Musical Ramblings

The "new" suzuki models: Pure Harp

Late last year, Suzuki released two new diatonic models, the Pure Harp and the Fire Breath. The guys who distribute Suzuki in France kindly lent me one of each in St Aignan in May, so I've had a couple of months to play around with them and thought I'd give you my feedback.

Let's start with the Pure Harp.

As you can see from the photo here, the Pure Harp is a wooden bodied harp with wood covers as well. As far as I know, the Pure Harp is the first commercial model ever to feature wooden covers. The model Suzuki lent me was a Bb that I had a chance to use in a gig just the day after they gave it to me and that I've played with a lot since.

First of all, the look and feel. I find the all-wood thing quite beautiful in a classy way. It's distinctive, the wood is smooth, yet feels unvarnished (I don't know what varnishes they use, but they don't give it an excessively glossy look). The Pure Harp is quite compact and feels heavy in the hands, which I quite like. Overall, a pleasant instrument to carry and play around with. Incidentally, before I had one in my hands I was quite worried about how sturdy the covers would be, but it turns out they are smoothly integrated into the body, everything is tight, nothing sticks out and nothing can break (or bend).

The first minutes of playing the Pure Harp were quite blissful. The response on this beast is quite astounding for a stock harp, and I've only had similar (or better) responding instruments when I got them customised. The reeds vibrate with minutes amount of breath which allows for a great dynamic range, and most surprising of all, the overblows were all smooth and within easy reach with no tweaking at all. Even overblow 1 came out relatively easily. I wasn't so lucky with the overdraws, but I suspect that's more due to the fact that I've never bothered to practice the technique than to the harp setup.

The Pure Harp's sound is quite beautiful, round and rich. It's not as bright as the sound from all-metal harps like Meisterklasses, but that's what you'd expect. At the very beginning I felt it was a little too muted for my tastes (I tend to play with mostly pre-MS Meisterklasses) but it's grown on me and now not only do I like the sound, I like the fact that it's a different colour in timbre from my usual harp of choice.

Overall, I'm very impressed with this harp and although it's quite expensive (I've seen prices ranging from $90 to $120), I think it's very much worth ot for the serious player. It's probably not the best choice if you're looking for projection and brightness, but it sounds perfect to me for acoustic work and more generally if you play melodically and rochness of sound is important to you.

There are two drawbacks that I've noticed over time. The first one is that the nature of the covers means they stay wet for a shorter time compared to metal covers. What this means is that sometimes, when you play part of a melody in solo focused on the lower end of the  harp, if you suddenly decide to make a fast run going up, your lips are going to stay stuck in the middle register. Rehumidifying the covers with saliva is needed a little more often than with metal covers, and it takes some getting used to. This probably means it's also not the best harp if you want to play Popper- or Blue-esque riffs. The second drawback is that there's some amount of lateral vibration on sustained bends. When you bend and keep a note, especially on holes 2 and 3, after a short while (about 1 or 2 seconds, I'd say), an annoying whine emerges. It doesn't hinder the sustainability of the note, it just makes it unpleasant. I imagine this could be fixed using nail varnish or similar tricks, but at the end of the day, it's probably my major negative point about this otherwise excellent instrument.

Overall, I'm very impressed with Suzuki on this product. Based on their previous models (promasters, etc.) I had of them the image of competent followers, and while the overdrive was innovative, it was also pointless in my opinion. With the Pure Harp, they demonstrate their ability to release a pro-standard instrument while innovating. If you can afford it, I'd recommend picking one up if only for the pleasure of playing it.

I'll review the Fire Breath in the coming days.

While Suzuki did lend me the instruments for this review, I want to add that they did not give them to me. Once the reviews are done, I will return the instruments to them (although I may ask them to purchase this Bb Pure Harp). Just to point out that this is a neutral review.

Lighten up your stage presence with the Turbolid

Here is a review of the Turbolid that was published in Planet Harmonica around 2003. I still stand by what I said, it's a great product. More info at http://www.turboharp.com

Although it's been widely discussed, I feel it may be necessary to describe the product again. The turbolids are modular harmonica coverplates designed to fit on Hohner's Special 20 models. They are made of hard plastic and come in various colors, some translucent, and are designed to replace the classic metal covers of Special 20s. Unlike the classic covers, they fit around the harmonica, on the sides as well as on top. The left hand side (where the low notes are for right handed players) is wider than the right hand side, to avoid the common problem with low keyed harps when the reeds tap on the inside of the cover if played hard.

