Lee Oskar Harmonica, Key of G, Major Diatonic

Arrived on time

The Lee Oskar is a fantastic harmonica. I am into harmonicas for only about 2 months now, but I've purchased 8 harmonica's since then. In trying to find which I liked the best, I luckily found the Lee Oskar Major Diatonics to be my big go to. The only other harmonicas I really like a lot that are right up there in the sound I like is the Hohner Rocket, and the Hohner Special 20. They have more of a reverb/overdrive sort of sound than the Oskars but the Lee Oskar has a clear distinct sound and they are easier to play than some others. For example I first started out with a Hohner Golden Melody in C. I really thought I'd gotten a winner as it's advertised as one. The quality is awesome but the Lee Oskar and the Hohner Rocket and Special 20 are so much easier for me to play. I have used David Barrett's Bluesharmonica.com as training since if you buy one of the Rockets or Special 20's you get your first 30 days free and then its only about $17 a month for the best Blues Harmonica training you'll ever believe you could get for such a low price. I've really enjoyed it. I've also been in touch with Jim McLaughlin (World Class Harmonica player) who works at Lee Oskar. They have excellent customer service! You won't go wrong with a Lee Oskar Major Diatonic! I have not tried any of their Minor key or Melody key harmonica's.

This is a pricey harp, but there's a good reason for that. It performs. I love the tone and it's pretty easy to blow.

The notes bend very easily to give a true blues sound. The harmonica is high quality and very durable it plays well. I needed the 2nd position D.

