Impressions, Hohner Echo Celeste

Well, my Hohner Echo Celeste in E arrived yesterday.
I'll be writing a formal review for the web shortly. This is for now:

1. This is a magnificent instrument.

2. It is solo-tuned!!!! Full-scale-tuned !!!!!!!! God is good, and
the Hohner people have listened!!! My E major came with a paper insert
which is probably sent with all Hohner Echo Celestes, and the following
diagram appears:

cid:[email protected]

This diagram is an exact match for the solo-tuning diagram in the
middle of Pat Missin's missive on tremolo tuning, which is here:

http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q15.html

Hooray! Three cheers for Hohner!!!!!!!

3. I find it to be generally superior to all other tremolos I have
used, including Tombo 3121, Tombo 1521, Suzuki Humming, Huang Musette,
and even my sweet little Brelli. I am shocked and amazed and
delighted. It is built well, with visibly greater precision and care
than Suzuki Humming and 3121. It is aesthetically pleasing in all
respects.

4. It is also a 24-note instrument, and is therefore (to my knowledge)
the only 24-note tremolo on the market today available in all of the 12
major keys.

5. Its tonal response on the low end is truly beautiful: it is far and
wide the best in tremolo tone quality I have ever heard of in the low
end, and in fact, I am going to have to revise all of the reviews on
the web site to reflect this simple fact. Its tone quality in the
middle and high ends is excellent too.

6. It was shipped in a very durable and useful case, looks like strong
nylon fabric reinforced, and closes with a good zipper, which reminds
my wife of certain kinds of cell-phone cases.

7. There is only one item which may be a minor downside for some:
although it is capable of substantially more volume than Merano, it is
not as loud as anything I have used from Tombo, Suzuki, Huang, or
Brelli. But I like it better this way. I can control the loudness
far, far more than any other tremolo I have used. Thus it ends up
being a better instrument both for individual play and practice and for
performance, which these days is just about always amplified, in which
case I want maximum control and to be not limited to the range of
medium-to-very-loud volume.

8. It is probably made of less thick metal than the Tombo 1521: it is
not as heavy than the 1521, which is quite unexpectedly heavy for its
size. But this may end up being a plus. Heavier weight is often
greater fragility in a precision-made metal object.

9. It has a new hole-numbering system which I
don't
understand yet, represented by the topmost row of numbers in the
diagram above, which does partly refer to the holes on a regular Hohner
Blues Band. There is also some hole-number-based music packaged with
the instrument. So I think that this is, more or less, a reinvention
of the harmonica number system for solo-tuned tremolo.

--

Jonathan E. Brickman
America! Bless
God!!!

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