Hurricane Harps, "Hot House Blues" Harmonica Set, 12 Keys with Deluxe Zippered Case

Please note that my rating is not the quality of the instruments, but the VALUE you get for the money you pay. For that, they can't be beaten.Compared to my Suzuki/Seydel/Hohner instruments, these required more air to blow as they are a bit leaky and the sound is not as good. So if you are expecting to get 12 45 dollar instruments for 45 dollars, think again it's not happening. The more expensive instruments cost more for a reason.HOWEVER having said that, these as others have noted are NOT cheap toys and do the job. I compared the sound to my Suzukis and they are tuned the same so that's on. They work. Frankly not a bad way to get a complete set of every key until you decide which keys you want and need and get better ones in those keys.I was expecting total junk and these are not total junk. I would rather play Suzukis absolutely but they cost individually more than this entire set. It's like I'd rather have a Mercedes but a Chevy will get me to work too.oh and as mentioned there is a bit of WD40 odor here, I didn't have the reeking breath and it doesn't really bother me but I did notice a bit of it. I think it's tolerable.To sum up, these aren't top of the line but you aren't paying the cost that would take (12 times this much at least). Are they worth the money and will they do the job? Yes.I hope this helps if you are considering this item.

If you're just starting, I'd get something nicer in C. Individually, I'd say these are pretty lame harmonicas. They are quiet and leak a lot. They also have a strong oil smell and my breath reeked of WD40 after thorough testing.Oily breath aside, at $45, that's about $3/harp?!! That's just insane. You'd have to pay close to that just to find a comparable case alone. These aren't great harmonicas, but they're not awful...definitely not toys. And most importantly, it's A FULL SET! So buy nice ones for the keys constantly in use and use this just to cover the bases. The Hurricanes are small but this case will hold bigger harps too.Honestly, I can't even understand how they're able to make these things so cheaply. I'll spare you my commentary about Asian labor outsourcing. Suffice to say, a full set of Spec20s $500-600, a full set of 1847s $600-1200, so at $45, I'll grin and bare the awful oil flavor. These harps are all playable, reasonably in tune, and no dead notes. For the price, not too shabby.

I bought these harmonicas thinking, 'well, I don't want to spend $20 per harp, and how bad could these be?'. Turns out, very VERY bad. I opened the case and took out the 'D' harmonica and gave it a try. Half the holes were muted or made weird sounds. I tried the G and C harmonicas to see if they worked well, and some of them worked slightly better, but playing them was a chore. I didn't even unwrap the rest. That should tell you everything you need to know. You probably don't need half of these keys, so go ahead and buy two or three better harmonicas.

The harps themselves are not very good quality and are fairly hard to bend on, but certainly are cheap considering they aren't toy harmonicas. Unless you have a need to own every single key of harmonica, I would recommend collecting higher-quality harps as you go along that will last longer and sound better.

Shure thing they're not good quality harmonicas, but I'm a beginner, so I really didn't care. Here you have all the 12 keys, which is very rare to find, and at a really cheap price. Now I can test all keys, see how they work and the difference between them, and to tell the truth I'm really enjoying these "low quality" harps.

Out of tune. Reeds not working good, half of them don't even have sound coming out of them. Would not recommend for beginners.

Excellent value. Bought these for my husband, who plays acoustic guitar for small venues. He was pleased with the quality.

