Custom Harmonica Vs. Out of Box Harmonica 007.

[snowypetrel]

The advert banner on your video showed a pair of breasts in a lacy bra, offering D - F cups. Suits you sir!

[rmachayes]

Hey Jason, big fan of yours. I want your opinion on an instrument. What are your thoughts on the Special 20? Is it a good harp for a beginner? With the average player (is there such a thing? ha), how long can I expect this thing to stay in tune?

Does it respond in terms of leap years after a professional customizer does his magic to it? Is embossing a logical customizing for a beginner? I have purchased several SP20s in the popular keys and would like to finish the keys with SP 20s. tnx

[feiz01]

that middle eastern sound jason produces is sublime, jason would you sell me one of your harps man?

[AraguaJam]

Very controversial oponion about stock harps, I guess you r not interesting in playing with hohner :)

[tobyant]

Hi Jay, i just started palying. cant even bend d notes properly yet. is there a way to customize d harp so i can bend it easier.. thanks man

[tobyant]

Hi Jay, i just started palying. cant even bend d notes properly yet. is there a way to customize d harp so i can bend it easier.. thanks man

[canesin1]

muito bom ! parabens !

tks

[estderoma]

which is a good harp to start with? Lee Oskars' are maybe better than Hohners'?

[bowrooco]

listen to be honest .. you make them all sound great....I'm a beginer , but I know from playing Drums and guitar all my life that a bad instrument can turn you off to learning correctly.. can you recommend a place to get a great harmonica to lean on? thx

[dan32113]

@bowrooco Hohner marine band deluxe is a great harmonica, because it plays well. Alot of bought harps have poor sound, so that can be off putting. Or Hohner special 20 are good. Remember that play it gentle to start with to "break them in" the general rule is the more you pay the better the sound. Seydel 1847 are very good but cost a lot more, don"t buy one if you think you will give up, as they cost a lot! remember practice practice practice.

[maxkday]

Jason, can you show us on video how you mod these step by step?

Thanks

Max

[mutzo1]

I´m wondering

is he libpursing or tougueblocking on this bass-line sort of thing??

[jr69futrell]

how come all i hear about is the hohner marine band, i use a blues harp from hohner ( not good though) can you tell me the difference between the two?

JR

[AraguaJam]

@mutzo1 interesting question I think he is, one of the best ways to use tongue blocking and tongue slaps is with this boogie style he is playing

[The01time]

here i thought it was just my abilities lacking can see the huge difference from the marine band. i have tried the lee oskars special 20 blues band and some seem ok but never would have thought they come without be tweaked in. ive tried tuning and just end up ruining harps mostly ones that ive already tossed aside. is there moderatly priced harps that a ready to rock out there or do i need to take a loan out for new customs?

[wpaschal88]

@The01time What are you're thoughts about a Hohner HotMetal? I just bought one, because I am really intrested in playing harp, and it was cheap(9.50 US). I bought mine as a key of G. The reeds seem to be screwed down and it is held together with screws. Was this a good choice for a beginner, or should I have done more shopping?

[The01time]

@wpaschal ya never tried the hot metal. but i did buy about 15 of the chinese honer bluesband and they were a few bucks apiece but i think they only make them in c. but they were for handing out to the nieces and nephews but they rip..g will work but i would say get a c to start. you can play by ear to your fav classic rock. at least thats how i started. although im kindergarden compared to jricci. big bends need good harps though youll find that out later. thats where my prob is

[wpaschal88]

@The01time Thanks for the input. Well, last night i was playing with the reed adj. and had it about how i would like it, then broke the 5 draw. So I picked up another one today, but I think Im goin to leave it alone. Im more into blues, as far as playing, just figured out the train whistle, so I think Im off to a good start. Still have to work on my chug, its a lil slow. But I think Im getting it. I bought mine based on the get what ya pay for. It seemed a better buy than the blues band(4$)

[maurixiom]

nice MANSON

JAJAJAJA !! !

[antlhuede]

how annoying, i searched around for peoples input to find the best harmonica to buy, got a hohner because thats what everyone seemed to say was best, and now this!

bah

[bourboncowboy]

It's mainly the Hohner Marine band that's the problem. Other models, like the Golden Melody, and especially the Special 20, are much more consistent. The Special 20 in particular plays great out of the box.

[fattrucker01]

my first harp was a marine band in C, it was $2.50 at the time, i remembeer that there was a tiny B&W pic of the actual marine band GLUED to the top of the box.

