I thought I'd wait a few days before commenting on the new Bushman harps I received 2 weeks ago.
1 - The packaging and finish are great! The leather pouch makes it easy to carry a lint free harp in your pocket.
2 - These harps have GREAT tone!! Much like the Special 20s I use, but even more pleasing (to my ears). Holes 6 through 10 are remarkable in their ease of play, clarity and tone.
3 - The harps are very air tight with only 3 screws and the covers to hold the reed plates to the comb.
4 - The reed response is *VERY* dependent on reed gapping.
First thing I noticed when I played these harps was that I just kept on playing and playing, which is a good sign.
Unlike any other harp I have tried, I found myself comparing the Bushman to my Special 20 harps that I spend 1.5 hours gapping and gasketting. To me, this said a lot. These harps are professional quality and sound great straight out of the box.
Next thing I noticed was a feeling that all 4 Bushman I had were nice but not quite right. They all seemed to take lots of air! I opened up the G harp, gapped the reeds lower and WOW! What a difference gapping makes on these harps. I still need to get back under the hoods to fine tune the gapping. Each reed seems to require a different gap for optimal response.
After 5 minutes of gap tweaking, the Bushman sounds and plays better then any of my other harps that need up to 90 minutes to set up!
If you don't already own a Bushman, you really should order one and try it out.
If you already own a Bushman then get those cover plates off and adjust the reed gaps, lowering the reeds slowly and progressively. Correct gapping makes these harps come alive.
Thanks John for a truly wonderful harp. The Bushman has significantly raised the bar for mass produced harmonicas.
