Lee OskarHarmonica, Key of C, Major Diatonic

I've recently taken up playing harmonica. Ive bought Fender, Honer and Lee Oskar harps to test out which one I like best. The Lee Oskar C Diatonic was by far the best. Here are my reasons why:1) Quality for value: The $10 fender harmonica sounded terrible and were off pitch. The Honer harmonica had a good sound but when it came to voicing the higher octave (holes 7-10) the voicing of the notes was very difficult with my spotty technique. The Lee Oskar has great sound is is more forgiving. I'm mostly focusing on position and bending right now so being able to voice notes in the higher octave more easily makes practicing songs much less frustrating. Of course, you'll want to be able to play on any harp so keep technique in mind.2) Price over time: Over time your brass reeds will wear and corrode making them impossible to play. Lee Oskar sells replacement reeds so you don't need to replace the entire harp. Over time this can save money, especially if your trying to start this hobby on a tight budget.3) Build Quality: Out of the 3 harps i purchase, the Lee Oskar feels more robust. I also love the standard case it comes in it can interlock with other Lee Oskar Harp cases and opens from the top. You can sense the thoughtfulness in the design.

Pretty cool harmonica. I'm learning myself and this harmonica sounds great and is very smooth.I look forward to honing my skills and at the same time, establish a love for the sound.

After trying to replace a reed on another brand of harp the cost was to much so I decided to replace that harp. I went with the Lee Oskar brand because i could replace the whole plate should I ever have to replace any reed.I also love the quality of the harp and the crisp clear notes i get from this harp.

I really like the sound, timbre or tone of the Lee Oscar Harmonicas. Very easy to play, and bending is not too difficult to do, but I am still very much a beginner or a little better of a player at this point. I have never had Oscar jam reeds, or have any hole to not produce musical notes, ever. The Oscars I have, always just play beautifully, no matter how much i play them, or how long they sit. My $20 dollar honer from china, I can't make this boast, nor my Japanese Manjis, although with a bit of a warm up the Suzuki Manjis open up and are playable without much delay.If I was going to recommend a beginner harmonica, it would be a Lee Oscar, or a Honer Special 20, if you were just wanting 1/ to test out harmonica and see if you liked it, and 2/ wanted to get a good quality harp to start, that could be used for a couple three years until you were an advanced intermediate or an intermediate advanced harp player. If you know in your heart that you want to play harp, and you think you might want to just buy one harp, only, I would suggest the Honer Crossover, as it can be used for the greatest range of styles: Blues, Country, Jazz, Rock, Folk. Or I would suggest the Lee Oscar or the Special 20, as they both play really easy, sound really good, and are not too difficult to bend notes on.

I've only been playing the harmonica for 2 months now after starting with a Hohner Golden Melody G that my mom gave me after my Dad passed away. Since then I have bought 4 harmonicas in C and this was one of them; so, my rating is a comparison with the other 3 (Hohner Special 20, Suzuki Bluesmaster, and Seydel Blues Session). As of now, I can play single notes cleanly and quickly, and bend the mid-range draw notes reliability and hit the low draw bends and high blow bends fairly well (just so you know). I bought it because of recommendations posted by harmonica players and teachers on the internet as being a good beginner harmonica. It has a strong solid construction almost as strong as the Seydel, and replacement reeds are available. It takes a little less air to play than the Special 20, but is not as air tight as the Suzuki which is more responsive. The sound is a little more twangy or raspy than the others. Note bending is easier than with the Hohner Special 20 but not as easy as the Suzuki. It is the least comfortable in the mouth because of the rough embossing of the hole numbers on the top cover plate, and the corners of the cover plates are a little sharp, but not enough to cut. All of these are easier that the Golden Melody in general.

Makes beautiful sound with minimal breath.

This Harmonica is built and designed for professional use and is made to last. New reed plates can be purchased, no matter what key you play in. Easy to clean and maintain. You will probably never need to purchase a replacement, if to take proper care of it…. Simply the best I’ve had the pleasure of owning and playing.

Great harmonics! Very easy to learn to play. The comb is built with larger holes so the notes are easy to find. The tone is excellent and sounds great. I just lost the Lee Oskar C that I had and this is a replacement. It can't be beat in my book.