[JohnProsserVideo]

Great video Jason, thank you for posting this. I hope Hohner has seen it

[juanmaknez]

I would like to know where the music video where you play a harmonica with Arabic type

[shotgunartscene]

Ouch..exactly the hassles I'm experiencing [and they ain't cheap these days, over here $55 AUD]. I've got a couple tweaked valved jobs and Deluxes but I am still finding myself in the s**t with consistency of response sometimes whilst singing and kickin' in. Dang it looks like I've gotta get into some more serious money for some Harrisons and some tweaking practise myself. I've bundles of them laying in boxes about here waiting for some love and re-reeding.

[Fenderfan171]

i don't know the first thing about harmonicas and i wanna learn how to play blues i own a C where should i start with your videos

[jfllr1]

kudzurunner

modernbluesharmonica

[daddyrichispoor]

Just click on his name JasonRicci and then you can see a list of all his videos to choose from, and remember as in Indiana Jones..."choose, wisely!"

Have fun, try starting with the oldest looking one Black hair i believe. That's what is cool about Jason's vid's, you can kinda follow the video timeline by his hair color and stuff. HA Ha.

I'm gonna have to figure something out when i do my new vids, maybe i'll try to gain 5 pounds each video? I will do it for the fans!!!! gotta go find a hotdog..

[Muzikman127]

I wonder what Adam gussows thinks of this video lol

[patrkcirtap]

wouldn't it affect the way you play since you normally don't use the marine band harp?

[ktrod1]

This sounds like a dumb question - I've got myself into the bad habit of playing my harmonica upside down, and now it's too confusing to play it right-way-up. Does it make a difference which way up you play it?

[jasonricci]

Mot a fdifferance, Many great players hold the harp upside down. It's only hard if your teacher dosent...

[theoriginalbillholt]

@ktrod1 Jimi Hendrix experienced a similar dilemma. ; )

[Snotlingfondler]

whats your opinion on folk master? i started playing 2 weeks ago and ive been using a folk master bought for £6 in the key of c or have you even heard of it haha?

[jasonricci]

I think there great little harps for the money!

[MrLittoral]

Been hunting old harps for a long time. Nice to see/hear the analysis.

1st post, been stealing all I can for a few months now. Being a tone freak (30+ years) it's been nice to add a few more Indy500 licks. Got a lot from Pat.

Much thanks.

[sourav777]

well, i guess since im just starting it wont matter to me, but i bought hohner special 20 in C, and it seems fine to me. anything i shud do to/with it?

[hexdsl]

great video thank you

[MICKEYMIN2]

Awesome info, glad to know Hohner has some QC issues - I thought I was crazy because I had one Blues Harp (not Marine Band) out of box that I absolutely loved - didn't know how much until I lost it & then kept buying identical harps to replace it -but never found same sound and playability - just one of those 'sleeper' issues I guess - i will go to your web site and I am ready to crack open a couple of my harps and start carving Thanks again

[MusicMan20061210]

Great!

Info straight to the point and no beating around the bush.

[turtles12]

Thanks for the reply. I had one more question. I'm an intermediate player at best, so I assume it wouldn't make sense for me to adjust my reeds (since I don't overblow), but would it be worth it to open the back of my harmonica up for the added volume?

[turtles12]

Why do you prefer the customized golden melody as opposed to customizing a special 20?

[jasonricci]

It's all personal preferance..actually now I like Marine bands with special 20 covers and custom combs...it all changes over the years.

J

[703224796]

can you put up a vid about fixing new outta box hohners? I just got one and my 2 draw is really hard to get clean! how does one make things good on a new harp?

[blowingharp]

Oh shit and I went out a bought a set of seven hohner blues band harps, a couple of amps and a few mics because I wanted to start playing the harp again like I used to back in my navy days ha ha. Are they tweekable?

[diatonic420]

I just saw that your also using Genesis harmonicas now. How they working for you? I emailed that guy but he has a waiting list like all the other customizers. $125 for a Marine Band seems steep. Do you think they are worth it?

[jasonricci]

Hi...I've actually only tried a couple of combs from genesis.I can not recommend a complete harmonica from Genesis. The combs are fun and louder if you are into a simple subtle change.I Only recommend Joe Spiers and harrison harmonicas. I do love trying combs and odd parts but the magic is in the reed work and very few have that magic! I wait like everyone else no special treatment really sometimes for over a year, I don't bug them and I pay full price.

[jasonricci]

Oh also RICHARD SLEIGH RULES TOO!

