Just got a Lee Oskar
Hello all,
I started out with a Marine Band classic in C, jumpted to a Manji in A, then to Special 20s in G, A, and C where I stayed for about a year until jumping to the Rocket. I liked them so much I eventually bougth a 1/2 set. Still, the Gear Acquisition Syndrome kicked in and I've decided to start buying other harps every now and then to test and see what's out there. Today's latest acquisition is the Les Oskar in A.
First, let me say that I love everything about the Lee Oskar IN THEORY. I love how it's user serviceable and how they sell reed plates. I also love how the cases interlock to create a larger carry case. Very cool concept. I also love how it's available in alternate tunings too. I love everything about the product line except the actual harps.
I literally played it for fifteen seconds and knew it wasn't for me. Maybe I've become too accustomed to the smooth easy action on the Rockets, how the air flows quickly and effortlessly, but I found the LO a struggle to blow and draw air through. Just for comparison, I also compared it to my Manji and even the Manji flows air more easily.
I also don't like how it has sharp corners. Maybe I've become accustomed to the Rocket, but really, why the sharp corners? These things go in our mouths! It doesn't take a genius to know to round the corners.
Anyway, for me, for now, Rockets rule. Just call me Rocketman.
Just my two cents. YMMV.
Ace
Not too sure about the $1.25, but thanks for the compliment. ;-)
This sorta reminds me of a comment I heard a year ago when watching a documentary on ZZ Top. Billy Gibbons commented on how an old blues guitarist asked him why he used heavy gauge strings. The guitarist, whose name escapes me but might have been Muddy Waters (maybe), said he preferred lighter gauge strings because he didn't want to work so hard at making music. That's how I feel about the LO. Now, perhaps it's THIS LO and the product line is spotty, but still. Even my Manji flows better and I can detect how it doesn't flow as well as the Rockets. Pitty, tho, as I really wanted to like it. Think I'll leave it in one of my offices (I've got two, depending on what hat I'm wearing) just in case i want to play something there, but I don't foresee acquiring any others again. Might pick up a Suziki Olive in the next few months and give that a shot. Still, I really don't foresee switching from the Rockets as my standard harp. The more I play other harps, the more I appreciate the Rockets.
Ace: Your two cents are always worth at least a buck twenty-five. I have a ton of respect for what Lee Oskar's done with the Tombo Company, and I have some LOs in which from time to time I've swapped reedplates when I needed something different (e,g,, harmonic minor) for a specific purpose. But while some of the LO harps I've bought have been fine, some have been a bit lossy OOTB. And in the end, maybe because I spend most of my time on chromatic these days, I really like diatonics that feel small. Among my fovorites these days are a couple of keys of Suzuki Olives, which have dimensions really smaller than the LOs. At the same time, a lot of people (particularly those good at embossing and adjusting) really like the LOs. It's not a question of good vs. bad, as the LOs are definitely good harps and a good value. It's understanding and recognizing that different makers make different models that work differently for different players at different times and for different styles of playing.