Everything you wanted to know about a dozen harmonicas in a zippered case, but didn't know who to ask.First, who the Sam Hill am I? I played cheap harmonicas in the 80's and early 90's, but I never made a dime at it and never tried to. I studied saxophone for nearly 6 years in school, 2 under Dr. Michael Hernon. So, I know a little about music, I am not a harmonica pro, but people have often asked me to play that again, which I take as a pretty good compliment. I started playing harmonicas again lately and here I am.Someone had to buy these things and really go over them. I guess it might as well be me. Can you get a dozen tin whistles and a decent carrying case for $44.99? No. So what do you get in harmonicas for $44.99 and a zippered, padded case thrown in for free no less? Let's start with the case. You might like it more than I do. I think it is ok. It has a little glue where it shouldn't be and the fabric is pretty coarse, but you know that if you bought any kind of harmonica case that held 12 harmonicas without the harmonicas and got it at a music store they would be $29.95-$39.95, maybe more. I give the case three stars. If you consider the value make it four. The fuzz inside sheds a little, but it is new and not too bad.Next the harmonicas. They remind me in appearance of my old Bluesband Hohner (China of course) They use Philips screws on the covers like them. Then the cover looks like a Special 20 imitation, but much thinner. This is a good place to tell you that if you really squeeze harmonicas (I don't, I blow into them to make them squeal, not squeeze the sound out of them) you will probably crush these harmonicas. Some people crush expensive harmonicas. These will be easier to crush. The corners of the plastic combs are sharp and that can be fixed with a fine emery board easy enough. They don't say China on them anywhere that I can see, so that may be worth something if you catch it from upscale harmonica players. The cover does not have the key stamped on it. The key is stamped in gold left of the blow holes in the comb. Some people say their harmonicas smelled (tasted?) like WD-40. Mine don't. Just how do they know what WD-40 tastes like has got me wondering . . .How do they sound? Well, they sound. Not a dead note in any of the 240 notes. The blows all blow and the draws all draw. I really expected at least some of them to be dud reeds and not sound. They all sound. So how do they sound? Bright. They are not as much like an organ sound as my more expensive harps on chords, but more of a bright sound. I don't know if anyone will understand this, but some harmonicas have what I call China tuning. I have a cheap Swan harp that is that way for example. It is a brighter and closer to almost clashing (well maybe sometimes it does clash a little) chord tuning. These have a little of what I call the China tuning sound to me. I didn't put them up to the harmonica tuner, that would take all night, but I can tell you that no single notes sound off and no chords are really irritating. Maybe a little tremolo effect with some chords, but I can live with it. They are not as loud as my Special 20, but not off by a lot. (Just for the record my first Special 20 was defective, so when it comes to quality go figure)I couldn't stand it. I took the covers off of one and the reeds look a tad high to me and that might explain why you have to blow/draw a little harder. I don't know if the harmonicas leak air in the plates to comb junction or just the reeds are stiff and a little open. I have had harps that needed a break in and these might be that way. I would put a Hohner Special 20 at about a 4 or 4.2 for sound. These are about a 3.2, but crank up the air and they sound more alive.Can you bend notes on these harmonicas? Yes, but it takes a little more effort. The reeds could be stiff and benefit from a breaking in period. Look at it as practice. Bend notes on these and the pro harps will be easy.The reed plates screw in and seem a little thinner than my Huangs and Hohners, I didn't pull one and measure. Thinner plates could affect the sound as well. I wonder what changing the cover to a thicker Special 20 cover would do for the sound? If I were a betting man I would bet a honey bun to a doughnut it would fit.What is the bottom line? These are not pro line harps, but they are not dogs either. Let's face it, there are a lot of harmonica players out there that wouldn't know the difference in a hundred dollar harmonica and one that comes from Cracker Barrel (those aren't too bad really). They will love these. Then there are people that know the difference and they aren't harmonica snobs. They will have a lot of fun with these. Put me in that category. If I needed a key that I don't have I would play on stage with one of these, it would take more effort and air, but I am up to it. Then there are people I am sure that would laugh at me over the thought of performing with these. Those people should just move along, nothing to see here for them.I have seen these on the internet for $79 and $99 at different places. Would I pay that for them? Probably not, but if you gave $79 for them I wouldn't think you got cheated if yours are as good as mine are. I will swap out a few of my favorite harps for some of the keys and take the pack with me. I will use these as practice/just for fun harps and see if they break in any. If you don't expect these to be as good as the pro harps they look like, then you won't be disappointed. Same if you expect them to be a little better than the one you got for Christmas when you were ten years old. So I say, why not buy them cheaper by the dozen?