So, in theory, what's the use ? Well, here's the pitch on Turboharp's website :

• Attractive, sleek, appearance
• Louder, less muffled sound
• Improved cupping seal
• Elimination of pesky screws
• No more fumbling to determine "which end is up"

Attractive, sleek, appearance
On the appearance issue, no question, it makes your harps look different. I received a Licorice lid (opaque black) and a Crystal Ice (clear translucent). The black one is fairly sober, it gives the Special 20 a kind of CX-12 look which can still make you look like a serious, albeit modern, blues player. The translucent one is a lot wilder, I thinks it's cool, but if you use that (or the even funkier colours available) on stage, you'd better be playing hip hop, funk, or reggae, coz' you definetely won't look like you've paid your blues dues !!! A bit like playing a slow Chicago blues on a Gibson Flying V ! Seriously though, the translucent looks way cool since you can see the mechanics, the reeds and all.

Louder, less muffled sound
I guess that's true, although I didn't find it strikingly blatant. I tried the turbolid both on a standard Special 20 that used to be way muffled... It's still muffled, maybe a little less, but not noticeably. I tried it on a customised T-Bone harp by Tim Moyer as well, and I think I can hear a slightly louder projection, although, again, I wasn't astounded by the difference. As with the CX-12, though, the difference might be more noticeable amplified than acoustic. The sound is more directed, and the microphone micks that up.

Improved cupping seal
I was expecting this to be the most obvious difference between normal harps and turbolidded ones. It wasn't. I haven't noticed even a tiny bit of difference. Maybe my cupping technique is unorthodox, but I haven't managed to make a more pronounced wah-wah with the turbolid, unless I adopt a really awkward hand position. Oh, well, wah-wah is overused anyway, so what the heck...

Elimination of pesky screws
Now here's a real convenient and practical improvement. Your harp is gapped too low ? In two seconds flat you're in there with your reed tools. Five seconds later, the harp is back online. You could even regap in the middle of a song ! Need I say more ?
Well, as a matter of fact, yes ! The elimination of screws has had a secundary but significant impact in my household: my eleven month-old son now plays the harmonica. Let me explain. Corentin (that's the name of my son) has seen me playing harp ever since he was born and, of course, wants to join the fun. But which model can you give to a kid that young to make sure he's not going to hurt himself with the screws, the corners, the back of the coverplates ? Well, none really... Hohner has a nice plastic (and safe) diatonic harp but it's life expectancy can be compared to zero...  Now I know where to go if I wanna buy a harp for a kid I know (and believe me, I do want to do that quite often !) and I suspect that Translucent Orange and Translucent Mint Green will go down well with young'uns !

No more fumbling to determine "which end is up"
I guess that's true although it's never been a major problem of mine (my harps are all labeled on the same side, so it's fairly easy to find the top).

So are there any drawbacks ?

Some people mentioned the embouchure. It's true that the embouchure is slightly different to that of a normal harp, especially on the low-end since the covers rise a little more sharply than usual. That being said, the mouthpiece protrudes sufficiently at the front in order to provide a good mouth seal, and all in all I found it a lot easier to feel comfortable on a turbolidded harp than I do on a CX-12 for example. Also, the plastic used is very sleek and allows easy sliding up and down the harp, which some metal covers don't do too well...

Some people also seem to have felt that holding the harp was harder. I found that on the contrary, it's easier than with a standard harp : the covers are deeper than standard covers which means you can put your fingers further down and therefore put the harp deeper in your mouth (with improved sound results.) Also, the covers are recessed at the back and provide a "natural" position for the fingers.

I guess the only real drawback to the turbolids are for left handed players who still play with low ends on the left : they would need to reverse the lid to have a good hold with the right hand, but then the wide end would be on the highest notes...

All in all, I feel that the turbolid is a great product. It may not be revolutionary, but it's a sound and efficient product that does more or less what it sets out to do. It's fairly inexpensve (considering you don't need dozens of them) and looks pretty cool. I would even recommend the combined use of Turbolids and I-Mics for an improved stage outfit! They even do a chrome plated lid now, for increased shine on stage!

I certainly will purchase more turbolids, if only for the kids around me, but also for my own harps, very likely. I hope they end up doing 12 different colours so that I can colour code my harps by key!

