Product Description

Lee Oskar is the world's best selling harmonica played by all the celebrities from Mick Jagger to Van Morrison.

C IS THE MOST POPULAR KEY FOR HARMONICAS

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #189 in Musical Instruments
• Brand: Lee Oskar
• Model: 1910-C
• Dimensions: 1.25" h x 1.50" w x 4.50" l, 2.00 pounds

Features

• Lee Oskar is the world's best selling harmonica played by all the celebrities from Mick Jagger to Van Morrison

• C IS THE MOST POPULAR KEY FOR HARMONICAS

Customer Reviews

Over-priced, over-bright and over rated but OK
Harsh, perhaps but so many people raved about these that I really was expecting something special.

These harps (I own one in A as well) actually sound OK but they are a little bright and have quite a hard tone. They aren't especially responsive either. If you play from 4 - 8 they aren't too bad, perform pretty well actually - but the lower register takes a lot of puff.

The highest notes are so unresponsive it takes a really well directed "whoosh" of air to have them sound at all. This can be improved a little by opening the gaps in the top three holes a little. Breathing openly from the diaphragm will improve the tone in the top three but it won't help the lag between the start of the breath and the sounding of the note. This lack of response is incredibly annoying when playing straight harp. (EDIT:This problem with higher notes lagging seems to be more pronounced in the key of C and higher.)

Bending isn't particularly impressive either - you need a pretty good pair of chops, the harp also has a tendency to bugle on the 3 draw - something I've not noticed in other brands. 6 Draw tends to ring if you bend hard or if you are a little uneven in your attack.

Keys lower than B-flat have different sizes of cover-plate top & bottom.
The bottom cover is noticeably deeper, which messes with your pucker.

Still:
Better than the modern leaky Hohner Marine Band but not as tuneful or tight as Hohner's Special 20. Certainly not as responsive as the Golden Melody. Nothing like as good in any department as the Bushman Delta Frost.

On the plus side this is a comfortable instrument and generally sounds good and feels good in first position. Loud and clear with most of middle range sounding clean and tight. Has a reputation for longevity.

Bottom line - not actually bad, but IMO not a great harp either. I'd expect better at this price. It's just worth the money but doesn't quite live up to it's reputation.

If you don't want to buy Hohner (and their quality does seem to be a bit variable) I'd check out Suzuki and Seydel harps in the same price range. In my opinion both manufacturers do better at this cost-point than Tombo / Lee Oskar. Tombo's Ultimo is also worth a look - it's a bit more responsive than the LO

No complaints about the retailer. Very quick service.

Lee Oskar Harps.
Inclined to agree with previous reviewer. If you are a beginner you need the best equipment you can afford, it can be hard enough to learn without compensating for inferior tools. The draw 2 (sucking on the second hole) is very breathy and not very responsive, and like he said you need good chops if you are playing for any length of time. Can personally recommend the Bushman Delta Frost (much the same price) or try the Suzuki Harpmaster or Bluesmaster. They don't appear to have lower note draw problems and bend very nicely. Woo Waa Waa Ka ooga.

LEE OSKAR HARMONICA
Whilst I agree with some of the comments of the previous reviewers, I have found this the most comfortable of all my harmonicas to play.

The fact that the cover plates come right to the edge of the comb and reed plates makes it very smooth to play. Some holes are not quite as easy to bend as on some other harmonicas but the smooth tone and sound I feel more than make up for this.

An alternative to this Harmonica is the Hering, a great playing harmonica