Posted by Dr Harmonica on October 28, 2000 at 08:41:58:
In Reply to: Re: Suzuki's any good? posted by el_pedro_nacho on August 28, 2000 at 09:03:25:
: I guess everybody's happy with their Special 20,
: which every harp company on the market has made
: and effort to compete with by imitating.
Too bad they cannibalized their own success at Hohner's by downgrading the S20 to the MS system. The person who invented that system should be shot and hung at the market square for a week as a frightening example.
In the process of imitating Tombo has surpassed the Special 20 with their Tombo Ultimo (I believe it was), later to become the Lee Oskar Major Diatonic:
Stainless steel covers instead of nickel-plated iron that rusts and gives you a nickel allergy
Better, louder volume
Replaceable reedplates
Reeds that last, and last, and last.....
Some complain about the 'tinny' sound of the Lee Oskars. True, they are tuned a little brighter than Hohners; A=443 instead of A=440. That difference can hardly be heard when the harmonica is played resonantly, i.e. from deep within the gut, and the difference becomes completely indistinguishable as soon as some form of distorted amplification is used.
My two cents...
Happy harpin'
Doc
- featuring Thirsty, the groggy froggy