Hohner 572 Hot Metal Harmonica F

I'm mainly a keyboard player and flutist, and I wanted to relearn harmonica (with better technique) after not playing a harp since middle school. I didn't expect anything spectacular for this price, but I hoped a Hohner would be reliable and the tone and pitch are pretty good for most notes. The bottom 3 draw notes tend to sound really weak (mine is basic C tuning) and I thought it was just me, but a more experienced harp player friend decided it's the instrument and not my technique. Other than that it's an decent harmonica to jam on casually and carry with you. Hoping to get clearer draw notes and bends out of this before switching to nicer harmonicas and hopefully getting a great tone lol.

I still have the first one that I bought around 15 years ago and it still plays well. For years it rode in my pocket with no protection. Once it fell out of my pocket and got squished into the earth by a car tire. No matter what, a simple cleaning and in that case a bit of body work and it plays great. No reeds have ever changed pitch. I'd highly recommend this harp to anyone looking for a good friend to take with you anywhere.

blues harp

I have used Hohner Special 20 and Big River Harps successfully for years. I had hoped that, despite the low price and Chinese origin, by buying Hohner I could expect a useable product, at least in the short term. Nope. The tones were quiet and thin. Increasing breath affected pitch. I used the product on two gigs - acoustic single, only employing the harp on one or two songs - and, by the the third, there were a couple of notes so out of tune that I could not use the instrument with my guitar. Not good.

I'm surprised at the durability of my old C Hot Metal. This is the one that rides in the car and in my pocket. It has taken abuse no good harmonica should suffer and still plays great after 10 years. (I clean it often) The reed plates and reeds seem to be quite thin but there are more screws to hold the plates to the comb. It seems to be quite air-tight and it's easy to bend notes. Sound is not as rich as some pricier harmonicas but not bad for a cheap harmonica.

I bought 4 of these harps on sale, The A&D were playable, the other two, G&C were BAD!---out of tune & impossible to play. Hohner should recall & trash these Harps. They are "cheap" apparently for a good reason, not even worth the low price. I WAS going to recommend these to students, but no way now. I've had problems with bad reeds in the Special 20's too. SAD situation! What's really "strange" about the Hot Metal Harps is they have various 'blurry' KEY stampings on the ends of the harps like they have been re-manufactured or different cover plates put on another type harp???? I play several hours a week & sorry to say, Hohner Harmonica quality has really gone downhill!