c.1930-60 Harmonica Finds
Every so often I get excited about adding harmonicas to the "miscellaneous recording instrument" collection, and here are three from my recent forays. This first is a 1950s/60s Hohner "Echo harp." I have an old faithful C/G variant of these in the larger model (new, these clock in at $130+) but I always wanted one in A/D for playing with the jam group and recording.
After hunting around I found this fella which appears to have simply been unplayed. Taking it out of the box for the first time, it played just like a brand new quality harp. Perfectly in tune. I love it.
I love cute look of these double-sided tremolo harps!
I also found this Echo, c.1960, too, in the key of G. This makes the above two a perfect pair to fit into a guitar case for old-timey jamming, since everything is in A, D, and G anyway.
This is a "single sided" Echo.
And last, here's a gorgeous old Koch-brand chromatic harp in G. If you haven't played one of these, do. They're so much fun. I'd never played one before and slipping into minor ("blue" notes, anyway) notes and blending half-pitches and whatnot is way too fun and sounds pretty classy.
This is another surprising find because it's probably c.1930 and is essentially brand-new, too. Perfectly in tune and so, so easy on the lungs.
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