Kongsheng Solist Sound Check

[@TalkingPoints1]

I too am totally impressed with the Kongsheng Solist for all the reasons you describe. Gotta say, a brand new Kongsheng Sunrise that I bought blew a reed in under a week. 6 blow on a new G harp should be a D note but mine comes in at Db. That instrument can’t go on stage. So in all, I’m impressed with kongsheng on the early returns. Let’s see if they hold up in the long term.

[@agriciobrazil2391]

Excellent! Thanks!

[@marcoantoniohuertabarajas6045]

Your great. Am about to order a Solist Bb

[@Tim48103]

Great harp, excellent key - my favorite key for "just messing around". I wish my band would play more in F. Cheers!

[@drd1465]

I bought a Solist in A about a year ago. It was great for the first month, and then out of the blue I got a stuck reed that I have been unable to fix. I play very softly and my harps last for years. Spot welded reeds, so I can't shift the reed in the slot. Two attempts to get help from Kongsheng with no response. I own over 60 harps, and this is the first harp that I have been unable to repair. I notice that there was a flurry of positive reviews of this harp 4 years ago, and now the youtube videos have dried up. I'm sad every time I look over at that dead harp. No criticism to you. I just got a bad one.

[@Tim48103]

Yeah, they were hot a few years back - but a lot of folks still play them - I liked their responsiveness, but have moved away from that reedy tone lately. I haven't heard of many of them with manufacturing glitches tho - Kongsheng's harps across their whole line are really well constructed usually. Of course, there will always be exceptions, unfortunately. One of Kongsheng's cheaper models that I've been playing a lot lately is the TinG - only about $25, and it sounds and plays really nicely. I have four, but am collecting more as backups to my regular gigging harps. Cheers!

[@anandaarju5389]

Great review . One bad news is my Dabell Noble Bb 7 hole is dead . Only blow is working on that hole . I've sent them mail & there is no solution still 😂

[@Tim48103]

Take the cover plates off of your Noble and take a look at that reed - it might be as simple as a bit of something stuck in there that's preventing it from playing. Take a toothpick or something and GENTLY move the reed up and down a little - see if you can't free up the reed that way.... ?

[@anandaarju5389]

@@Tim48103 Thank you, I did it but nothing has changed. May be 7 hole draw reed is dead , & I recorded the sound & attached with mail so that Dabell authority can understand.

[@anandaarju5389]

​@@Tim48103 After 6 month they've decided to give me a new one & take back the older one . The new one is more lacquered compared to the old one & it has no problem yet . Thanks dear .

[@Tim48103]

@@anandaarju5389 I'm glad it worked out! Too bad you had to wait as long as you did, but still, at least they're backing their products. Harp on!

[@anandaarju5389]

@@Tim48103 Thank you for your reply. Take care .

[@blitz99x]

I bought an easttop to compare it to my blues devilles I like it a lot

[@Tim48103]

Based on how similar they look, I wouldn't be surprised if Blues Deville was made by Easttop. I haven't tried a Blues Deville tho, might have to get one someday...

[@blitz99x]

I have a set of blues devilles i've been playing for about 2 years with only 1 issue but fender honored their 1 year warrenty. the reason I spent the extra money on the fenders was for the warrenty but having said that I think I may have to buy a set of the easttops for backups

[@John-vd9jz]

Hey Tim. I too like the solist. If I could ask how similar is the solist to the dabell noble and which do you prefer?

[@Tim48103]

Hi John - they're quite different. The Soloist has a much "reedier" acoustic tone, while the Nobel is softer and darker, like a Special 20. The Solist takes very little air to play, super responsive, but also tends to choke if you get excited and blow too hard. The Nobel is more forgiving of hard playing. Both are very well built, need no adjustments. Can't speak to durability differences. Of the two, I give the Nobel the slightest edge since I play harder than I should, plus I like the wooden comb for sentimental reasons.

[@John-vd9jz]

@@Tim48103 thanks. Is the noble fairly responsive on the low and high end in your opinion? And is it a comfortable harp?

[@Tim48103]

@@John-vd9jz I've only had two, one in F and one in C, and they were both very responsive - I would imagine the other harp keys would follow suit. It IS a comfortable harp - it's kinda big, front to back, and fairly heavy, but easy on the lips in my experience. They're really good harps - some fantastic players out there use them these days - I forget the guy on FB that does a ton of chromatic overblows/overdraws - some Finnish guy, I think - he uses Nobels, and gets unbelievable stuff to come out of them.... I'll look around and see if I can find him....

[@crimsonchrome3012]

have you had a chance to try out the kongsheng mars m1 ? full ergonomic shape wide open in the rear and ROUND holes in the comb

[@Tim48103]

Got one ordered! I'll let y'all know once it turns up....