would go as low as practical - the main issue is the uppermost octave. If you get a C Wilde tuned harp, for example, that upper octave will be really, really high, and for me anyway, those notes are hard to bend and make sound good. The A is a good compromise between responsiveness in both the lowermost and uppermost octaves. Lower than that, the upper octave becomes easier, but the lower starts to sound a little bass-heavy or tromboney if that makes sense....

Thank-you for your reply - I'll go with "A" - Have a great weekend - Jon

Thanks - and yeah, gear temptation NEVER goes away, lol. BTW - I do all sorts of reviews. Check out my channel! www.youtube.com/@Tim48103

@@Tim48103 yep. Im subscribed to your channel. Since a few months already. I liked your Fender Blues Deluxe review. Many talked trash of it... But its the only one i have, after your review video i got encouraged and never stop playing till today... Now i do all the bends from 1 to 6 no problem. It was just lack of knowledge... No problem with the instrument. You made that possible Tim. Thanks for that. 🤝

only some of 'em.

It has an headphone out at the back. And a aux in too.

@@31416 ah, si presumably the headphone out could be used to feed a PA or another amp, then. i think.

Yeah, if you're gonna get a set for that kinda money, I think the extra few bucks for the Rockets, especially with a Bb instead of a B (which is what I think you meant, right?), are worth it. Although if some knucklehead does pull out a blues in F#, you can limp along on an E harp in IIIrd pos if you must (though E is a high squeaky harp favored by dogs and bats). But still - Rocket or Rocket Amp will set you up for pretty much anything you wanna do. Cheers!

@@Tim48103 Oh thank you for the reply! Yes, ... the B flat for the B, I get my 4ths & 5ths mixed up now & then, (B the 5th of E...(E the 4th of B) & F# the 5th of B, (B the 4th of F#) lol. I'm glad one us knows what they're talking about here! There is no E offered in either set. The Special 20's I found are selling for a set of 5 @ $259 CAD + tax (free shipping, save a few bucks with E transfer) CGADB ...even though that's cheaper than individually, (around $76 each), I won't ever need a B key, doubtfully. Just a guitar guy wanting to get some blues harp licks going, and not sound shitty doing it, lol. The Rockets (not the Rocket amp),are going for $309, + tax, set of 5 CGADB flat, with the B swapped out for B flat, which makes more sense. I don't think in 50+ years of guitar playing I ever played anything in F#, lol...so be a waste getting a B , but now B flat might get some use. I am NOT a rich guy, not broke either, just 'average' (barely) and have spent up to $2700 on a guitar, lol. But guitars don't wear out like harps, and they can increase in value, and getting a decent harp might help my bending techniques get more consistent. Currently have a C Suzuki Bluesmaster (seems 'ok'), an A Easttop(squeals a bit at times on the 3 draw bends, but easier to bend than the Bluesmaster, depending, & high end not super responsive) and a Ninja G, which seems to be the better of the lot. If anyone wants a set, that store I found is in Kweebec Canada (Ontario spelling) and is called _Red One Music store._ Never found a set anywhere around here cheaper in CAD currency. I mean, the Rockets are selling everywhere I look for a $100 CAD currency! Almost $25 more than the 20's.

Oh, I dunno - I like Special 20's a wee bit better, too, from a playability perspective, but I really don't think normal folks can tell the difference on the chordal aspects of these two harps. Some pro's can, maybe, but your average audience wouldn't know one from the other. Pretty sure the LO's are more reliable, and I like the easy-change, easily available replacement reed plates.

@@cincinnatipedalsteel4347 hey, thanks. I have not played the power bender, no, so I can't comment on their relative benefits. Yes, the Wilde tuning is intuitive and easy to learn. But, get a low key. In the vid I use an A, and even that is hard to use in the upper octave. I would imagine a C harp would be a bear. So if you're gonna go for it, get a Bb or lower.... Cheers!

Thanks man - are you THE Bluesdad opening for us in August at Crazy Wisdom? If so - pleasedtameetcha!

Yes, excited to meet you and hear your set-big time.

So soulful-this song

No, they also come in something they call "pop" tuning, which, I'm told is a variant of Paddy, as well as a pure chromatic version. However, you'd have to dig into it a bit to see how the latter would compare to a more traditional chromatic (which I don't play). You could probably get some info from the folks at Bushman Harmonicas here in Michigan - they also sell a stenciled version under their own brand called "the game changer". They'd probably be able to send you tuning charts and such. Good luck!

Well, the Signature model uses Hohner Crossover reedplates as opposed to the Kongshengs that the Origin uses. Beyond that, there may be extra tweaking and such. But one presumes that there would be performance differences given the near 2x increase in cost.... I haven't saved up enough nickels to find out tho.