Interesting comparison....good presentation and approached rationally. I enjoyed your thoughts. Thank you :)

It's messed up that this video needs to exist. Hohner's product lineup naming was always confusing, if they want to rebrand, that's on them, but they should've been explicit if they did or didn't change anything with the rename, and what was changed that matters. Thanks for making this, you told me exactly what I wanted to know, and you play beautifully.

Just bought a new Special 20 that arrived today (9/28/15). It came in the new "Progressive" box and was factory sealed. When I opened the box and removed the case, it contained a "Classic" Marine Band Special 20 inside. I can only surmise that there was still some stock of the Classic models that Hohner still had after they started producing the new Progressive boxes/packaging. I'm certainly not complaining, as I think the Classic Special 20's are some of the best harps around. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

@rc2159

6 жыл бұрын

same here

Thanks for the excellent video and comparison Jimmy Fallon!

Very good analysis. Thanks!

The Reed plate for the Progressive Special 20, and the Rocket, are the same. You can see the holes on the Reed plates for both harmonicas. To install the Progressive Reed plates on the Marine Band Special 20 you will need to buy the new size screws. All harmonicas need to be tweaked out of the box unless you buy a custom harmonica.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks! Very timely. I was on the fence but bought the classic version as a result of the demo.

@OneHarp

6 жыл бұрын

+Sagebrush Bands Glad to be of help!

@OneHarp

6 жыл бұрын

+Sagebrush Bands Glad to be of help!

The classic sounded more open and easier to blow and was better in tune (closer to Marine Band)

I already bought a progressive hohner from London. Your review is extremely helpful. Would it require expertise to change the width as you suggested.

Hey Isaac, please tell which Special 20 is better, keeping quality of sound and maintenance in mind. I am a beginner and have been finding it difficult to decide to choose between "progressive" and "classic" special 20's. Thank you :)

Thank you for your notice about ar deco design of classic special 20 Marine band. I also like older version for it's cool cover plates.

Look at 7:46, Classic Special 20 (on right side), has something on the end of first 4 reed plate? Progressive on the left seems not to have that. You didnt mentioned that.

Hey Isaac -- The video was great. But I am just looking at beginning to learn to play harmonica: what is your advice for the best harp for a beginner? Where should I look for instruction? Thanks for your help!!

@OneHarp

9 жыл бұрын

Camille Deckert Glad that you enjoyed the video! I would advise to buy a Hohner Special 20 or a Suzuki Harpmaster. Both are very good, professional-quality instruments, and will stand up well to abuses of a novice player (blowing/drawing too hard, playing "wet", learning to bend). They will also be of good enough quality so as not to hinder your learning. As for learning materials, online, I'd say go to modernbluesharmonica.com or to bluesharmonica.com. Both provide excellent instructional material. If you want a book, "Blues Harmonica for Dummies", by Winslow Yerxa, is by far the best instructional book you can buy. I can't recommend that book enough. Good luck!

The cover plates on the Progressive have "open back" cover plates, as opposed to the Classic cover plates are more closed, like the Marine Band cover plates.! Good comparison though, thanks.

All the marine bands I've bought since the progressive series came in have been gapped way to high. Not a problem if you know how to gap em, but could be off putting to a beginner :(