I played around with harmonicas a bit when I was a kid. I think a lot of folks did. My dad bought my youngest son a cheep harmonica for his birthday last year and I was fiddling around with it to show him what I could remember (which wasn't much) so I decided to look at some videos online and got a bit hooked. Since then I've bought my own Hohner Special 20 C, Hohner, Marine Band F and D, and this Lee Oskar Major Diatonic G.I started with the Special 20 C and practiced quite a bit. I found I could bend pretty easily, never had trouble with the 2 hole like a lot of folks indicated they did to start, and got pretty good at single notes right away. I learned a few songs and needed to get more keys so I did my research and decided to go with the stand by, the Marine Band. Now, to start with I didn't care for the Marine Band. The first one, key of D, felt so rough against my lips compared to the Special 20 I had started with that I sanded down the reed plates to make them less of a hard corner and more rounded and smooth. That helped but the comb was rough and I didn't really notice a big improvement in the sound so after the first few days I decided there was nothing impressive about the Marine Band and folks that like them so much must just like the fact that a lot of the great blues players past used them because there wasn't a more modern choice.After forcing myself to practice with the Marine Band for 15 minutes a day I began to notice a few things.1) My lips got use to the rough surface of the wood compared to the smooth plastic2) I could "feel" exactly where the holes were and which hole I was playing3) After a few minutes of playing I could hear the tone of the harp changing and becoming more "crunchy"It didn't take long before I decided my next harp would be another Marine Band and honestly those two are my preferred instruments right now. I didn't even modify the F key one to feel more smooth, I play it hard corners, biting reed plate and all.Then I went on a bit of a long hiatus from buying any new harmonicas. I thought maybe I'd receive one as a gift for my birthday or Christmas so I didn't want to ruin the gift by purchasing something for myself during that season. After my birthday, Christmas, valentines day, and nearly Easter passed without a new harp I decided it was time to treat myself. Since I had a couple Hohners I decided to try a different brand. I researched the top harmonica brands and went back and forth between the Lee Oskar and Suzuki, but having read a lot about the origin of Lee Oskar being more closely tied to the Hohners that the greats use to play I decided to make that the deciding factor and get this instrument.Now, you know where I came from to better understand the review I'm giving on this. I wanted to love this harp. I read a lot of reviews about it being too smooth sounding or something like that but I chalked that up to favoritism from people who have played for much longer than I. I read so many more positive reviews about how this is the true professionals harp and about the resiliency and customization options with custom reed plates and this and that ...I ordered the harp and hoped it would drive before the weekend but the shipping info said it was shipped and coming on Monday. I was a bit disappointed but you can't fault 2 day delivery for not showing up Friday when you ordered late on a Wednesday (like 9pm late). Then UPS showed up Friday and I pretty much put my job on hold because I was so excited to practice with the new harmonica. I opened the brown box and there was a shiny black case.One thing I love about this instrument is the case. I may order more just because the case design is a bit brilliant. You can lock multiple cases together into a kind of poor mans gig case. Since I keep my harps in their case in a compartment on my backpack (for now I've got a small pocket big enough for about 6 or 7 harps in their cases) I haven't picked up a separate gig bag for them. I like the idea of being able to lock together the cases and set them on a music stand read to go.So I excitedly opened the case and pulled out the shiny, new Lee Oskar. I put it to my lips and ran through the pentatonic blues scale and ... it sounded like crap.I was expecting this rich, soulful G compared to the bright and crunchy Marine Band F. Instead I was hitting multiple holes, losing breath, flatting notes ... it was like I picked up a harp for the first time again and I was not impressed.If I left a review right there it would have been a 1 or 2 star (probably 2 because of the cool case). However, I know that is really a grade of my technique.They advertise the larger holes as being "easier to play" and in a way it makes sense, but to make the holes larger without making the harp longer they make the space between the holes smaller.Comparing my Hohner Special 20 C to the Hohner Marine Band D you can see the holes are slightly larger on the S20 and the pear comb is wider. This means there is more material between the holes for you to seal against while playing so you can be a bit sloppier without losing the clear single notes.The S20 compared to this Lee Oskar makes it clear that the holes are larger and also there is even less material between the holes. So compared to a MB harp it's nearly half the material between holes. No wonder I was bleeding notes and making a horrible seal.Also, the larger holes have another problem, physics. I won't bore you with the details of fluid dynamics, but there is a principle that says when you put the same amount of fluid through a smaller opening the pressure and/or speed have to increase. You've done this with a garden hose. Turn on the water and it goes out of the hose a couple feet or so. Put your thumb over the hole and the water sprays out significantly further and faster even though the pressure of the incoming water is more or less constant.The same thing happens with larger holes on the harmonica. You can draw or blow with the same intensity on this harp as a MB and will find the MB is quite a bit louder. This is because the air is moving faster through smaller channels.Partly this is because I'm comparing a G to a C, D, and F key and those reeds are also going to be different lengths and allow more or less air through. The G, being the lowest key, has to have the longest reeds and let the most air through compared to an F on the high end of the scale having the shortest reeds and the least air allowed through. However the larger hole size also plays a factor in the max volume you could get out of this instrument as well and it is noticeable.So after my initial disappointment and identifying why I was playing absolute garbage I practiced for about an hour to make my technique better suited to this instrument. Then I practiced more later in the day and the following day. I've gotten much better in a short time with playing single notes and I can still bend them all over. I event surprised myself by bending the 6 hole draw, something I could never do in another harp. Not sure if it is the key or the brand though.I loaded up a blues in D backing track and decided to free style a bit. The first one I tried was a medium fast 90BPM track. Even with some practice under my belt I had some difficulty playing at that speed so I jumped to a "slow" blues track. Well that was the sound I was expecting when I bought the harp. It was smooth, soulful, and rich. It was not loud or crunchy at all though. No matter how hard I pull on the 4 draw I can't get it to sound dirty.This may be a good thing overall. 60 years or so ago they were playing with tubes and circuits to start getting some really cool effects but a lot of the crunch and grit came from the pear wood comb, and knowing how to overdrive the sound into the mic by compressing the airflow with your hands. Since then a lot of work has gone into being able to reproduce those sounds and make a whole new set of sounds with various effects. This means, with the right gear, you can take this smooth sounding harp and make it sound like pretty much anything really.That said, unless you have a nice effects rack and want to get the rough blues sound as an effect through a mic you aren't getting it with this instrument. It really is super smooth compared to the Marine Bands and even the Special 20. I expect part of that is the key. I know the my MB F sounds different than my MB D and not just the pitch, but the tone of the instrument is slightly different despite being very similar in construction. The MB D and S2 C are closer in key but there is more "crunch" in the MB than the S20 and it plays louder. Without getting an instrument of each variety in the same key I can't say for sure how much of this is the key I'm playing and how much is the way the instrument is built but I feel pretty certain from my experience and reviews I've read that the Lee Oskar MD is just plain a cleaner sounding but quieter harp than the MB or even S20 from Hohner.So like I said before, I really wanted to love this harp, and who knows given a few months or years I may end up loving it. I definitely like it. When I play it right I do get the rich and soulful sound I was looking for. I love that the side of the harmonica lists the 2nd position key. This is great and saves me a mental calculation or a reference to the circle of 5ths to remember which key it plays in. I love the case and wish I had more like it. I like the smoothness of it and can accept it for what it is.A lot of folks have complained that it is too large but I have big hands and really don't have any trouble with it. If anything I could probably live with a slightly larger still instrument.My only real complaint left is the size of the holes. Especially since the bullet point on this is "Plastic Comb with large holes for easier playing" and I think that is a bit misleading. You can definitely play faster on the plastic comb and certain techniques are easier, but you have to adjust your technique for the larger holes, especially if you want to play fast. For where I'm at I find it more difficult to play single notes on this and especially single notes quickly. In a few months I may feel differently, but to start with, for someone who is intermediate at best, that statement just isn't true and I'm not sure I'd recommend this at all for an absolute novice. Granted they would be forced to learn to make a better embouchure or tongue block, but I feel they might get frustrated quickly and not continue.In any case, I'm glad I have the harp. I am happy with it and may well buy some more Lee Oskar harps to fill out my collection, but my next is likely to be a Suzuki just to see how I feel about them.

I bought a cheap set of harmonicas a few years back, intending to learn how to play. They sat in the box until about two weeks ago. Within the first week, the G blew out, and I couldn't repair it, but I liked playing. So, I decided to get a better quality G, and as the others failed, I'd replace them one at a time. I bought the Lee Oskar, and holy cow, what a difference, like night and day. It sounds incredible, and it lets me play more dynamically. I will be getting more of these.

I have played Lee Oskar harmonicas for years. I have tried some of the less expensive alternatives which generally are disappointing. These work for me.

It’s a Lee Oskar harp. Perfection! Nothing else needs to be said.