Hohner Blues Band

Features

• The Hohner Blues Band harmonica is a good quality, very inexpensive diatonic instrument.
• The Blues Band harmonica features ten holes with a plastic comb and comes in the key of C.
• This harmonica is great for beginners.

Is the Hohner Blues Band Any Good?

The Hohner Blues Band is one of the best economical harmonicas for beginners to get started with.

Verdict – The Hohner Blues Band is a great budget harmonica in my opinion. Decent responsiveness, just a little sluggish on -2 and -3. It’s quieter, thinner, darker toned compared to the East Top Too8K and the Fender Blues Deluxe, which makes the Bluesband my 3rd favorite budget harmonica. This harmonica is definitely suitable for learning beginning harmonica techniques, so if you’re a total beginner on a tight budget, look no further! Also, if you are in close quarters and want to be able to practice quietly, you’ll love this harmonica.

Bendability – I can get all the bends on this harmonica with effort, but I really have to work hard to bend the -3 and especially the draw 2. If you’re wanting to get into a lot of bending, I don’t think this is the best harmonica to learn on. I still give it 4/5 stars because I can bend all the notes, but again if you’re really planning on doing a lot of bending, the East Top Too8K is a better choice for you in the budget category, if you can afford it.

Comfort – This harmonica is super comfy on the lips with a plastic comb, chromed cover plates, a countersunk reed plate that doesn’t jab into the lips. I dock it only one star for slightly sharp corners. No real problems with comfort.

Tone – Nice dark tone, quiet projection, in tune out of the box. I rate the tone 5/5 stars because in the budget category, it really sounds good. There are a lot of harmonicas I’ve played that are more expensive and sound worse out of the box. It is darker, thinner, and quieter than the East Top Too8K or the Fender Blues Deluxe, and a lot quieter and duller than a Lee Oskar or a Hohner Special 20, but I’m giving it a 5/5 on tone for its price – there’s a certain sweetness to it.

Responsiveness – This is another area where the Hohner Blues Band is overshadowed by the East Top Too8K on all 10 holes, but especially notable in holes 1-3, this Blues Band is sluggish. It’s hard to play really fast passages on this harmonica. Not a great concern for beginning harmonica players, but good to be aware of.

Looks – Not much to look at. Your standard black plastic comb harmonica. It’s pretty cheesy looking. The one key label on the front of the comb quickly wore off on mine, so I’m docking it a star in this category.

Durability/Fixability – I haven’t played mine enough to have any meaningful insight in this category. The plastic comb will not be susceptible to any of the swelling, splintering, or cracking that a wood comb could be over time. The cover plates are attached with phillips head screws which should make this harmonica easy to fix/tune.

You can also buy this harmonica in a set of 7, which gives you even better price per harmonica, plus a cool carrying case.

From the Manufacturer

The Hohner Blues Band harmonica is a good quality, very inexpensive diatonic instrument. The Blues Band harmonica features ten holes with a plastic comb and comes in the key of C only. This harmonica is great for children and beginners of any age.