Thanks for the educational and clarifying video. i just started playing blues harp maybe 6 months ago, i had a Lee Oskar in my closet and got the idea, what with so many you tube lessons now, to learn blues harp, i play blues guitar for years so i thought, how hard can it be? turned out to be really hard but with enough progress and cool sounds to make it addictive. I was really struggling to bend at all, even a half step, was looking at Amazon reviews to learn if some harps were easier to bend than others, got a Special 20 Progressive on Amazon, at first thought it was no different from the Lee Oskar, after a week of playing it, was switching off between the two one day, practicing the blues scale, 15 minutes each, back and forth, unpleasant struggling to bend with any control, i went back from Lee Oskar to Sp20 and suddenly, wow, i could do it. Joy. After doing it for 15 or more minutes i went back to the Lee Oskar and still couldn't do it, i never knew why, but i immediately went out to Guitar Center and got another Sp20 Progressive, same key (C), in case, being new at it, i messed up the reeds on the first one. I found immediately that i couldn't bend it as easily as the first one. More air was coming through, hardly any air, or none, comes through on the first one. So i went off on a quest to find other harps that would bend and play as easy as the first Sp20. I got a Promaster and while nice to play non non-blues songs, it was so much harder to bend and play than the Sp20, it's not fun to have to struggle with it. My first Sp20 is no struggle at all, i can work on technique to make it easier, but the problems with the Promaster, and then the Seydel 1847 Sliver i got seems like not just technique. Too much air comes through, and too much air comes through on the second Sp20 i got, but it's easier for me to play than the Promaster and Seydel, less air, more sound. Now, i'm not wanting to keep spending money if it's so hit or miss getting a harp that plays like my first Sp20. i got Sp20 in A, G and E also, and they do not play as easily as my first Sp20. I guess part of it is not having patience with it so not spending enough time breaking them in? I did play the first Sp20 for a week before the breakthrough occurred. I'd played the Lee Oskar a lot longer than that and never any break through. As i get better, i have the technique to get more out of the other ones but it's not fun to have to struggle. A harp should be like that first Sp20. I am very glad you talked about gapping, because it gives me some language to talk about the breathiness and how more air comes through and less sound. My first Sp20 seems like the perfect harp, i just wish i had a whole bunch of them. For what it's worth, my experience turned out to confirm your conclusion, just a difference in individual harps. My experience has only been with 5 SP20 progressives, no Classics, and the first one plays like a dream, and the others, when i comes to bending action and related to the breathiness, volume and substance are impaired, one of the progressives is great, the others, i will say i find them easier to play than the Seydel or the ProMaster but harder than the first SP20. If i tried to work on the gapping, i'd probably make it worse, not knowing what i'm doing. Where do you send a harp to have it customized? I found the comments section on this video to be informative. i guess i'll investigate the Rocket/Rocket Amp in Amazon reviews and you tube reviews. i was thinking of trying a Crossover but again, i don't want to just throw money away on something that's so hard to play. If i didn't have this one SP20 that plays so much easier and so much easier to control the sound and play around with it, and develop technique, and start getting whole step bends increasingly, i would think it's just my inability, but having that one harp, now has me on a holy grail quest. Looking for guidance and knowledge, thanks Today i was looking at USED Classic Special 20s on eBay Kind of gross, but....the holy grail...

@OneHarp

7 жыл бұрын

Hi there. I'm really glad this video was so useful to you. It's great to read your story about your quest for the right harmonica. Believe me, I've been down that path! In the long run, it will pay to learn how to adjust your harmonica yourself. I would recommend "Supercharge Your Harmonica" by Richard Sleigh to learn the ins and outs of harmonica adjustment. He also sells a top-notch tool kit that will give everything necessary to adjust your harps properly. Personally, I was lucky enough to have learned in person from a master customizer (Chris Michalek), but Richard's videos are the next best thing. If you want to send your harps off for adjustment, many customizers do excellent work at reasonable prices for basic adjustments. You can't go wrong with work done by Richard Sleigh, Joe Spiers, Andrew Zajack, or Greg Jones. There are other excellent customizers out there, but these are the ones I know (at least those whom I've interacted with and who are active and take orders). Best of luck!

That's information.. they actually sound the same. The pluses I can find the classic 20 harmonica $10.00 about less out of the 📦

Good info. Thanks!

So, the 5-harp set of special 20s at amazon is about $20 more than the 5-harp set of progressive special 20s. If Hohner thinks it's the same harp, basically, I wonder why. Maybe Amazon lowers the price because the Progressives aren't moving? They sound the same to me in the video. If the gapping is different out of the box, which gap size makes it easier to play individual notes without accidentally getting two at a time?

@OneHarp

3 жыл бұрын

Very interesting. I wonder if the regular ones are more expensive because they are now considered to be "New Old Stock" and some people will pay more for the non progressive versions.

I read an article about it that said there was no change in the harmonica but they just decided it should be in the Progressive family instead of the Marine Band family, mostly because of the plastic comb, which it has always had.

@OneHarp

6 жыл бұрын

I think that's generally correct. They definitely change the covers a bit and the size of the reedplate screws, which suggests they might have generally retooled their assembly machinery at that point too. In practice I don't really feel too much difference, but I have a mish mash of brands and models that I play, so I'm not too sensitive.

@sepultura7771

3 жыл бұрын

Which harmonica do you mean

@CasaErwin

3 жыл бұрын

@@sepultura7771 Talking about the Hohner Special 20.

nice video !

Me parece un video muy interesante, perl soy español y no se hablar español. ¿ Cual de esas dos armónicas es su preferida?? Gravias.

