Marine Band Classic / Deluxe / Crossover
Hello !
I'd like to know the differences in sound / tone of these 3 Hohner models. Or any other comments that would come to mind. Thank you !
Thank you very much !
Miggy:
I play both Crossovers and Marine Band Deluxes (depending upon key). I like Winslow's "a bit more in your face" remark about the Crossover. Don't know if it's actually louder, but it does seem, very subtlely, to to be a tad "sharper," i.e., not in pitch or intonation, but in it's bandwidth. E.g., more like a car radio speaker than a big home stereo speaker. Also, the comb on the Crossover seems to be ever-so-slightly thinner than that of the Marine Band Deluxe. While both are great harps, and I enjoy playing both, for a lot of reasons that may be more emotional than scientific, I gravitate more toward the Marine Band Deluxe. But then, like a lot of harp stuff, it's "all in the ear (and mouth) of the beholder."
And the only reason that I don't play the Marine Bank 1896 is that I like to take my harmonicas apart from time to time to clean the reedplates, remove gunk, etc., and removing and replacing nails isn't something I want to add to my skill-set.
There's not a huge difference in sound among these three Marine Band models. The nailed-together original MB can be leakier, depdning on the individual harmonica. The MB and MB Deluxe are tuned closed to 19-limit Just, while the Crossover is more of a compromise temprament. That doesn't affect tone, though it does sound a bit more in-your-face than the other two, but the entire series tends in that direction.