Review : The Hetrick Harmonica Case

A few weeks ago I interviewed Matt and Scott from the Hetrick Harp Company. They sent me a sample of their flagship product, the Hetrick Harmonica Case for review, and having played with it for a couple of weeks and customised it to my needs, I'm ready to let you know my thoughts on the product.

What you get is a hard black and silver aluminium case with chrome steel corner protectors. The dimensions are 29x19x11 in centimeters, which is 11.5x7.5x4.5 in inches. In other words, it's fairly small compared to say, the photographer cases that harmonica players often use. Since I'm very bad at shooting photos, I nabbed some from Hetrick's website, but the size is the hardest thing to figure on these photos.

The inside is padded with high density foam and divided with hard plexiglas panes following a standard pattern that allows the packing of 4 rows of 6 diatonics (without their boxes) vertically and three larger compartments for bigger harmonicas, cables, microphones, etc. I've drawn a quick diagram of the standard configuration, as seen below.

The standard pattern doesn't allow you to insert a normal sized 12-hole or 16-hole chromatic in the case, since these harmonicas are too long. Hetrick, however, indicates that the plexiglas dividers are easy to saw in order to be customised to just the right size. After some reflexion, I decided to customise mine not with a single row to house the chromatic (as demonstrated on Hetrick's site) but as a double row in order to house a 12-hole low C diatonic as well. Furthermore, I wanted to be able to carry at least one bullet microphone, so I created a large square space at the top of the case to do that.

Truth be told, I had originally intended to keep that upper space divided in two horizontally, but I found out that the space thus created was too small by a few millimeters to actually house a bullet mic. I suppose it's not a huge deal, but I felt it was a little bit dissapointing that the dimensions hadn't been thought out to enable one bullet mic to fit into one of the large horizontal spaces. So I changed my plans and created a larger space in that upper area.

Another thing I found slightly annoying was that the space created for the 12-hole chromatic (by removing the last third of the last vertical divider and the last fourth of the corresponding intermediary horizontal divider) was large enough for the chromatic without the box but just a tad too small for the chromatic with the box. That's not such a big deal in the end because I actually packed more harmonicas in there than I would have if I'd put the chromatic there with the box. On the other hand, I'm less comfortable leaving a chromatic unboxed than I am a diatonic. I guess I worry about something happening to the slide, unlikely though that may be.

Anyway, once I'd worked out the right configuration for me, I took out my trusty metal saw and got rid of the bits I didn't want. I'd say it took me altogether about half an hour. I'd recommend sawing horizontally, and not vertically as I first attempted, since it's much harder to evaluate the accuracy of the cut that way. So I kind of messed one of the cuts, but I simply filed away the extra bit afterwards and it was all good. I'm really not a DIY guy, and it was honestly easy as pie.

Then it was all down to figuring out what to put where. In the end, my Hetrick case holds :

• a 12-set of standard diatonics
• 6 custom tuned or low tuned diatonics
• 4 diatonic spares for most used keys
• a 12-hole chromatic
• a 12-hole Low C diatonic
• a Shure SM-58 vocal mic
• an Astatic bullet mic
• an i-mic
• a little silver vocal mic with attached cord that sounds sweet through a valve amp
• a Smokey mini-amplifier
• a pocket knife
• a ventoline inhaler (yes, I'm asthmatic)

Admittedly, the right hand side of the case is a little crammed, but when I compare what this case now holds with what my old case held, well, it's pretty much the same at half the size ! The old case didn't have any efficient dividers, so I was forced to keep the harmonica boxes in to avoid the harps getting all mixed up. Now I can get rid of the boxes and the gain in terms of space is huge.

All in all, I find this is really a good quality product. The finish is great, it looks sober but solid. The concept is also great and although I was, at first, a little worried about sawing bits off by myself, it turned out to be a lot easier than expected and seems to me like it's really hard to mess up. The quantity of gear it contains and the added bonus of being able to set the case up more or less the way you want it depending on what gear you use works great in practice. Finally, the size and configuration of the case makes it very useable even during a gig provided you label your harps with the keys on one of the ends.

Hetrick sells the plexiglas dividers individually as well, if you want to do more funky customisation or have several sets of customisations depending on what gigs you have. I understand that they will soon put up videos on their website showing how to customise the case, and that they will sell a pre-configured standard layout for diatonics + a chromatic.

