I have played the chromatic harmonica for 35 years and during this time i have been plagued by sore lips. I have tried every conceivable modification to my technique to no avail.
The Suzuki SCX56 has put an end to this problem for me! These harmonicas are widely known as being the most comfortable to play but I had never got around to playing one. Finally I took the plunge.

The mouthpiece is super comfortable. I could instantly play things like large interval leaps, which would normally punish my lips, with ease.

The tone is sweet with just a touch of that reedy growl in the middle register. I would normally like a bit more of this.

It is not the loudest instrument but nor is it the quietest. Somewhere in between.

The slide was fairly quiet and very smooth. The tone holes are cross tuned (if you look into the mouthpiece you will see that the open holes form a zigzag pattern) which means a slightly longer throw, but this shouldn't be a problem unless you are a superfast player in which case you would want a straight tuned instrument. I am fairly fast, I play modern jazz, and the cross tuning hasn't slowed me down one bit.

I have heard that the reed savers can be a problem but I have not had any issues. I warm the instrument under my arm for about 10 minutes before I play and this cuts down on condensation.

If you want a professional quality chromatic harmonica that is comfortable to play, sweet on the ear and easy on the pocket, then this is the way to go.

If I lost mine I would buy another without hesitation.

Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]