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Hey it's my birthday next month and I want to buy a G and D harmonica to compliment my C Hoehner Marine Band and A Hoehner Crossover. I loved the laminated wood of the crossover, but the marine band wood has started to swell on me with pretty casual playing over the course of a year so I've been advised to get plastic combs moving forward. Plus the crossover was good quality but didn't think it was worth double the price of the marine band.
I've been playing about a year and still consider myself a beginner as I'm just starting to work on bending and tongue blocking so definitely need a harp that's going to respond well.
I'm thinking of getting a Special 20 and a Blue Midnight (but now reading a lot of bad review of BM). I'm also interested in the Big River, but maybe for my next harp key. I don't know if it matters which harp I get in which key (G or D). If someone notices that the Special 20 is easier to bend and most D harps are historically harder to bend then I would go in that direction or if it really doesn't matter I'll just do go with whatever.
Also the images on Amazon and videos don't look like either has the key etched into the cover plates so does the harp have a key label somewhere?
Ok thanks for the advice. Does it matter which harp I get in which key? Like my current G harm is a Hoehner Blues Band and really bad, like it's so quiet I can barely hear it. So would it make sense to get a Rocket in G since they say that's the loudest harp or in general if I buy a good harp it doesn't matter which key I go in?
It depends on which Study Song you're working on. If you get one in the key of A, that will get you though the first 3-6 months on this website. Sure, Rockets are loud. I don't know if they are louder than Crossovers though. It's not about being loud though. Playing lound will ruin any harmonica (even stainless steel reeds) fast. Also the higher pitch, the "louder" they "seem" to be. For example, the Low Low F is not very audible, whereas the D "seems" much louder, and the High G can be obnoxious to a lot of people. The quieter you play all harmonicas, the longer they last.
Stay away from the Big River and even the Blue Midnights. The only Hohner models you should get in my opinion are the Crossover, Marine Band Deluxe, Rocket, Special 20 in that order. The other models...well you get what you pay for. If you're learning you don't want to be fighting the extra battle of having a bad harp.
Lee Oskars or Special 20s sound like a good fit for you. The Stainless Steel Reed Session Steel by Seydel is a pretty resilient and fairly responsive harp. Durable too. You can throw em in the dishwasher apparently.
You can buy after market stickers and nail polish them on (I do this with my Crossovers), but I know Lee Oskar have a good label on them that doesn't wear off easily.
I am in no way affiliated with Ron but check out his prices compared to amazon. He's great http://rockinronsmusicsd.com/