Eastar Admiral 24 Holes Harmonica, Key of C Tremolo for Beginners Adults Kids, Performance Competition Mouth Organ with Hard Case and Cloth, Silver

This review is for the Eastar 10 holes Major Blues harmonica beginner Harmonica, I noticed Amazon is mixing up other Eastar reviews like the larger "Admiral" model. Because this is advertised as a beginner harmonica so I decided to compare it to my Hohner "Bluesband" harmonica in C, which is often the reference for cheap beginner harmonicas and are made in China. I also own a set of Honher "Special 20" harmonicas which are made in Germany which are much better and much more expensive, and I will compare it to that one also. First of all, this is a Harmonica in the key of C, for now, just worry about hte fact that it's the easiest harmonica to play, other keys can be slightly harder for your breathing, so it is the recommended one for beginners. I'll talk more about what the key mean at the end of the review. Unpacking: This Eastar harmonica comes in a nice plastic case (althoguh you may have a to squeeze a bit hard to open it). It's important as you should always put your harmonica in a case after playing so that debris and dust doesn't clog up the inside. (also, don't play right after eating!) Inside the case is the harmonica, a small instruction sheet (in English) and a small wiping cloth, a very nice touch. If you are a complete beginner, I recommend you find youtube instructions rather than rely on the enclosed sheet, but it makes a handy reference anyway. By comparison my cheap Hohner comes in a blue and white cardboard box and has no wiping cloth The Sound/Ease of Play There is no comparison with the cheap Hohner! the cheap Hohner constricts your breath and make you blow harder, sounds tinny and not so loud. By contrast the Eastar has a nice full sound, is much louder and easier to play. I'm impressed! I still like the sound of my special 20s better, while rich the Eastar sounds a little darker than the Special 20, but remember we are comparing a beginner harmonica to a more mid-level instrument. There is an advance technique in harmonica playing called "bending". It is when you blow or draw (breathe in) in a special way to make the note "bend" into another, which is a real cool signature sound of the harmonica. Once again the Eastar beats the Hohner Bluesband handily. Bends are much easier to achieve on the Eastar, although I still find them more comfortable on my special 20 (an instrument that costs 3 times as much) In Summary, if you or a loved one wants to start learning the harmonica, this is a great instrument. It will make learning much easier than with the really cheap instruments and the sound will be much better. What does the key of C mean C? Harmonicas only come in one key. Think of them as a piano with only the white keys. this means you will be able to play any song in C with other instruments, fortunately most beginner songs are in C. Blues players play in "position 2" or "crossharp" where the "home" note is drawing (breathing in) on the 2nd hole, which is the note G.Playing corssharp with a harmonica in C lets you play along and improvise with songs written in the key of G, which is very common for blues and Classic Rock, so you may be able to play with a lot more songs than you think. So anything bad about this? If you look at the picture carefully, this harmonica is slightly thicket than my other harmonicas, maybe that makes a larger "chamber" for the sound to resonate and escape from and explains why it sounds so good, but it felt a little odd to me because I am so used to the thickness of my Special 20s. I'm not familiar with other brands and it's quite possible other harmonica brands are also slightly thicket like that. Not really a bad thing, more of a request: Past the beginner stage harmonica players will usually carry multiple harmonicas in multiple keys so that they can play with any song. It looks like Eastar is only selling the harmonicas in C, I hope they soon sell other keys, or sell multipacks with multiple harmonicas of different keys in the same case. Thanks for reading this review, I hope it has been helpful. I will try and post a video with sound comparison but I'm having trouble with my video editing software at the time. Enjoy the photos comparing the Eastar harmonica with the cheap Hohner Bluesband.