@juandelmarcastellanos4514

5 жыл бұрын

Básicamente dijo que no hay tanta diferencia pero prefiere el viejo modelo de Special 20 en la línea Marine Band y no le gusta algunas cosas de la nueva Special 20 línea Progressive, como tornillos más pequeños que son más susceptibles a ser apretados de más, agujeros extras que no pertenecen a ese modelo en particular, demasiado espacio entre la lengüeta y la placa.

@juandelmarcastellanos4514

5 жыл бұрын

Sí estás en España mejor cómprate una Hohner Rocket, que están en Amazon por unos 40 euros, de resto yo diría mejor alejarse de Hohner, Hohner ya se convirtió como el Apple de las armónicas, precios altos, calidad inferior y todo en innovaciones de diseño que el mercado no ha pedido pero ellos quieren meter a la fuerza, están cobrando de su prestigio de tiempos pasados.

thanks for doing this ... time will tell as to whether Hohner made the correct move. I'm wondering about the reed alloy and the quality of the reed plates, They do seem brittle sounding at first blush, but I will give them a fair trial. I do not like the smaller screws for the reasons you pointed out...I just bought five of these puppies, so we'll see.

I'm sure you're aware by now that Hohner offers a Rocket without the side vents, it's the Rocket Amp, and has a fluorescent green looking comb. So there you go for your Special 20 on steroids, or however the saying went. It looks better ti me without the side vents, except for the green comb, and that it's more expensive as well.

@OneHarp

8 жыл бұрын

+Patrick Clark Yes, i saw that! While I absolutely want to try one, I can't help but be prematurely disappointed by that ugly green comb and the dorky name! Lol! But seriously, why couldn't they just tone it down a bit and call it the Special 20 deluxe? I'm not 12 years old -- neon green does not impress me anymore!

@patrickclark3337

8 жыл бұрын

OneHarp Yup, that's exactly what I'm thinking. I was wondering why they didn't just call it Special 20 deluxe like they did with the Marine band deluxe. Or Special 20 deluxe (the Rocket) in parentheses, or as a nickname call it the Rocket. I also agree with the labeling of it, "progressive", and with the distinctive side vents on a Marine band. It shouldn't have side vents, they distinctively belong to the Marine band group of harps. They maybe realized this and created the "Amp" version of the Rocket without the side vents, but put a bigger price tag on it and gave it a ugly green comb. What's next, the Rocket with a wooden comb? Or The Marine band with a green comb and calling it Marine band progressive series? You said it, it's all about attracting a "hipper" demographic and money. I thought they did that with their "Tagged" series. Now they want to offer a Special 20 that has a customized look to it, they took the having to send your Special 20 out to a customizer and paying the cost and put it in the Rocket at a reasonable price (as opposed to customizing). I happen to like it, and that's my new Special 20 replacement. I have to buy more keys to replace my SP20's. They're better to me, and it's cheaper than customizing my SP20's! Thanks for the reply!

@OneHarp

8 жыл бұрын

Patrick Clark Glad to know that you like it. I have yet to try a Rocket or a Rocket Amp. I agree that they could both be worth the extra $$ over a "normal" special 20 if they save you the hassle of setting it up properly out of the box!

It’s not PR. It’s marketing.

I just bought a Hohner harmonica today in key of D. Outside box says Progressive special 20, but on the harmonica itself, it says special 20 marine band. What gives?

@OneHarp

8 жыл бұрын

+rcnsucom Interesting. I've heard of this happening to other people too. Speculation is that Hohner is/was clearing out the old stock Special 20's at the same time as rolling out the newer models, and some of these mismatches occurred. See if you can contact Hohner customer service to make an exchange? Although they may not do that since it's still technically a fully functional harmonica...

Check out this new comparison video from One Harp!

@INoelNoelNoel

8 жыл бұрын

+OneHarp who is one harp?

@OneHarp

7 жыл бұрын

I am One Harp! :)

are the new special 20s edges smother than the old ones

@OneHarp

9 жыл бұрын

I have not noticed any differences (worse or better) in terms of smoothness. Generally, the manufacturing seems to be of the same quality, for better or worse.

I didn't know that Jimmy Fallon played harp!

@OneHarp

3 жыл бұрын

I get that a lot, but I've never seen the resemblance myself!

@dovlandzbaum5036

3 жыл бұрын

@@OneHarp Well, I'll bet he can't play harp like you! :-)

DUDE! how do you do that on 4:50??????

