Hohner XB-40 Extreme Bending Harmonica, Key of A Review

Disclaimer: I am a fan of Hohner's gadgetry.

The Hohner "Extreme Bending" (XB) Harmonica is expensive for an instrument that only plays one key and one scale (plus bends). Commendable as a piece of technology, the notes, all of the notes, bend like blades of grass. It's just the weight; the thick and light construction, the size, it all seems awkward. And the presentation-- a flimsy plastic case, the plates were loose (a screw had fallen out), it wasn't impressive. The sound is ordinary, playability requires some effort, yet the notes are extremely agile. There's something to explore on this harmonica, but it's not balanced.

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Product Description:
The Hohner XB-40 Extreme Bending Harmonica was designed by Hohner USA's own Rick Epping and with a 40 reed system that gives harp players complete bending freedom with overdraws and overblows in all 10 holes. Precision engineered and manufactured under the highest quality standards, the Hohner XB-40's revolutionary design permits a level of expression and note bending capability never before possible on any harmonica. On a regular 10-hole diatonic, or Marine Band type harmonica, the standard blues note bending technique involves an interaction between 2 reeds, one blow and one draw. On this style harmonica, only the higher pitched of the 2 notes from any given reed cell can be bent and then only to a point somewhat above that of the lower-pitched reed. The Hohner XB-40 overcomes this limitation by incorporating an additional set of reeds, tuned so that all twenty of the harmonica's notes can be bent using the standard blues harp bending technique. Using a system of patented valve chambers, the auxiliary reeds come into play only during note bending. The Hohner XB-40 is tuned so that every note can be bent a whole tone, with an additional semitone bend on the 3-draw to complete the chromatic scale in the first octave.

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