Recently I bought a customised Special Twenty from Harp online. The SP20 has always been a favourite of mine, probably nudged into second place by the Seydel 1847 Silver, although there is quite a price differential between the two.
Harponline offers customised harmonicas and optional fine tuning and overblow setup.
Firstly I was impressed that Michael Timler took the time to query my initial order, I had ordered just tuning and overblow setup and Michael pointed out that having pure chords with overblow setup was not a very useful setup. It is great that someone should take the time to do this rather than just go ahead with what their experience tells them is not a good idea. After a few e-mail exchanges I finally settled on compromised tuning and overblow setup.
The lead time on the order was excellent, even allowing for the discussion around my original order the harmonica was delivered within 4 working days.
There is extensive work on the fixing of the reed and cover plates and the inclusion of an Allen Key to allow you to open the modified harmonica is a nice touch.
As for playing I find it very responsive, the tone is excellent. I have only recently managed to coax a 6 overblow out of a Seydel Silver, on the Sp 20 the note is clean and easily sustained. All in all I would recommend that you take a look at what is on offer at harp online. If nothing else you should check out the workshop section for some interesting information on harmonica setup.
As for me time to try the 5 overblow 🙂