Re: [Harp-L] Johnson Blues King (was cheap harps)

[nonidesign@xxxxxxx]

     I like to keep a couple of harps in my car "just in case" I might need one (impromptu gig with a street musician, practicing new runs, sit-ins at parties, playing along with a CD, etc.). Chicago's weather extremes (only 1 degrees F yesterday with windchill, for example) aren't the best conditions for leaving harps outside, so I usually keep cheap harps in the car to suffer. After reading the recent thread on cheap harps, and in particular the comments on the Johnson Blues King harps, I thought I'd give them a shot.

     First off, I have to mention that I ordered the harps from Coast to Coast on-line last Friday. They shipped from Maryland on Saturday morning and were delivered today (Tuesday) via USPS priority mail. That's petty damn fast as far as I'm concerned so I thought I'd mention them in this post for doing right by me (the millions of dollars they pay me to say that notwithstanding.......juuuuussssssst  k-i-d-d-i-n-g ). 

     They have a purple plastic comb, chrome covers, and overall they look somewhat like a Hohner Special 20. (2) screws hold on the covers. (9) screws secure the brass reedplates. 
There's no rattling from reeds knocking the covers on either harp.
I haven't used an electronic tuner to check how they are set up, and I wont, but the tuninng is fine to my ear.
I bought an A and a D. 
The A is a lot smoother than I expected and the OBs on the 7-10 holes work well. One of the reedplate screws was rattiling around in the covers on the A. I took off the covers and screwed it back in. It's fine now.
The A is louder than the D and the action on the D is a little stiff right out of the box. I'm not complaining though due to the price. Maybe it will loosen up a little after I use it for a while. 

     As far as I'm concerned these harps fit my purpose as perfect "blow and throw" harps. I wont cry if the exposure to the elements causes them to have a short life. I'm sure they could be tweaked into better harps if I wanted to go into their guts.... but I dont...so I won't.

Oh yeah, each harp comes in a blue plastic case with a soft polishing cloth that is wrapped around the harp.

All in all, not bad for $10.85 total for (2 harps including shipping.