Lee OskarHarmonica, Natural Minor Key of A

What's there not to like? It's a well-constructed and good sounding product.

Sometimes when you bend notes on Lee Oskars, you get a resonance, like a squeak, or a strained note I guess. Got to make sure you are blowing or drawing on only one note in such a case.

Hey Guys, Okie Fats here. I purchased a few Lee Oscars in a few of my favorite keys except I got them in Natural Minor. I wanted to try playing a minor harp in 2nd position instead of a regular harp in 1st or 5th position. Well, trust me, it isn't as easy as Lee Oscar makes it look! I'm having fun but there is definitely a learning curve! In case you didn't know LO harps are made by Tombo. They are good quality, sound good, have replaceable reed plates, and come in really cool hard cases that lock together. They might be a little pricey for the quality but not enough to loose sleep over. The cool thing is you can get a Lee Oscar in just about any tuning you can think of. Check out the Lee Oscar web site for a wealth of information about tunings and harp playing. I also have a couple in regular keys and enjoy playing them. They're not going to replace my Special 20s or custom Marine Bands though. Go ahead and give them a try. You'll like them. Order a freaky tuning and have some fun challenging yourself. Be careful though. They are all labeled in 2nd position so if you want to play cross in B, instead of grabbing an E harp, you would grab a Lee Oscar in B. 1st position is labeled on the other end of the harp. It makes sense when you see it. Just check out his web site. Most of all, Have some FUN! Okie Fats Out!

Lee Oskars are seriously great harps. This is my 2nd. The sound is amazing on this D natural minor. Arrived in perfect condition and playable right away. No leaks! Highly recommended!!

Loud, crisp, clear sound. Best I know. I have about 15 (!).

Ok

This month,July 2012,my Lee Oskar Natural-Dm-Harmonica has just gone bad on 1 hole (reed(s) broken).I bought it in Sept 2002_so it's got about 10 years in service_(Wow !!!).Actually I have more than 40 harmonicas (30 of them are Lee Oskar diatonic major & minor_natural & harmonic).This Dm-Natural is one of my favorites.I've spent a lot of time with it but have to spare time for other ones also.It's hard to say exactly but approximately I think I've done every tricks on it for more than 1,000 hours.( A master-player probably can make its life shorter with his hard-bending,overblowing....a few hundreds hours ).So Lee-Oskar harmonicas are real excellent_you may read other reviews for more.But now is the time to do something for I can not live without a Natural-Dm.Buy a new one or replacing the reed plates ? A new harmonica = $38.00_free shipping,Reed plates=$23.00_shipping included.So you'd save $15.00 (39.5%) but you'll have to do it yourself and the result is not quite sure : So far I've noticed some issues thanks to other reviewers : _The quality of reed plates is not consistent_2 reports of weak volume,1 complaint of the size of reeds (?). _Assembly problem : 2 reports of failure due to holes & screws (?).So far reed plates have just received 3-star rating in general.A few 5-star ratings never go into detail,just ambiguous compliments and so not very useful...To be on the safe side,I've purchased a brand new Lee-Oskar nat.Dm and my favorite minor songs come back soulful,mournful...as ever.Please share your experience with reed plates if you've ever done it.Thanks a lot.

The Lee Oskar natural minor harmonica tunings are ideal for playing blues, rock, and country tunes that are written in minor keys. They allow a harp player to play in 2nd position (as opposed to 3rd position when using a harp with a major key tuning). The Lee Oskars are well made, responsive, and with the plastic combs, are easy on the lips. 110% satisfied with these harps!