Thoughts on Hohner 360º
Hello folks!
I play guitar and bass for a while and decided to step in to the harp world.
First I intended to buy the cheapest available but I saw some reviews and knew it would be harder to learn in those. Them I found this Hohner 360, at an incredible price (around 15 dollars - I live in Argentina, by the way), it's even cheaper than the special 20. I certified it was not Chinese and jump into it.
The only review I've found so far in it was a YouTube video in Russian or ucranian and no subtitles at all.
Well, does anyone has any thoughts or experience on this model? Did I make a good deal?
Thanks!
Thanks for the answer! Actually the one I bought didn't come with the little lady one, but is this exact model I'm talking about.
Since I already know some music I know how a bad quality instrument can harm one's progress, thus I decided to buy not the cheapest ones. On the other hand I never played a harp so I didn't want to spend with a high end one at this very beginning steps.
In terms of price I think I've made a good bang for the buck. They retail for around 4000 pesos (even expensivier than the Special 20) and I got it for half price (pandemic deals maybe, to keep economy moving). Since I don't know much about harps and didn't want to start at the top I was price drove during the process, mostly oriented towards the special 20, and suddenly this offer jumped in and here I am.
Anyway, I appreciate your help!
Regards
Looks like the Hohner 360º only came in the key of C.
Most of David's lessons are for A harmonica, but you can get started with a C harp:
C Harmonica Intro Lesson
This lesson is specifically for new students to BluesHarmonica.com that only have the C Harmonica.https://www.bluesharmonica.com/lessons/c_harmonica_intro_lesson
Good luck,
Evets
That's correct! They only come in C. I've heard around the forum about the C key lessons.
Thanks!
... with caveats, if you install a browser plugin to change the pitch. I tried one for Chrome called Cadenza, though I don't remember whether it worked correctly for David's videos (IIRC it was confused because the Vimeo videos David uses open on a different iframe).
If you find one plugin that works, all you need to do is raise the pitch by 1.5 semitones to transpose the A lessons to C. David's voice will sound like the smurfs a bit, but you can play along for a while.
Note that that this trick doesn't work for exercises submissions (you could of course play them in C and then lower the pitch 1.5 semitones, but that's like cheating), and the experience of playing an A harp is quite different than a C harp (some bends are more difficult to achieve in a C harp, IMHO, since you need to get them more accurately, for example the 3 draw full step bent).
Still, I see a lot of people are thrown off by the "I bought a C harp so I can do the A lessons" and I believe that's inaccurate in today's digital world. Before giving up, try to use a plugin like that, or the Amazing Slowdowner or some other app which can change the pitch for the audio recordings. You might get going while you decide whether getting an A harp (which again is a different experience besides the convenience of not needing to transpose the audio) is worth it for you or not.
Actually I'm planning to buy an A harp, I'm just doing some more research, meanwhile I'm more than entertained with the "walk with me" challenge. If I knew the lessons here where focused on this pitch I would have bought it already, but I had virtually none knowledge about harps and followed the most common advise you found around internet. Also i got what seemed to be this huge discount so I jumped in without further research.
Anyway, thanks for the tips!
My best regards!
It looks as if the 360 is being packaged with a Little Lady as a commemeration of the latter being played in outer space 55 years ago. At $15 USD, it's probably at the lower end of Hohner's quality. If you know some music but are just starting on harp, you may be happier with a Hohner Special 20, or Marine Band, or Lee Oskar. You may be looking at 3,000 or more Argentine Pesos, but worth saving for.