Now of course, comes the price. At $94, the case may not seem cheap, but what can we compare it to ? I checked the prices of aluminium photograph cases comparable to the one I currently have. On Gentech's site I find one at $99.95. It's larger in size, but again, the lack of solid dividers mean you have to keep the harmonicas in the boxes, and you can pack roughly the same amount of stuff without it being as practical or small. The Fender Harmonica Cases have a cool tweed look, but they cost $119.95 although I've often seen them go for $99.95. The way the diatonics are stacked is not as practical when you're looking for a specific key, and it holds a maximum of 18 diatonics.

So I'd say that the Hetrick case is pretty competitive when looking at alternatives available on the market. Since it's also a solid and intelligent product, I have nothing but praise for it. I would have liked the dividers to take into account the standard size of a bullet mic since that's a piece of equipment that nearly every harp player will want to carry in the case, but as I found out myself, it's not that complicated to either shift one of the horizontal dividers lower to create a larger space or saw off one of these dividers as I did.

An altogether great product which I heartily recommend. You can find more information and ordering details at http://www.harpcase.com.

Interview : Matt & Scott of The Hetrick Harmonica Company

Q : Hello Matthew ! Could you introduce yourself to our readers and tell us maybe what your harmonica background is ?

A : Hello Ben. I am here with Scott Hetrick, the “brains” behind the Hetrick Harmonica Case. I have been playing/teaching harmonica for 12 years. My website is www.atlantaharmonicalessons.com – obviously I live in Atlanta. I met Scott through a friend and he expressed his interested in taking harmonica lessons. We worked together for a few months and then started talking about harmonica inventions. One day, he showed me his invention (the Hetrick Harmonica Case) and we decided to start this company.

Scott is a mechanic and self-taught engineer. He lives in Snellville. He is very passionate about learning “how things are made” and he is the most creative person I have ever met. He comes up with all kinds of inventions and gadgets. It is pretty amazing. He has invented transmission tools, guitar devices, and many other things. Some of which are already on the market. Essentially, Scott’s specialty is creating tools and gadgets that help complete a task. For example, he invented a special tool for working on Chrysler transmissions which is being marketed all over the world. His website for that is www.the604tool.com. Scott has also been very helpful with teaching me how to fix, repair and customize harmonicas. I was not very good at manipulating metals and making modifications and Scott is very good at this.

Q : So you're launching a new company called Hetrick Harp Co. Can you tell us more about it ?

A :

“The Hetrick Harmonica Company's mission is to create specialized products and enhancements for the intermediate and professional harmonica player.  Instead of trying to create homemade "tweaks" and remedies, you can rely on us to create solutions that will eliminate the little annoyances of harmonicas and harmonica gear so you can focus more on your playing!”

That is the line from our website…www.harpcase.com. Essentially, we are attempting to make our little contribution to the harmonica by creating unique devices and gadgets to help harmonica players-beginner to professional.

It all started when I complained to Scott about my Fender Mississippi case. I complained to him that the harmonicas slide around in the case and that while I like how it looked, I wish it was designed differently. Scott agreed, and mentioned that he didn’t like the foamy taste of the Hohner case. A month later he showed up with the Hetrick Harmonica case. The case is our “flagship”, starter product. An idea to help us get known in the market place. We are hoping to come up with an entire line of our own harmonica gear for the market.

We also currently sell a harmonica paint pen that makes it easy to write the keys on your harps and we are  a reseller for Jim Mcbride’s amazing bottle of blues microphone and little smokey amp. I actually use his microphone when I gig. It is amazing. He was also a former student of mine.

Q : What is the philosophy behind the company and which products do you see yourself delivering in the future ??

A : Basically, we really try to listen to the harmonica players’ needs and invent products that will help them. Other products we are developing is a larger version of the Hetrick Harp case for professionals and road warriors. This case will hold 50 or so diatonics, chromatics, microphones and mike stand attachment and much more. We would also like to create some products focused more on the chromatic players. I don’t think enough things are done for them.

We are also looking at making some special harmonica tuning kits/tools. Not to downplay what is already out there, but I have never been fully satisfied with the toolkits on the market. I have spent the last 2 years learning to fix, repair harps and purchasing little tools and also having Scott create some special items for me. We would like to put out some tools that will make it easier for harmonica players to replace reeds, retune harps etc.

We are also “prototyping” a special device that will help beginners get a tighter cup with a bullet style mic and will help advanced players get a better cup sound for a chromatic. Any level of player would be able to use this device. I have been using it with my super 64 chromatic and the sound is amazing. It allows you to relax your grip and you can a distorted sound that is just not possible with the human hands. Stay tuned for that.

