Hello hello! Today I will share my thoughts and review on the Hohner Golden Melody harmonica. It has a unique set of looks that also has a different physical feel to it. While I like it a lot, it also got its downsides and it’s not perfect for all kinds of music. So let’s start getting down to business.

I have a couple of those harmonicas and at some points the Golden Melody was almost the only harmonica that I used since I liked it a lot. The price tag is at the 35-40$ price range which is what you expect from a serious, fine instrument that is also made in Germany. SOOO:

The Golden Melody has a couple of special selling points – mainly the fact that it is extremely comfortable to hold.

Hohner Golden Melody – Pros:

• SWEET and bright, punchy tone! The sound of the Golden Melody is happy and “in your face” with a great volume. This one might not be for the likings of everyone, (for example, if you’re more into the darker sounding Dylan’s harmonica solos.(like the ones in “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright“) But it does fit a lot of songs very well.
• Perfect for playing songs’ melodies. Single notes sound awesome and fat: As the name suggests, I did not find any other harmonica that its single notes cut so nicely through the mix of the other instruments both when jammin’ in a living room and also in recordings.
• Super comfortable to hold and play: The circular shaped corners makes the Golden Melody the most comfortable harmonica I have ever held. It will simply make you wonder “why all the other harmonicas got such sharp corners…?”
• A cool, distinct look. The red comb and the circular corners will make it easy to find amongst your other harmonicas. And besides, shiny music instruments are always fun to walk around with and show off at the next jam.
• Durability: the Golden Melodies hold up well and even though I have played them very often over months and months, I hadn’t had problems.
• Comes with a hard shell case: This one’s always a plus, and even though the case is nothing fancy, it’s red (to go along with the theme…) and it does the job well.

Getting ready to jam with a dutch guitarist I met while traveling. In the picture: the Golden Melody and the Pro Harp.

Check out my harmonica cover of “Let It be” – played on a Hohner Golden Melody:

Hohner Golden Melody – Cons:

• Multi notes don’t sound quite as full, like they are in similar priced harmonicas: Like I said above, these harmonicas are best suited for playing songs’ melodies and for music that does not call on the “fat” sounds – so it’s not my first choice for playing blues music. For those heavier requirements – I would go with the Hohner Blues Harp instead.
• Tuning issues: This’ll be something that 95% of the people would never notice, but if you are a recording artist, I am sure that you test that your harmonicas are in tune before going into a recording session – and very often with most harmonicas at least some of the notes would need to get opened and get a little fine tuning. The thing is, on some of the Golden Melodies I have had, more than the usual number of notes were definitely out of tune. What I mean by that is that when the tuner app says it’s 15 cents sharp or flat on 3-4 different notes you get pretty disappointed, especially since this is not a 7$ harmonica here…

The red carrying case is nothing fancy – but it does the job well.

Overall Verdict: 8

That’s it. I gotta say I LOVE the Golden Melody and if you’re into playing songs’ melodies – this is definitely a harmonica you should have at least in one key. For beginners I would not go with this one but instead I would pick the Hohner Marine Band or Hohner Blues Harp which give a more well-rounded overall package that is suitable for more musical styles.

All the best,

Alon.

Note: I am not endorsed by any specific harmonica company. These reviews are strictly based on my own experience and opinions.

Click here to get the Golden Melody at the best price – from Amazon.

Alon Cooper

Hey! My name's Cooper, I'm 28 and I'm a musician based in Tel Aviv, working with other artists as a harmonica player, guitarist and pianist. In the last few years, I traveled through four continents while performing and teaching music, and I also run the blog GuitarSongsMasters.com - one of the world's top five most-read guitar blogs. I hope to be helpful to you on your harmonica journeys. Cheers! Join 4700+ Successful Harmonica Jamz students - Play any Song and Jam with Other Musicians