Slide Harp?

[<Randy.Lilleston@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 > From: "Steven D. Levine" <uunet!wam.umd.edu!drsoul>
 > This is slightly off topic, but I just got two Lee
 > Oskar specially tuned
 > harps: the high G, and the low E (both major). I have
 > mixed feelings
 > about them, but I should play them more bfeore I pass
 > judgement...I usually only play marine bands and special 20's,
 > but I decided to
 > give Lee Oskars another chance.

I'm a Lee Oskar player, having formerly played Special 20s and Golden Melodys.
Lee Oskar advantages: Brighter sound (note that this is *not* to everyone's
taste, but it is to mine), superior note-bending abilities on the high blow
bends (Hohners had to be broken in for weeks before I could hit the blow bends
consistently), and vastly longer life (a typical Hohner, played several hours a
week, flatted out in about three months for me...I have yet to flat out a Lee
Oskar, and I've had some popular keys for TWO YEARS). You also can swap the
reeds without buying a new harp, although there are now some Hohners for which
this is also true.

Disadvantages: Brighter sound (see above), sometimes harder to find, a tendency
to squeak on the high draws for me.

Harp playing is such a personal thing that it's really best to try 'em all and
decide what you like. For example, I read an interview with John Popper the
other day in which he said he couldn't play Lee Oskars because he blew 'em to
smithereens in no time. He also said several good things about Huangs, which I
use as back-up harps and which I like more than I'd care to admit.