[leoking45]

so with all that having been said

what would you recommend for

a begginer?

[jasonricci]

Hohner Special 20

[alsyapal19461946]

Just took a delivery of a set of seven hohner International Blues Band harps bought for 47pounds on e-bay very cheaply finished and most of them have notes that don't play. As I am only a beginner its taking me ages to take them apart and tune them. Compared to the Seydel silver which cost me more than the seven Hohners - which plays perfectly. Just shows you get what you pay for and rather visit a professional musicians shop than buy from e-bay. Otherwise order direct from Seydel.

[73Bossman]

Excellent info. I thought I was hearing a lot of air from my lower draws on my Pro Harp (out of the box Honor).

[dsotm13]

great video man. i didn't realize how bad my harp was until this video. i have a honer special 20 in c with nothing done to it and it sounds just like the out of the box honer in your vid. ill have to get mine fixed. where would you go to get a harp customized?

[williestra]

real nice playing man!

[theloveboxquartet2]

That was a really useful video, Jason.

[quinoacat]

You sound most awesome on the Joe Spiers refurb. The Golden Melody is my favorite for the Equal Temper tuning and your mods make it sound really out there. You might kill a Marine Band bought over the counter, due to Hohner inconsistancy, if you played it on stage and tried to get it to keep up with your band without working the harp over a bit at least. You are right that they are a waste of money. I will only get Golden Melody in the sub 30 dollar harps from Hohner.

[quinoacat]

I just blew out a modern Marine Band in Ab. The 4 and 5 holes are out of tune on both the draw and blow reeds now. The 4 and 5 holes are also noticeably larger than the rest of them. I also have a Special 20 in B major that has bad scores on some of the reeds indicating poor sanding on the reeds which can leave the reeds weak and prone to breaking. I love the Golden Melody harps but am not fond of many Hohners. I replaced my Ab with a Seydel Blues Session (Dave Payne would be proud).

[pfecke]

Great info! You talk about embossing and setting the hight of the reeds to improve the response. Would appreciate more specifics on how you tweak the reeds of an out of the box harp.

[crzyfisher]

you can deffinitly tell the difference in the sound quality but your so good you can make any harp sound good.

[quinoacat]

crzyfisher, he could prolly make a harp with plastic reeds sound good until he popped the reeds, lol.

[nickhp5]

how did u fix up the golden melody i have the same one and like the sound of ures

[cheekyzombie]

Excellent mate! Just ordered my first custom.

Thought I'd check out the tube and there you are...

Thanks again.

Can't wait.x

[belleray2]

Thanks Jason.I didn't realize out of the box harps were near on useless,i thought it was me alone.Looking for a good carpenter because i have a heap of dead sounding harps.

[blowingharp]

And I bought a set of hohner blues harmonicas a few months ago...7. haha. I just started playing the harmonica again after not playing for years. I thought hohner was a good brand...little did I know lol.

[jasonricci]

They are a good brand by comparrison. It's just noone so far has built it relly right. Harrison Harmonicas will be mass producing instruments this year and they WILL get it right. In the mean time for most purposes Hohner, Suzuki,Seydel and herring are all fine choices.

J

[grimesn]

Its a Genesis in C. Sounds wonderful.

[grimesn]

Thanks for this great video. Got my first custom MB harp this week. Absolutely love it. Haven't played a better harp in 16 years of playing. Sooooo even. Every hole screams, 'Play me!!' No going back to stock harps now. I need to learn replace my reeds. Anyway cheers Jason. You rock fella!

[jasonricci]

Brad harrison?

[codica666]

Hi Jason, great stuff as usual. I read further down that you recommend Golden Melody for beginners. Does that mean they bend and overblow nicely out of the box (tried to get one today but no shop had any on stock)? Another question: did you ever try the Hohner Pro Harp Series and what do you think of those (much better than the Blues Harp/Marine Band out of the box). Also I'm curious if you ever tried the more expensive Hohner series like the Meisterklasse and if yes what you think of those?

[jasonricci]

For Hohners I recommend the special 20 the marine band the golden melody and the Marine bad deluxe...The suzuki fire breath is a great harmonica too!

J

[codica666]

The Fire Breath is indeed a great harp for overblowing. I get the 4, 5 and 6 overblow by now (Eb). Next best are the Hohners I'd say. I get the 4 hole OB on my golden melody, 5 and 6 just squeek for now. But I'll get them eventually. DANKE JASON JA?

