Hering Chromatics

Hering appears and disappears from the North American market and has no repair backing. The only source i know of is the cluster of Harp Depot companies, which operate under varous names but are all the same company. Search some of the other online harmonica forums for opinions on their reliability and customer service.

My experience with Hering harmonicas (chromatics in particular) is that they're very well built, airtight, highly responsive, but that the reeds fail quickly.

A 64 is a 64. At least if it plays well.

The classic just-like-Little Walter-played would be the straight-tuned, wood-bodied Hohner 280, which hasn't been made in over 60 years. And some players insist on finding and reconditioning those instruments.

But if you look at Rod Piazza, he likes Hering chromatics. Modern Hohners and Suzuki models, including the Hohner 280 (now cross-tuned and with a plastic comb), Super 64, Super 64X, and Suzuki SCX-64, are all solid models. Suzuki, at least, takes things further up-market with the Sirius S-64C (~$300-$800 depending on source) and Fabulous 64 (over $3000), but those are probably overkill. My recommendation would be either the 280 or the SCX-64.

I'd stay away from the cheaper models from companies like Swan. Some player report good experience, ut Ive seen quality control  problems athat resulted in unrepairable major defects. Also, the sound tends to be smaller on those instruments because they tend to minimize on reed materials.