RE: [Harp-L] Hohner new harp - XB-40 observations and examples

[James Conway <harp3333@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

I have many XB-40s and I really like them. The extra volume is great for rack playing, and also in situations where you're playing acoustically with other louder instruments. I've been gigging regularly with 2 Low D XBs and 2 G XBs for years now and they're still going strong. Occasionally I have to change valves on them but I've never had any broken or out of tune reeds yet. Being able to bend every note, you can really get these things to sound like  fiddles! Below is a YouTube of my playing an XB-40 in G that I Paddy-Richtered(3 blow tuned up a step).
cheers,
James Conway
www.jamesconway.net
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzP0JhjjPMk

> Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:28:51 -0700
> From: winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Hohner new harp - XB-40 observations and examples
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx; samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx
> CC: 
> 
> Sam - 
> 
> Your experience with the XB-40 is completely unlike mine. I have small hands, but I can get all the usual hand cupping effects with it, and throat vibrato and shakes are all fine.
> 
> The C is the highest key of XB-40 and mine sounds very bright. However, the lower keys, like G and low D sound great to my ear, and I use them a lot.
> 
> The XB-40 is not the same things as a standard diatonic, even though it's tuned the same. it's a different size in your hands, I get the impression that it feeds your ears differently, and it certainly requires some adjustments to your technique - variations that have no effect on a standard diatonic make a big difference on the XB-40..
> 
> The XB-40 is a verry different design from the standard diatonic, just like a motor scooter is different from a dump truck, so it should not be surprising that you need to learn how to drive it on its own terms.
> 
> I have three different recordings of the XB-40 at this site:
> 
> http://www.angelfire.com/planet/winslowyerxa/
> 
> The Dominion (fsecond tune in the Castle Mountain Social set) and Windermere are both played on an XB-40 in A, while Drops of Brandy (first tune in the Crooked Pair set) is played on an XB-40 in G. (Companion tunes are played on other harps: Knikanik on an SBS in D, Hay in the Loft on a Hohner 364 in low D.)
> 
> Winslow Yerxa
> 
> Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
> 
> --- On Mon, 3/23/09, sam blancato <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> From: sam blancato <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] Hohner new harp
> To: "Harp-L" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Monday, March 23, 2009, 4:04 PM
> 
> Hi, 
> 
> I have a XB-40 in C and I really don't like it at all.  Cupping and hand
> effects don't seem to have any effects on the tone; it sounds the same no
> matter where my hand are.  Yes, I can bend every hole be it blow or draw and
> I guess that's neat but the harp has so many other limitations that I have
> no real use for it.  And any attempt to do throat vibrato or to head shakes
> (trills) just chokes out the reeds and they stop sounding completely. It
> also has a very bright and sort of tinny sound that I don't really like. 
> It
> sits on my harmonica shelf unused since I bought it 4 years ago.
> 
> That's my experience with the XB-40.  Others may have had better success.
> Also, the lower keys my respond better.  My advise is to not get one.
> 
> Sam Blancato, Pittsburgh   
> 
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