Hohner Chromonica 270/48 C- Deluxe

I've been playing diatonic harp for the best part of seven years, so the jump to chromatic became more alluring as time went on.

This instrument is great, very well built and packaged nicely with a hard case and cleaning cloth (which I use all the time).

One of the reeds has become slightly buzzy after the top reedplate has become loose over time, but it's nothing tightening a screw won't fix.

The side button is very responisve and the reeds respond well to all kinds of techniques, u-blocking, tongue blocking, octaves etc.. Bending, in general, is more difficult on a chromatic than on a diatonic, and the higher reeds on this instrument can get a bit squealy, but this is likely a technique issue on my part.

Overall a great harmonica, still getting my head around the different tuning, but this makes for a great first chromatic and a nice all-round harp.

I've had many chromatic harmonicas before, but Hohner's Chromonica beats them all. It's solid and well made. The sound is exactly the one I was looking for, not too mellow, not too bright. The slide works great and is very responsive.

My complaint is that the first reed and the two last ones do not respond as well as the other ones. I have to blow or suck more air to produce the same volume. The last reed (the highest one) seems to be particularly problematic. I will wait for it to settle down before trying to open the harmonica and see what's causing the problem, as I've just had it for a week.

Other than that, I highly recommend this instrument.

I began to learn diatonic harmonica two years ago, using the Hohners, especially from the Progressive Series and I decided to have also my chromatics, so I choosed the Hohner Chromonica 270 de Luxe
It is a good and beautiful chromatic harmonica, covering 3 octaves, from C4 to D7.
It has a solid double-laquered pearwood comb and 1,2 mm thick reed plates, giving it a solid sound and a good volume. It is fit for playing blues, classical, folk and jazz tunes. The cover plates and the reed plates are assembled with screws for good maintenance. The men who have moustache should be aware of the little side vents on the upper left corner of the cover plates; but they could replace the original cover plates with the full-length covers of the Discovery 48, the clone with plastic mouthpiece and plastic comb of the Chromonica 270 de Luxe.
The mouthpiece is comfortable and the slide is quiet and quick responding.
The windsavers in the low octave are a little bit noisy (but this is to be solved in time) and begginners like me should blow gently in for the first 2-3 weeks.
All in all it is a great harmonica that gives me a great pleasure of playing.