Dabell Story and Nobel Harp Review

A brief comparison of the South Korean Dabell harmonicas with their closest Hohner analogs. Good, solid harps, but a little pricey for me.

[@daibutt865]

Tim a good video would be a comparison of the Kongshen Solist against the Dabell Nobel.

[@Tim48103]

Hi Dai! That would be kinda fun - those two harps are about as different as two harps can possibly be, from construction thru tone. Equally responsive (slight edge to Solist), equally expensive. Hmmmmm.....

[@r.a.a.6472]

@@Tim48103 I would totally watch that. I just bought 4 Nobles, a Low D, a A, a Bb and a D, because according to my researches it sounds ads plays as good as Crossovers. Is it true, Tim?

[@Tim48103]

@@r.a.a.6472 The nobels and the crossovers are very similar in terms of feel and response. They have different tuning temperaments, with the nobel being ET and the crossovers being some version of compromise. I can't tell the difference between those tuning styles, but some folks claim that they can. Other than that, they're very similar harmonicas.... have fun!

[@r.a.a.6472]

@@Tim48103 yeah neither me. Those guys can play a harp and tell omg this harmonica is equally tempered, look how the notes are fighting, while to me its the same thing, and I just pretend I agree. But I'm no good example, I am still fighting to understand this position thing ( you could make a video explaining it in details Tim, that really lacks in KZbin)

[@alanbooker1955]

Thanks for the review Tim, great video as always, quite like the noble but not enough to change from my trusty Hohners. btw what is your cat's name? ;-)

[@Tim48103]

Actually, of the two Dabells, I prefer the Story, but that might just be that it's in C, and I don't much care for F harps in general. I'll bang on the Story, and if the reeds/tuning holds up, I'll consider replacing my SP20s with them, one at a time, tho $40/harp offends my sensibilities. And the video bomber is Cocoa. Cheers!

[@r.a.a.6472]

Man, I've got some problems, I want your opinion about it, TIm. So, I saw your video and some others about the Dabell Noble. I love my two Crossovers and my Marine Bands, so I bought 4 Nobles. The first to come was a Low D, which was a bit leaky in the lower draw notes but was acceptable, I thought it was just a fluke. Then came the A, Bb and D. Only the D is acceptable, playable. The others are leaky, If I play like I play my Crossover no sound comes out of them. So I'd like your opinion, what to do? Sand them? I tried to tight the reeds up, mainly in the 3rd hole, with almost no success.

[@Tim48103]

Wow - well, that's odd, I gotta say. I would NOT try and sand them at this point - I would recommend redoubling your efforts on adjusting the gapping to see if you can get 'em in line (lots of KZbin instruction on this). It's unusual, tho, that there would be so many problems on these - the DaBell line in general has great factory QA/QC - generally they don't leave the place in unplayable shape. You may want to reach out to whomever you purchased them from to see if there's recourse there, sometimes even tho there's a "no return" policy on harmonicas (for understandable reasons), they'll help you out if it's not just a one off thing. Sorry you ran into this!

[@nothankyou8365]

I am in Korea and I have a Dabell minor story , I like the sound but controlling is very difficult the notes are every where

[@littleharpo]

In Korea, you can buy 'Story' for $ 25 and 'Noble' for $ 32.

[@Tim48103]

For those prices, they are excellent bargains!

[@HarmoActive]

I was told that Noble would cost $56 including shipping to Poland when ordering direct from Dabell.

[@Raglafart101]

If you can't tell us how long they last, regardless of how good they may sound out of the box or what their price point is, it's not really a very good objective assessment. I've always felt you get what you pay for, but was sadly disappointed with some top end harmonicas. I have Lee Oskar harmonicas which are over 30 years old and still play well. These days I have found the Manji and other Suzuki harmonicas have superior life and have great tone. I also have Seydel Silver 1847's and Hohner Crossovers but they don't last compared to the Suzuki harmonicas in my experience. And I have to buy my harps too!

[@Tim48103]

weeeeelllll.... I state how much they cost right off the bat, and as to longevity, if, for example, they last for 10 years, and I do a video review THEN, well, it won't exactly be fresh off the press. That said, pretty much nothing holds up to Lee Oskars in terms of durability. If I had to guess, in the absence of data, I'd say these are probably on a par with Special 20's in terms of wear and tear. Cheers!

[@paulcook68]

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I have never been in a situation where I had to use an overblow! I can always find another note to substitute for it. I might not play in a position where it is needed! Like 12th or something like that 🤔

[@Tim48103]

It's.... a process. I've been screwing around with OBs in practice for about a year now, and only VERY recently have they been creeping into my gig play, and even then, it's only the 6 OB. And yeah, NOBODY in the audience, or band, has any clue. But I CAN play the second phrase of Watermelon Man in the correct octave now, so I feel vindicated, lol.

[@paulcook68]

@@Tim48103 Cool! Lol

[@shubhamthapliyal723]

Greetings from India. What about the tuning system in both of them, similar to Golden Melody by Hohner? Are they good to play Overblows and Overdraws out of the box?

[@Tim48103]

Hi! Yes, these are equal temperament harps, just like the Golden Melody. I don't overdraw, and only overblow a little, but those few OBs I can play work fine on these, out of the box. Cheers!

[@chickenman7252]

How does the Story compare to the normal Lee Oscar?

[@Tim48103]

Hi Chicken Man - I like the Story better - a little more responsive, a little cheaper on average, and generally a bigger harp, so more to hold on to. The tones of these two are virtually identical tho, and the easily swapped reed plates on the Lee Oscar is definitely a plus in the long term. But still, slight edge to the Story for me....

[@chickenman7252]

@@Tim48103 thanks after trying the Noble I think it has the perfect mix of affordability and quality. I can never get myself to spend over $50 for something like the noble or $47 on a Lee Oscar when the Story is $37. Its also significantly better than the Eastop 008k imo so its worth the extra price.