We are also looking at creating harmonica combs with different materials. Those are a few things we are working on.

Q : Your first product launched is this Hetrick Harmonica Case. Can you tell us more about it ?

A : The Hetrick harmonica case is the first customizeable, interchangeable harmonica case. We are trying to find a better way to market it to the public. We are actually going to make some videos that will be posted on our website soon. When you see it in person you won’t believe it. Basically, dimensions wise (11.5 x 7.5 x 4.5) it is the smallest case on the market and it holds more harmonicas that any other case (up to 42 harmonicas).  The dividers that hold the harmonicas are in place are made from lexan, bullet proof glass. They can be moved, switched around, altered, cut.

Basically, you can customize the case to hold what you want. A first for the market place. For example, my case holds 29 diatonics, a 12 hole chromatic and a slot for my microphone, smokey amp and a cord.  The inside of the case is very sanitary, the high density impact foam inside does not leave any after taste or debris in your harps. The best part? No more shuffling or moving harps. We also can customize the metal nameplate on the case for professionals or an extra fee. Jimi Lee is an official endorser and we engraved his logo on the case. I attached some pictures for you.

Q : When was it officially launched and how well has it been received so far ?

A : We started selling cases a couple of months ago, but our official website launch date and show and tell was at SPAH. We could not attend, but we sent Jimi Lee his custom Hetrick case (holds 42 harps) and he showed it off at SPAH. We received a good number of orders after SPAH. According to him the response was very good. He compared it to other larger cases and they could not hold as many harmonicas! I think it is really starting to catch on. The 24 harp and 42 harp versions are actually cheaper than the Fender case so I think it should do well. We tried to make it affordable as well. Michael Peloquin, Chris Michalek also use the cases.

Q : Do you work with pro harmonica players when designing your products, and if yes, what do they contribute to the designs ?

A : We consider a lot of factors when we design products. We are both harmonica players so we have a good understanding of what players might like, but we also do a lot of research. I co-founded a harmonica club here in Atlanta  and I run some ideas by them as well as by Harp-L users. I do as much market research as possible to try to create the best product. Jimi Lee has also been very helpful.

Q : Finally, where can readers interested in your products see them and/or purchase them ?

A : www.harpcase.com !

Well, thanks a lot for your time. Readers can expect a review of the case in the coming days !

Volume pots and adapters

Over the years I've often been asked by readers where to find volume pots and low to high impedence adapters. There was a guy in France who use to custom make these, but I've never managed to pin down a contact. Turns out you can find them in the US and many things besides: Blows Me Away is an aptly named company specialising in In-Line Volume Controls, Mods, Mics and Amps. The impedence adapters I mentioned are a custom job, but there are many standard controls for harmonica mics and vocal mics there.

New Harmonica Brand from Brazil

It's not every day that a new brand of Harmonicas appears on the market. When I started, the choice in Europe was basically between Hohner and Lee Oskar, and if you were lucky enough you could find the odd Tombo or Hering. The brazilian brand was the first to kick it up a notch a few years back with the release and wider distribution of several new models, including the excellent 1923 Vintage.

More recentlty, fresh investment in German based Seydel seemed to get Hohner worried, and perhaps rightly so.  Quality products, slick packaging and aggressive marketing may make a difference there. And finally, last week at Expomusic Fair in Brazil, a new brand was introduced called Bends. Commercial release is planned for early 2007, and I know nothing about distribution outside of Brazil, but the website shows cool looking models, and the brand has endorsed several local harmonica hotshots including the amazing Rodrigo "Digo" Eberienos.

I'll try and get hold of some promo shots so you can have a better look, and will certainly follow this new launch with attention !

Bottle o' Blues microphone

A few months ago, I found out about Jim McBride's Bottle o' Blues harmonica microphone and I mentioned it in these pages. Jim offered to send me a copy of this homemade mic which I brought along with me at the latest harmonica workshop day in St Aignan. I promised Jim I would give my feedback, and here I am, four months later, writing this. Oh heck, better late than never, and apologies to Jim...

So, as you can see from the photograph here, the Bottle o' Blues is made of plastic, shaped like a bottle of pills (or, as some of the facetious students mentioned while trying the mic, a urine sample bottle). It's extremely light, as can be expected, and has a sturdy jack plug to connect it to the amp. I and the other students tried it plugged into a Peavey Classic 30 Tube amp.