[aquaajb]

I started watching your videos after I began learning how to play harmonica yesterday (Proud to say I'm doing pretty well for two days in)...anyway, I noticed that my out of the box bluesband hohner sounds like ass, and..well, thanks for making me realize it's not just me.

Any recommendations in the $25 - $35 range? Key of C. For now anyway. I'm going to have to get another job to support this new hobby of mine..

[jasonricci]

Thne best thing going is like a hohner marine band deluk, or a seydel or a suzuki fire breath but those are in th 50.00-70.00 range other than that the golden melody is a good one (hohner and big rivers would be a good one to start on too...Thanks!

J

[Harplicks]

Hey Jason,

I've had pretty good luck with out of the box Suzuki harps, especially for Overdraws. Mostly though, I'm using MB Deluxe harps, but they need a lot of reedwork.

Thanks so much for all the great videos.

Harpin in Colorado,

Mojo Red

[jasonricci]

Love you Red! You could play anything at your level my man!

[xpeterdudex]

Hi Jason! At first I'd like to say thanx a lot for your lessons. I'm learning a lot with them.

After practising a lot I can bend some notes, what makes me very happy, but there's still one whole I can't bend at all. The 3rd draw whole.

I've got a Lee Oskar, and I'm a little bit afraid if I open it up and custom the reeds.I don't wanna break the reed. You think I should try that?

Anyway thanx a lot!! Greetings form Spain

[jasonricci]

hey Thanks a lot...i wouldn't mess with your harps at all unless you get really serious about overblowing...

Keep at it!

J

[Bluesharper60]

Jason,

I just came across your stuff a few days ago and it's already making a huge difference.

Thanks so much,keep 'em comin'!

JL

[jasonricci]

Thats cause YOU Rock. I'm not a super hero just a hero...

J

[nosliwtheprophet]

man you are awesome

i've been watching alot of your videos along with gindick's and gussow's

i'm very much a beginner at harmonica and all i have is a G and a C old standby hohner, they were pretty cheap.

i'm getting into playing alot more, thanks to you and the others, and i was wondering what kind should i get to continue? i'm pretty poor so...

[nosliwtheprophet]

ello

sorry i just read further down the comment list and you practically already answered my question, so nevermind

keep up the good work!

[jasonricci]

Thanks so much for watching and keep at it...Tell John Gindick I said Hi.

J

[Domefast]

Hi Ricci!

Which customizing ,if you choose one,have the

biggest impact on the harmonica to do overblows.

[xXJRUGXx]

WOW! The out of the box marine band is really leaky, I mean you are really puching to make that sound good and it just was not working out. I expect better from hohner.

[unclevit]

hi,

learning good things here. where can i find a good custom harp without breaking my wallet, as i may go for a few at a time.

tks,

[jasonricci]

Hey...joe spiers is the way to go right now...except they are expensive about 150.00 a pop the best bet is start learning how to do it on your own via tenhole dot com and harmonica sessions dot com etc...practice on old harps first!!!

[trumpetharmonica]

Hí Jason

Nice lesson on getting harps better. I´ts the same on my Chromatic Harm. Out of Box they are leaky and have to strong spring on the key button! I have also work´t on my instruments to and try´d to get them better!

Keep on playing!

Johnny

[joealanouf]

very useful. makes me realise how crappy my 5 doller harmoicas are. im poor though. i do have a nice echo harp by m horner. its ncie. but some crappy horners too and a ok victory but nothing speshle. i hear the diffrence. my hamonicas are leeky sounding.

thanks man. i wish i could go to the work shop

[Akadia]

I've been picking up my harp again, used to play a little. Just curious if you could elaborate sometime on how to customize a harp, mine is extremely old and well worn, hoping to buy another, but no great place to have one customized.

[THLS]

J, the best instructions I've ever seen and I've been playing and constantly learning for a long time. Nobody does it like you. Best wishes from across the pond in England.

One question, have you tried the Marine Band Deluxe stock harps? I wondered what you thought of them?

Keep going Dude. ;-)

[jasonricci]

Dear T. Thanks for writing...and thanks for the kudos...I have tried the deluxes yes their better than the regular marine bands but still need a lot of work. Thanks for writing!

J

[mscomb]

Jason,

thank you for taking the time for these valuable video's. Is there any (detailed) info out there that deals with modifying golden melody's for overblowing. Do you ever get to the pacific northwest to do seminars??

[jasonricci]

I do a lot of gigs up there if you have a harmonica club maybe yall could invite me? If not you can always e-mail me and we could meet...any way check out tenholedotcom and overblowdotcom for that info you seek!