@OneHarp

7 жыл бұрын

Hi there! Do you mean the bends in hole 3 draw? That comes just with practice, my friend! There are 4 notes available to play in hole 3 on a harmonica, but you must know how to bend with precision to achieve them. I practiced various scale exercises for a couple of years before I could achieve these bent notes with precision. Hope that helps!

Hi, and thanks for the video! I don't know if it was just individual differences, but to me the classic sounded brighter than the progressive, which sounded a bit murky at times. The progressive seemed to bend more easily, but then sort of stop responding altogether. If i were shopping for a new harp, i'd go for the classic, based on your video. But then again, i'm just a noob on harps and didn't even know of "gapping" until you mentioned it on the video... so thanks for enlightening me!

@OneHarp

8 жыл бұрын

+Robin Laurén Glad you enjoyed the video! The "classic" Special 20's are going to be harder and harder to find. From what I understand, Hohner is fast running out of older stock reedplates, and pretty much all the Special 20's will have the newer reedplates (in common with the "Rocket") from here on out. It's still unclear to me if that really means a definitive change to the tone that these harps will have. Or, at least, a greater effect on tone than any of the other previous re-toolings that happened at the Hohner factory. Change is inevitable, so IMO, it's better to roll with the changes, and see what can be done on your end (technique, embouchure, reed adjustments) to ensure you achieve a consistent tone out of the back of your harmonicas! Best of luck!

The golden melodies do not play like they used to, the reeds have changed? I am desperately seeking a new favorite.

@OneHarp

3 жыл бұрын

That's a great question! I haven't bought a progressive GM yet, but I imagine it would follow this same pattern, more or less...

What kind of tool are you using to gap

@OneHarp

Жыл бұрын

A bit of copper wire bent on one side and hammered on the other.

What is gaffing?

I really don't like the cover plate screws, much prefer the crossover.

👍

I was considering Lee Oskar but my friend was told that this is the better one.

@carlwilson4375

7 жыл бұрын

Dhiraj i played Lee Oskar Harmonicas a lot when I first learned to Bend the notes. Lee Oskars are easy bend notes on. Once I learned to bend notes the Lee Oskar reeds were too thin. Also when over blowing with Lee Oskar the note will squeal.

While the Progressive series has somewhat cosmetic looking differences, one issue of confusion is the ambiguity regarding parts. Yes, the combs and reed plates and covers are interchangeable - but, the cost for a Rocket reed plate is higher, suggesting they are of superior quality, and in fact Rockets sound far fatter, fuller, and better tuned/gapped than the next grades down. So, while you can mix and customize to a degree, they differences may really be deeper than cosmetics. My one annoyance is that I gambled, got new Blues Harp cover plates, to find they are much wider front to back than my original 1970 era Blues Harp(also older Marine Bands) which had plated covers that rusted and flattened. It will take much more elbow grease to restore my ancient favorite than I hoped.

@OneHarp

4 жыл бұрын

Interesting. I agree that this makes it all a bit more confusing, and I do wonder what the exact "special sauce" is that they apply to the more expensive Rocket plates. Is it just higher QC? Or actually setting them up by a tech who knows a thing or two? And/or is the actual material the same?

Enough said!! Why did hohner have to fuck with something that was good to begin with?

I Just bought a Classic Special 20 new in box on Ebay, key of B. They’re starting to become harder to find new. I have some progressives and another classic, honestly they’re not too bad, but I’m not a professional so… 🤷‍♂️

There is no difference in terms of sound and tone.

@OneHarp

6 жыл бұрын

Yup! Pretty much the same...

I recently bought a Special 20 Progressive in A and, honestly, I was very disappointed by it. Leaky, not well tuned... It's really not worth the name Progressive. I am considering switching over to another brand altogether.

@SketchingRocks

7 жыл бұрын

What would you suggest as another brand? I am interested in this move as well.

u look like spider lane

@OneHarp

3 жыл бұрын

Not sure who that is, so don't know whether it's a compliment or an insult, lol! Hope it's a compliment!

Not Progress、just deterioration、I think．

Are people upset with the classic special 20 they're receiving instead of the progressive one? Damn, I've bought a bunch of them and they all have been progressive. I wish that would've happened to mine. Oh well, it's mostly cosmetic anyway, no biggie. Would've happened anyway, sooner or later and I'd have new, mismatched harps.