3 hole draw bend difference between 2 harp models
Thu, 07/26/2012 - 18:44
I purchased a marine band and a special 20, both in the key of C. I seemed to like the special 20s better so I have doing all my practicing with it. When I started working on my 3 hole draw bends, I have been having trouble getting the first half step. So out of frustration I grabbed the marine band and tried with it and I hit it the first try. it is not perfect and not controlled yet, but I can consistently hit it along with the other two notes as well. Can you please shed some light on this. Should I just keep trying the special 20 or am I marine band bound
thanks
Dean
Dean -
Small differences in reed adjustment can make big differences in response.
This is true of individual harmonicas - perhaps even more true than differences between models. Another SP20 might possibly respond as well as or better than the MB you're liking.
But there's another issue here, and it centers on the player more than on the instrument.
When you first start to learn bending, the differences seem huge - between different harps and between different holes on the same harp.
But as you get command of the techniques involved, you'll find that the differences start to fade into the background and the similarities start to come to the fore. You may still notice differences among individual harps and different models, but they'll be like different bugs on your windshield as you whiz down the road of fluent bending.