Hohner Super Chromonica Deluxe, Key of C

After purchasing nearly a dozen chromatics from Hohner, Suzuki and Swan over the past 8 years, this one arrived without any stuck/weak sounding or buzzing notes. I am able to actually sound all 48 notes. This is a big deal for me.I have had the instrument for over a month now and would estimate that it has been played less than 10 hours. I really took it easy and broke it in gently. So far so good.I would like to make people aware of an ordering error that happened to me where I had to send the first instrument back and get a full refund from Sam Ash.Before placing my first order, I noticed that the price of the instrument would occasionally fall from somewhere above $210 down to $173 and then go back up. Everything else on the order page was exactly the same except the price. I hadn't noticed that the much lower price was always offered by Sam Ash.I thought $173 was a great price so I waited and waited until it dropped once again and made my move.Well, Sam Ash sent my order and that's when I realized that it was a "Super Chromonica in C" which is one of the many harmonicas I already own. The word "Deluxe" was missing which explained the lower price.I immediately contacted Sam Ash and they admitted that there is a mistake on the order page for this product and gave me a full and prompt refund because they didn't sell the "Deluxe" model.I went back to the same order page and waited for the price to go back above $210 and ordered again, this time from Huggy's and received the "Deluxe" model.One thing about Huggy's is that before actually shipping the instrument they emailed a sort of a disclaimer explaining in detail the break-in procedure for wood bodied harmonicas and how they'll sound weak at first until the wood swells enough to make them more airtight. They even called me and explained it on the phone.I accepted their explanation and they sent the instrument to me within two days.After 10 hours of playing, my Deluxe has not quite gotten airtight yet and does have a slightly weak sound but I expect that to improve in time.

I purchased one of these a while back more out of curiosity than of necessity, as I already own a Super 64 Chromonica (4 octaves which I reviewed elsewhere on Amazon) and CX-12 (3 octaves, just like this one), and a couple of Super Chromonicas. The lowdown is this: the sound quality is wonderful, better than the Super Chromonica that it is based upon, and better than the CX-12, and close to the Super 64. Notes are bright, and it is easy to play and sustain notes, even in the low register. It has the advantage of possessing the higher quality of the Super 64, but in a smaller, easier to hold package (while sacrificing the lower octave of the Super 64 which, unless your music calls out for it, is rarely needed, so most players won't notice or care about the omission).I've played the Super 64 recently in shows. The Super 64 is really a great harmonica: great quality and sound, round holes for comfortable tongueing. It's my goto harp, primarily because of its even tone. While the tone is a bit warmer and the harp is easier to bend than a Super 64, I see this harmonica as a Super 64 that for some may be easier to handle due to its smaller size. The size difference is due to the decreased range of the Super Chromonica Deluxe and covers that don't extend to the end of the instrument as they do on the Super 64. If you are used to the size of the Super Chromonica, the Super Chromonica Deluxe has the same size. But what is neat about the Super 64 and the Super Chromonica are the holes are in the exact same position and have the exact same size, so if you put them side by side, they align perfectly. This means if you become comfortable playing one, then it is easy to transition to the other.Last week I grabbed the regular Super Chromonica, and spent maybe 4 hours practicing with it for an upcoming show, just to see what it would be like to transfer back to the Super Chromonica Deluxe after the week was over. When I returned to the Super Chromonica Deluxe, I noticed that the tone quality was definitely improved, and toungueing comfort was far superior. I'm really glad I took a chance and bought this instrument, and I hope that Hohner continues to offer it.At the time of this review, there is only a couple of dollars difference between the CX-12 and the Super Chromonica Deluxe. The difference in tone quality between these two harmonicas is quite evident, and for that reason alone, I would recommend the Super Chromonica Deluxe over the CX-12 (see my review of the CX-12 for more details on that instrument and how it compares to the regular Super Chromonica).

I had high hopes for this, the most expensive harmonica I own. It sounded great when I first tried it, but when I recently started going through all the available holes trying each individually, right away I found some problems. Hole 2, the next to lowest hole, was fine when blowing in but in drawing air back the reed just made a weak buzz. Same for hole #1 with the slide pushed. I would like to return it or send it back for repairs, but it has to go back across the pond which will take a while.

This is a good all around instrument. It really helps if you can learn to open it up and work on it. If you can't do that, I suggest learning piano or some other, more reliable instrument. I have fifteen of the deluxes, which should tell you something. Hohner stopped short of the next fix, which would be to dump the mouthpiece screws and use inserts instead. NIce sound. Hear it here [...]Unless I can't put links in the review... let's see what happenshttp://jonkip.com

Makes excellent tone quality.

I've had the 64 version of this harmonica for years and it came in very good tune. When I checked this with a tuner, the whole harmonica was flat. Some notes were quite a bit flat. It was unplayable. You can bend a note down, but it's almost impossible to bend one up very much.I returned it to the factory to be tuned. When I got it back, it was much better, but two notes are still significantly flat. It also had one reed that buzzed badly.You can tune notes yourself, but you have to actually take it apart sand or grind the reeds to do it. When I spend this much on a harmonica, I don't expect to have to tune it to make it playable.All that said, I love the sound and feel of this harmonica, I just wish the factory would get its quality control act together.