Ask Harmonica Expert Winslow Yerxa

Is if feasible to repair a Hohner 260 C?

My father got this harmonica in the mid 1960's. He would periodically try to play a Schottische that he heard as a child growing up in a Polish neighborhood in the 1920s.

I ran across it today while looking for something totally different...

The slide slides, but the button fell off around 1975 and he somehow bent the end of the slide while soldering the button back on. The reeds all make noise... 

Is if feasible to repair this thing, or is best to keep it as is just for the memories?

My question is actually in regards to something that Ronnie says here about it being a "good choice for beginners" who maybe are using a lot of air compared to more advanced players:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vadsUUSzis

Now, at this point, I consider myself an "intermediate" player.  I can hit all of the bends (blow and draw) on MOST of my harps with fairly good precision (sometimes I overshoot the 3 draw).  I own a number of Hohner "Blues Harp" harps (G D and E) that I bought when I was a beginner. continue reading...

Hello Winslow,

I would need your help to demistify the hohner meisterclasse "A" harmonica that I have recently bought.

The reason I have chosen that specific model was...well it was the most expensive model I saw in my local store and the fact that I had got tired of the several unpropperly gapped "marine band deluxe" A harmonicas that i had previously bought and then returned...well I kept one of the marine band deluxes but later i found out it's bamboo comb is badly shaped. continue reading...

Hello Mr. Winslow or anyone else who can help continue reading...

they go out of tune or could use some work? 

This is a question for the future. I was thinking that with this new hobby of $70 disposable instruments that I will need to be buying 6 of at a time, when they get old it might make sense to pack up a bunch and mail them to someone who could maybe fix them up rather than tossing them. 

I live in Austin, Texas if anyone knows someone around here that does that kind of work, but in the modern world shipping them seems like it would be no big deal.  continue reading...

Winslow Hi.

I have been asked to play a song titled Dirty Old Town as sung by The Pouges.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s11BuatTuXk 

It’s a very catchy and easy to play celtic tune. However the issue I have with it is to play all choruses it is played in three differnt keys. The song starts with an introduction of 12 bars in D then changes for two choruses in G and then a chorus on C and then back to G.  Now given the timing of the tune to achieve this I need to miss out section to make distonic harp changes. continue reading...

I mean from a playability POV.  What exactly is the difference between, say, a special 20, a rocket amp and a bluesband?  Obviously they all play differently, but why?  Does Hohner not bother to hand-tune and check the bluesbands?  Are the machining tools for the rocket just better-maintained than the ones for the special 20?  Do they have separate lines for them and don't use the rocket lines for the bluesband because the wear and tear on the machines isn't worth it?  Does the rocket use better, more expensive reed metals than the bluesband? continue reading...

I recently bought a Hohner Rocket and unable to play lower notes 1-3 especially draws. I read on the site that it's a common issue. I practiced as shown by David and I see no improvement. I am not saying that I am a very fast learner. But I also read that that factory made harmonicas could also be out of tune. If this is true, is there any way we could verify that ? Do you have any technique for beginners to check if we are out of tune or the harmonica is out of tune ?

do you recommend covering two holes or three holes with the tongue, i.e. embouchure, (lips), over 3 holes or 4 holes, or does it vary depending on the music, and is the TB your default embouchure, or again, does that vary with a particular passage. Also with a chromatic, is the harp generally kept parallel to the floor as you play, or is it tilted downward somewhat with the back of the harp higher than the front?    I have yet to purchase one, but I plan on getting a Suzuki SCX-48 very soon and am really looking forward to getting started with chromatics.

at the publisher of the "for dummies" books to suggest an idea for a book, i.e., "Chromatic Harmonica for Dummies", to be authored by you?