The Bottle o' Blues' grip is extremely comfortable, and the fact that it's made of very rigid plastic means I didn't feel worried of gripping it really hard if necessary (something I wouldn't do with my i-mic...) More importantly, the mic's osund is great, both on low and higher harps. It doesn't too thin or plasticky like some of the pro mics I've tried over the years. In fact, if anything, I felt the Bottle o' Blues had too much bass, rather the opposite of what you'd expect. I have to say that I tend to like my sound a little brighter when I play amplified, but then again, I didn't spend 20 minutes trying to set up the amp just right.

The students who tried it all seemed to find it fine too, and I have to say that considering the price ($35), it's great value for money. It's not just a good beginner's or backup mic, it's just a good mic. I probably wouldn't use it for the whole evening if I was doing a blues gig, but on numbers where I'm aiming for a dark, deep sound, it would be just the right tool for the job.

I-mic invasion

I received five more i-mic photos in the last few weeks, including another two by swede Jan Gulbrandsen who now has five entries in the gallery. You could do worse than check out the last two, very nice and polished. Aaron Rubenking's harpophone (seen here) is also a pretty amazing feat of home engineering.

Keep 'em coming, people!

Bottle o' Blues mic

Over the years, I've heard of several commercial concepts that went along the same lines as the i-mic. Here's one I found about today: it's called the Bottle o' Blues mic and it's handmade by a guy called Jim McBride. It costs $35 and it looks pretty nice. Obviously that's more expensive than building your own i-mic, but that's the price of labour !

I haven't had a chance to try one, so anyone who has, feel free to leave some comments !

Turbo your harmonicas !

If there's any doubt about the capacity of our favoured instrument to fire the passions of enthusiasts, Dr James F. Antaki, PHD will swiftly lift them. A famous name in medical circles following his designs for heart-assist devices, Dr Antaki also happens to be a harmonica player and enthusiast (and is known in harmonica circles for having nearly drowned Howard Levy during one of his experiences on bending, or at least that's how Howard tells it!)

A couple of years ago, Dr Antaki started company called Antakamatics with the idea of using his scientific background to design better instruments. Their first release was the Turbolid, a modular harmonica cover designed to fit on Hohner Special 20 harmonicas. The Turbolid is made of a hard translucent plastic and clips on the harmonica body, which means you never have to bother with those screws or nails ever again. Incidentally, if you're into adjusting your harmonicas, opening them now takes the whole of one second.

As you can see from the image here, the Turbolid has a very specific shape too, being much wider over the low notes. If you've noticed how high notes, and high bends in particular often sound a lot louder than low notes, you'll know why. The sound dynamics are affected by the Turbolid and supposed to balance the sound level better. Incidentally, it makes cupping much more effective as well.

I've now been playing with a couple of Turbolids for a few years, and I really enjoy the product although they are not without their drawbacks. The first of these is that the embouchure is really different from that of a standard diatonic, and that takes some getting used to. If you've had a chance to use a CX-12, the experience is similar. It's not unpleasant or difficult, just different. The other side effect I've noticed is that the acoustic sound, especially on the lower end, is somewhat veiled, as if the brightness was conveyed in part by the metal plates.

There are some great advantages too, though. First of all, the ease of opening mentioned above, the lack of angles, and the fact that you can't grab your harmonica the wrong way round, even in the dark end of a smoke-filled club. Also, because the Turbolid is better at concentrating the sound, especially in the lower end, I find that amplified playing packs a little more punch.

Dr Antaki didn't stop at that, though. In the process of designing a fully customised harmonica, Antakamatics developed an industrial process to enhance the airtightness on a diatonic harp, called the Turboharp (AXS20). The turboharp is a regular Hohner Special 20 enhanced using a special film called the Turboliner that prevents air-loss and a reed process called the Turbotape to avoid lateral vibration when overblowing. It is, of course, fitted with Turbolids.

I've owned a G Turboharp for the last two years and it's an impressive harp. It overblows smoothly and easily, the airtightness is exemplary, and there's no adjustement issue, ie. I can overblow and play hard on the same harp without the reeds choking or the overblows squeaking. As such, the Turboharp compares nicely with bottom to mid-range customised harmonicas.

If I went back to gigging on a regular basis, I would seriously consider getting more of these, especially for amplified playing. Of course, they may look odd if you're going for the 1950s bluesman look, but if you play in a rock or funk band, the lids alone would make you a star...