Does the Hohner Blues Harp have thinner reeds than other harps?
One of the myths that refuses to die is the one that says the Hohner Blues harps has thinner reeds, or “pre-stressed reeds” and is inferior in tone and longevity to other Hohner harps. First of all, let’s establish what we mean by the name “Blues Harp”. Hohner have produced two different models with the name “Blues Harp” and the model number 532. The current one is part of the Modular System and has the initials MS after the name. It has exactly the same reedplates as the other standard MS harps, such as the Big River Harp, ProHarp MS, etc. (The Cross Harp MS has slightly thicker reedplates and the Meisterklasse MS has thicker reedplates which are also nickel plated on older models and chrome plated on more recent ones.) The older Blues Harp is the source of all the rumours about thinner reeds. It was first made in the 1960s and discontinued in the 1990s. It featured a pear wood comb identical to that used on the Marine Band (except the paint on the front of the comb was a shade lighte
