[Harp-L] Harmonicas we'd like to see.

[Niall Tracey <internationiall@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

For years I wondered why all the mini-harmonicas/keyring harmonicas on the market had a full "solo" octave rather than the Richter bottom octave.  I mean, it makes a much cooler instrument, doesn't it?  Well, Seydel cottoned on to this finally, and now we have the Big Six, but I figure we must have all thought about it at one time. If we'd said it before, would someone have made it sooner?


So what harps would you all like to see?


I'll start:
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Harmonicas I'd like to see, #1
Superlow wholetone chromatic.


Those Seydel superlow reeds are pretty cool, but right now you can only get them on harps in Richter tuning, which means you don't get a lot of low notes and you're very limited in terms of keys.


Why a wholetone rather than a solo chrom?


I'd see this as a great pocketable instrument for taking to sessions or campfire jams for playing bass lines, so a reduction in length would be really handy -- you might be able to get a two-octave model in a package about the same size as an XB40.  Maybe not quite low enough to really replace a bass, but cool nevertheless, and now only would it be more flexible than a Tombo Pocket Bass, but it should also be a lot easier to play, too.


And for bonus points:
Harmonica players often avoid wholetone because solo tuning is more familiar.
If the superlow reeds could be coaxed down to superlow E, it could be marketed to bass guitarists, too.  Bass guitarists wouldn't have any preference for solo, and would probably prefer wholetone.
 		 	   		  
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