I had to drop everything and write a review as soon as I recieved this in the mail. Honestly, I don't see how they can offer such a nice tremolo at such a bargain price! It's cost is about 10% of the price of some of the big brand names such as Hohner, Seydel or Suzuki. It's much nicer looking than a Hohner. I had been contemplating the purchase of a Seydel Sailor or Skydiver, (big fan of Seydel) but ran across this at about $20. Hmmm... $20, or $180? At $20, I was rather sceptical as to wether I'd end up with a toy, but what the heck? I gave it a chance. I must say, I am pleasently suprised! The box is much more impressive than what Seydel gives you. The fit and finish is as good or better, although the corners are just a tad sharp. No big deal. I'll just smooth them over with some 400 grit sanding. Just a light touch. I'm super picky about how a harmonica feels in the hands. Many high end harmonicas need this smoothing touch on the corners. Not a concern. As far as the reeds go, they sound good and on spot. Time will tell as far as durability goes. The etching on the covers is very nice and so is the polishing on the covers. The box is much like an oversized glasses case with a satin finish, spring hinge and nice lining. Nice silver print on the lid, but I'm sure it will wear quickly in my coat pocket. I plan on carrying this with me quite often. Best feature is the tuning which runs the major scale without missing, or out of place notes such as the Hohner Golden Melody tremelo has. I'm not sure, but I think this has asian tuning. Anyway, it's much easier to play melodies with this than other tremelos I've experimented with over the years. I mostly play melodies on orchestra or melody tuned harmonicas (no bending needed to catch the missing note), so this is quite nice. Don't get me wrong. Nothing can compare to my Seydel Fanfare, but that's a $300+ harmonica with the optional rounded mouthpiece. Bottom line. This at $20, considering the quality you're getting, is a heck of a bargain. If I can find this in the key of G, I'm definitely purchasing another one for myself, and will be giving them out as gifts. Ah... the gift of music! I just picked it up before finishing my review and after a couple tries, can already play Moon River (Andy Williams). I'm new to this particular style of tremolo in this tuning, so again, very pleased. My Golden Melody with it's weird tuning is going into storage. Definately buy this if you're a melody player. If money is no object, consider a Seydel Fanfare S. This review seems to have been delayed, and before re-submitiing, I'd like to add that I just recieved a $75+ Suzuki Humming High Class SU-21W. It has a compressed wood /resin comb and is very nice, but is a 21 hole tremelo. The Eastar Admiral 24 hole tremelo and the Suzuki SU-21W virtually sound alike, and the build quality also appears to be virtually the same. I'm very happy with either. At less than half the price, the Eastar is the way to go if you're on a budget. If branding is important, and you have money falling out of your pockets, go for the Suzuki. Just make sure it's the new High Class model. The old Suzuki Humming is not as nice as the Eastar Admiral. CHEERS!!!

This is a very nice harmonica. It has a very nice non-shrill sound even in the upper register. Very good for a $30 harmonica. Very good for playing with others. In performances, one may need to slightly bump the high and/or mid-high settings to bring up the high end. Very pleased with this harmonica.

I like the added notes -over a standard harmonica- which increases the versatility of what you can play. The tremolo effect is pretty, but the higher holes seem to be a single frequency(possibly one of the paired holes isn't working or is the same frequency; thus, no beat frequency). So, despite the apparent lack of consistency in all the paired holes, I still like playing it (for folk music only; not a blues harp) more than my standard harmonica. And for the price, I think it's a brilliant piece of instrument.

Does what it says on the tin,... and delivered 4-dys early !!!

I am extremely impressed by how responsive this harmonica is to each blow or draw. Good volume is produced with very little effort. My Swan double-sided C/G takes much more breath to create a good, clean note. The tremolo effect is audible even to the high notes. I have recently purchased a Suzuki Hummingmate harmonica in the key of C, a Japanese-made tremolo harmonica that is very highly considered. The Eastar and Suzuki are nearly identical in volume, pitch, tone and playability. I am even more impressed by the Eastar Admiral knowing it is the equal of instruments two to three times more expensive. The fitted case provided by Eastar deserves mention, it is truly deluxe. The case is large, has a nice satin finish and surprisingly, for a modestly priced instrument, has a spring- hinged closure mechanism. Well done! The Eastar Admiral appears to be designed/manufactured by Easttop, the well known harmonica company, which is a very good thing indeed. East Top produces tremolos in most other keys so if you like the sound of this Eastar, consider purchasing other keys from Easttop. One thing to mention is that the harmonica I received differed from that pictured and described in the in the product description: the comb is all black, it does not have the C notes marked in white as is pictured. This could be a detriment to beginners who might rely upon their eyes to locate the key notes. Overall I'm very impressed by this harmonica. I hope Eastar considers adding to the Admiral line with tremolo harmonicas in other keys. I will be first in line to buy.

Nice set but a little small

A mí nieto le gustó mucho!

Es un producto muy bonito, tiene buena presentacion, se ve elegante y tiene buen sonido