[Harp-L] What first attracted you to harmonica?

[Steve]

Age 6:  market stall Chinese cheapie. God Save the Queen, Camptown Races in no time. 

Age 9:  my dad bought me a Hohner Super Chromonica. Never really got on with those doubled-up blow notes. When that wore out, I bought another in my early 20s but they did spend a fair amount of time neglected in a drawer. 
> 
Fast forward forty years. Bought a blues harp. Very perplexing.  Top end different pattern to chrom, playing wrong notes all over the place, bottom end missing vital notes. 

Two years later, aged about 50, bought a Hohner Weekender off a stall at Sidmouth folk festival. Wow. All the notes!  Unfortunately, it broke. They do. But I kept buying them and I relished the fact I could now play lots of Irish tunes (in the wrong key). 

Heard a rumour that you could retune blues harps, so I had a go. I put the missing sixth back by tuning up 2-draw, a cockeyed version of Paddy Richter, though I'd never heard of either Paddy or Brendan. Convergent evolution!  To this day I've stuck with that way of doing it. I don't play chords so that was okay, and I'm used to it. 

Today I play mostly blues harps (I like Suzukis with metal combs the best)  though I also play Tombo Band tremolos a fair bit. I have chroms in D and G but they are very much bit-part players with me. Unfortunately, my hearing is now too poor for to play music with other people, though I still enjoy noodling at home. 

Steve Shaw