[fiendant]

This video doesn't seem to work along with your extreme bending video.

[jasonricci]

Sorry Fiendant....nooen else has complained about these two but randomly people seem to have problems here on you tube I see it in all the comment boxes...I don't know they werre uploaded the same and work from whatever mac/pc I've tried them from? Sorry...

[grimesn]

Oh right. Thanks for that.

[grimesn]

Hey. Really useful clip. Thanks. How can you tell so quickly that the standard marine band is leaky?

[jasonricci]

when your playing them you can hear and feel air escaping from plaves other than the reed slot...it loses volum sustain and tone.

[ludobeckers]

Hi again Jason, on the Golden Mel. you open up the sides of the bottom coverplate; why only the bottom and not the upper one as well? (not a rethoric question!)

[jasonricci]

Hey Ludo!!! My buddy! How you been? Oridinally I saw carlos had nonly opened one side...So dogmaticaly I did the same...Later (Now) I open both sides and like it much better...thats an old harp.

[ohmysun]

Jason watch alex knost on you tube and bra boys, for a pleasent diversion.... I hope!

[spec20]

I've found that the Marine Band (factory) is one of the worst harps going...The Special20 out of the box is a GREAT HARP!! I've been told that the Marines'are now machine made while Spec20's are still hand made. The Spec20's are also tuned slightly flat which makes it an instant bad mofo right outta the box. With all due respect to your skills, Cordially yours, Tom Slick

[1legmidget]

nice man, gussow recomended you so ive watched a few of your videos. i have to say i like your stuff. keep it up

[blake46long]

Jason -

Not intended as a shameless plug, but on our latest CD, "Time's Right," on our version of "Put a Spell on you" I do the first half of the solo on a stock Special 20 A, and the second half on a Richard Sleigh D. Pretty startling difference in the brightness of tone, even given the difference in keys. Check it out if you haven't already.

[jasonricci]

Not a plug at all ! Very on topic! The differance certainly can be startling Thats why I make these...Thanks Blake sucks I wont see you in denver for Rockin' in the Rockies.. jasonricci dot com

[jasonricci]

hey dome...On the Gm they were embossed medium...I will ussually emboss very heavy to the point where they get stuck in the reed slot then back them up very carefully using a super thin strip of metal thats like a CD theft detection device that comes in some CDs but a exacto knife will work or another thin piece of metal...& and 9 are a royal pain in the ass.

[Domefast]

You have embossed and set the action on the golden melody within a our.Did you emboss all reeds?

Do you emboss the slots very tight or just slightly?

7 and 9 overdraw seems to be harder to customize

or am i wrong?

Your videos and music rocks! Thank you !

[jasonricci]

Lee Oskars Hering especially Suzuki and Seydell tend to be way more consistant! But after theyv'e been worked on, hohners seem to be best because of brass reedplates/brass reeds are more malable than phospherus bronze and other materials I encountered from other brands. leangth and Width of hohner reeds seems to suit overblows better than other harmonica companies. NOT a plug for Hohner...If I hadn't spent years learning to customize harmonicas or I would play Suzuki/Hering.

Jason

[NeilPowrie]

Good video. Very interesting.

As far as out of the box harmonicas go, are most brands as inconsistant as hohner?

How would a different brand such as a lee oskar compare?

[bobblunn]

Jason,

Thanks again for sharing! Is the 20's era MB JI tuning? And do you use JI tuning on your GM's? Also, does opening up the sides on the GM's give them more of an MB type sound?

Regards,

BB

[jasonricci]

damn i wrote this once it it didn't take! the MB is in just (Comprimiseed Just) almost the same as it's original tuning the 5 draw is not quite as flat. I leave the GMs tuned to equal tempermant because it's more accurate for playing parts in unison with other instruments but the chords don't sound half as good as they do in Just! Opening the sides definitly helps in a few ways for volume reducing compression and treble!

[RedwoodCurtain]

Jason, this is very interesting. I never gave much thought to different types of harmonicas and had no idea you could actually customize them.

I caught you at Biscuits and Blues back on May 9th in SF. Very much enjoyed your show and bought a CD. I have some video from that night that I've been meaning to put up on youtube. Please make your way up to far nothern California sometime - I'll be sure to bring a bunch of folks to see you!

[jasonricci]

Thanks Red Woos !!! By all means put those vids up! I'll be back soon Thanks for watching this stuff...