Small bone to pick here, just go in some new harps from Coast to coast.
First, a slide harp, 3 draw is crummy, the rest works alright
Next, a special 20 in A again 3 draw hesitates before it sounds
Did get a new SBS 14-hole diatonic that works OK
My hardbopper is on back order and all that I've purchased have been great, but I sure am getting nervous.
I have a bad feeling that Hohner is not doing anywhere near enough testing of finished harps. Used to be diatonics were always good, I've seen 3 with bad set-ups.

Hi Walter,
I'm afraid I have to agree with You here; Hohner seem to have lost their "drive" in producing their already-existing harmonica models; they seem to rely on their reputation and are not very vigilant in pursuing quality. I recently bought a Chrometta-12 for a friend of mine. Even though I know that this is a low-end harmonica for beginners, it's still cost me a whopping £65.00 and I don't think I'm asking too much if I just want Every single Note to work and play properly..... But, no matter what I do (and I have spent Many Hours to try and get it to sound...) the Hole-1 Draw just doesn't work and sounds like a horse with a bad cold. To my friend this spoils the fun of the Hohner and kills the pleasure of learning how to play in the bud, so Shame on Hohner!!!
Also it seems to me that they hardly come out with anything new and innovative anymore, again they thrive on their reputation. The only truly New harmonica they've brought out is the XB-40, I'm sure when You buy one of these it'll work OOTB all right, but all other existing models have gone past their sell-by dates as far as I am concerned, and Hohner seems to either have lost interest in their existing harmonicas, or they are just concentrating on the Wrong things, and I've got to say if that's the case, I haven't quite found out what exactly they are concentrating on...
I recently bought a Tremolo-Tuned Chromatic, the Suzuki SCT-128, feel free to read my review on this website. I had contacted Hohner before I bought this Suzuki to ask if they had any plans to come up with something similar to this Suzuki, but they have No plans whatsoever. I was just curious for their thought about this harmonica, the Suzuki is currently the Only one of it's kind in the World.... I can understand that Hohner as a company might not quite support the idea of a tremolo-tuned chromatic as part of their company-Policy or something like that, but on the other hand I was Very disappointed with them, just because they wouldn't even consider the idea in the first place.
Yes, time for Hohner to get their act (back...?) together if they want to survive in a world that is rapidly catching up with them and soon they will be History if they don't Watch their backs...
Best Regards and Good Luck with Your harmonicas,
Hilvert

Hohner is the top harmonica manufacturer in the world, they have about 75% of the market. As such they have a wide range of offerings of varying levels of quality. The degree of quality control can vary widely from model to model, and it is going to be less on low end models.

I do think they could do better in some respects. I've purchased a number of Hohner harmonicas recently, and while I have had a few problems, they were all things that could be corrected with a minor gap adjustment or something similar. I doubt whether many other manufacturers are really doing that much better. I did think the problem on my one Marine Band was especially bad, the gap was unusually wide on one reed, to where I wonder how it gets shipped like that. But I got it back to where it's playing fine.

I do think Suzuki may be doing better on this, as I have 8 Suzuki harmonicas not one of which had any trouble with any reed playing out of the box. But, while Suzuki has some impressive offerings, they also don't cover the same range as Hohner. Many of Suzuki's models are actually quite similar to each other. If you like one you'll like others. But they don't make something for everyone. I don't think they make a diatonic available in anything but equal temperament, for example, aside from the $250 Suzuki Fabulous.

I also have two Lee Oskars purchased recently, both have which have had a problem on one reed that needed attention. The most recent, an F harmonic minor, I had to open just yesterday because one reed wasn't sounding properly out of the box. Turns out whoever tuned it was pretty sloppy with their aim, and apparently missed the reed altogether, and gouged the reedplate right on the edge of the slot, causing a tiny burr which seemed to interfere with the reed. Fortunately, the problem wasn't too difficult to clean up; it plays fine now.

Bottom line, while Hohner isn't perfect, any company that is responsible for the Marine Band, Special 20, Golden Melody, and the Marine Band Deluxe and Crossover, is still doing some things right. Even the most affordable MS harps, the Big River and Blues Harp, are pretty nice models for the price.

But like any other market where there is one dominant player, the most dominant doesn't always have to be the most innovative. Sometimes they need to be pushed by a little competition. This is true of Microsoft in computer software, for example, or Canon in the camera market (I'm still waiting to see if they'll finally come out with a mirrorless large sensor camera).

Interestingly, when my hard bopper came in, it was literally as perfect as all the other boppers I've bought over the years. I can't tell you how much of a relief that has been.

well mine golden melody had damaged upper cover , lucky reeds and other parts was fine except that cover plate ...

but ok im still thinking to get MB crossover

I'm generally pleased with Hohner quality I regard buying cased set of 7 Hohner "Bluesband" harmonicas as a mistake. As I said in answer to another post, I consider these are cheap and nasty: dull, unresponsive and leak air.

Interestingly, the construction is very similar to the Hohner Special 20 and I would guess that the comb and coverplates (but not the reed plates) are interchangeable between the models. However, in sound quality, the Special 20 is greatly superiour.

I don't know why Hohner took the risk of damaging its brand name by allowing it to be used to market cheap chinese imports.

Harley Davidson did a similar thing in the late 70's allowing its badges to appear on cheap italian 2 stroke bikes - a disaster for a prestige brand name.

I agree with them putting their name on cheap harps. I bought the 3-pack of Hoodoo Blues because I wanted the little case. Nice case, put a clip on it and can clip 3-5 harps on my belt. BUT....the harmonicas were crap! A pro would never play one and a newbie couldn't learn how to play a harp on one of those things. Hohner should be embarrassed!