Hohner Marine Band Soloist C

Advantages: Great to play
Disadvantages: None...except price perhaps.

...The Marine Band by Hohner is a classic harmonica, it was my first years ago, and was good to learn on. It also lookes very good, with polished metal with etchings offset by the wooden comb (the bit in between the metail parts, where the holes are). The only qualm I have on this harmonica is the fact that in the UK, in any music shop and also on the net, it'll cost you around £20, sometimes more. In fact, harmonicas in general seem to have inflated prices in the UK for some reason. Having done a bit of investigation on the net, you can get the same model for around $20 at some American online stores. Why such a difference in price?... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Quality instruments
Disadvantages: Need to buy one for each key

...I’m guessing this product title refers in general to the range of Hohner diatonic harmonicas and I’ll review in that way. Harmonica was the first instrument I learnt, not being able to afford a guitar at the time. The first decent harmonica I ever bought was a Hohner Marine Band (key of G), and since then, these are the only brand I’ve considered using. Hohner is probably the most famous of the harmonica brands, used on albums such as The Jayhawks’ Hollywood Town Hall (a classic!). There are a range of diatonic harmonicas available, and each in different keys (the notes are arranged in the scale of the key. Keys available include Major, Minor and Natural, plus some other specialist tunings). Some models even come in different sizes (e.g. 10 hole, 12 hole)! Different models are made of different materials: generally, the top... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Great price and value, top quality instrument
Disadvantages: None

...I have been playing the harmonica for over thirty years. Of all the instruments I play this is the one that have done best at, probably because it is the least anti-social, most portable and most convenient. Being a lot quieter that most of my musical stable also helps. I've owned some terrible harmonicas over the years, usually the cheap ones but when I splashed out in 1984 on a Hohner C Blues Harp I found what I was looking for. It is a basic twelve hole harmonica that has stood the test of time. Before Christmas I looked at my old harp and decided that it might be time for it to go into partial retirement. Having spent about £24 on it and played it thousands of times it was looking a bit battered and scratched. It still plays beautifully, no dead reeds, fantastic tone so when I went looking for the next generation... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful