East topChromatic Harmonica, 12 Hole 48 Tone Key of C, with Phosphor Bronze Reed, Brass Reedplate, ABS Comb for Adults & Professionals

Product: East top Chromatic Forerunner 1248NV or T12-48NV (NV stands for Valveless)Out of the box, every hole works. This is big for me. I recently purchased Hohner 64 Chromonica (16 holes) and Hohner CX12 Chromatic (12 holes) both in C key. Out of the box both with 3-4 holes not working no sound. I watched Hohner Service Workshop on YouTube on how to make adjustment on the reeds. The sound came out but not responsive and sound horrible. I contacted the seller through Amazon with no help. I contacted Hohner in Germany HQ and they sent me to Hohner US under warranty repair. Both chromatic harmonicas have sent to the shop and told would take 3 weeks after receiving them and 3 days quarantine with limited weekly work hours. The Hohner chromatic harmonicas have awesome sound if every hole works.I wanted an inexpensive chromatic harmonica to practice. I found the East top T12-48NV on Amazon for $45 something. Since it has no valve, I can do some heavy duty practice without worrying damage the wind savers (subject to fatigue much easier). The sound quality from this budget valveless chromatic harmonica is not in the same caliber as compared to the higher end chromatic harmonicas that have valves. The higher end chromatic harmonicas with valves or wind savers are air tight since the wind savers or valves will make the chromatic plays air tight. Also, seemed the sound comes out from the T12-48NV a little weaker than my Hohner, but Hey, this beauty’s every hole is working great with the tunes play accurately. Amazingly, this budget 12 hole chromatic harmonica is built in surprisingly good quality with good materials and great looking. Slider works great and smoothly without clicking sound. You can feel the weight when you hold the T12-48NV in hands but not heavy. Strangely, I thought the sound came out a bit weaker but the recorded practice session with the T12-48NV sounded great and laud.I am happy and can play it as much as I want without worrying a thing about if the sound will come out or not or something wrong especially the wind savers will get damaged and the blow holes will not play the notes. The T12-48NV does require a bit more air and you can feel it compared to the chromatic harmonicas with the valves or wind savers. I am very happy with the T12-48NV as my practice harmonica. As a practice harmonica, I can’t find any better one to take over this one.I heard from one of the elite harmonica pros on YouTube or some Website, the East top T12-48-Brass Comb or T12-48-Copper Comb is up there in the market against the best. Since the comb is brass or copper, the sound comes out from these two models are awesome. Normally brass comb will cost a lot more, but the East top T12-48-Brass Comb is not in 4 figures it’s around $350. I will check it out if my Hohner chromatic harmonicas break.

I decided to purchase this harmonica over other reasonably priced chromatic harmonicas, because of the rounded mouthpiece. I find it's the most ergonomically comfortable to play, and very few manufacturers offer it. That's why I gave it a 5-star, even though there were a couple of minor issues. The most significant minor issue is that the included diagram of which notes respond to which holes is off. The 10-note chromatic starts with a C and not with the G as in the diagram. The top notes are also off from the diagram . I recommend that anyone wanting to play harmonica, and most other instruments for that matter, invest in a cheap tuner, which usually comes with a metronome, another important device, for about $20. An even less expensive option could be a free app for your computer that does the same things. It's not just this diagram, other sources, such as my harmonica books, are incorrect on the 10-hole chromatic harmonica. The 12-hole is considered the standard, which of course can be more expensive. Other than that, this harmonica has good tone and compares well with my more expensive chromatics. Another minor point, the case is rather flimsy, but you don't play the case.

First, I HATE Amazon lumps all the reviews for a product together even though there are different models with distinctly different characteristics. Note this review is for the T12-48-SR. This model has heavier reeds and reed plates than the other models. Also, the reed plates themselves look to be silver plated. I suspect the mouthpiece is too as it's the slickest, smoothest mouthpiece I've ever played. I'd read good reviews on Slidemeister about the Easttop harmonicas. I took a chance and I'm very glad I did. Harmonica sounds awesome. Good tone and projection. Seems to be well in tune. Slide is very smooth. Seems a little leaky on the high end but it just takes some UMPH!, nothing really excessive, to get those reeds moving. I don't think it's been made to be played quietly. I don't see this as a fault. Overall finish of the instrument is very nice, no scratches, no dings or dents. It's quite heavy for its size but not overly so. It's very comfortable to hold. Workmanship on this appears to be first class. It's a well made instrument. Interested to see what the long term durability of this is. I'm just a hobbyist player but do play with other people now and then.I recommend it!

I play diatonic and have been learning chromatic via a couple of beginner harps. I started with a Chrometta 12, which has a lovely tone and great volume but it is light and kind of cheap feeling and, mainly, I just don't like the big square plastic grill mouthpiece design. It's too slow for me.So next I tried a more conventional round-hole design in a cheap 30.00 Swan. Actually it's a good harp for the money and can be improved on with some sandpaper (see David Kettlewell's video--btw, he also does this mod with this very same Easttop 1248). It might be good enough to learn on. It might not. The main thing was, I learned I liked the round hole design better than the hog-wire on the Chrometta.So I tried the Easttop 1248 Chrome. As I intimated, it doesn't have the volume and tone of the Chrometta but it is much easier to play and, of course, the tone can be improved though better playing as I improve. Moreover, the Easttop feels WAY better than the Hohner or the Swan. It is just heavy and solid, very pretty piece.Conclusion: I doubt you are going to find a better harp to learn on for the price, and I question whether you can find a good enough harp to learn on for less.

The reviews listings here are meant to be for the Easttop KING DREAM harmonica but these reviews seem also to cover reviews of the Easttop FORERUNNER. They are in fact two quite different instruments so I am going to review each in turn.The King Dream is a 12 hole VALVED harmonica. This means that theoretically when you blow or draw a note, nearby notes are blocked by a strip or double strip of thin plastic. This makes the note you are playing less prone to leakage and therefore the note is easier to play, requiring less "wasted" breath.The King Dream is a good sounding instrument and is decently in tune, but like nearly all valved harmonicas some notes get "stuck" when the plastic valves do not lift due to excessive moisture. The King Dream is TWICE as expensive as the Easttop Forerunner because it has valves.I give the King Dream 4 stars, but if you are unlucky enough to get multiple stuck valves you will need patience in adjusting them, in which case this instrument maybe worth only 3 stars. But apart from any valve problems this instrument, though not quite up to semi-pro Hohner standards, is pretty good.The Easttop FORERUNNER is also a 12 hole chromatic harmonica but it does not have valves, which explains why it is half the price of the other instrument. However this is the only valveless harmonica I have tried that performs as though it did have valves. In other words there is almost no leakage even without the windsavers/valves closing and opening according to which note you play. It is just about the most leak-free valveless harmonica available at its very affordable price.But - and you might be more lucky in this regard, my iForerunner is quite badly out of tune on 3 notes: 1st Octave A (flat), 2nd Octave C (very sharp) and the next blown C (slightly flat). This means you have to constantly adjust your technique as you play, which is a pain. You can adjust tuning of each reed if you know what you are doing, either by playing differently, or shaving material from the reed, but nevertheless it is a pity that this particular instrument was not thoroughly checked by Easttop's quality control department before shipping. It is likely that other examples are perfectly in tune in which case I was unlucky.So in summary, the reviews in this section refer to 2 different instruments. Many of the reviews here clearly refer to the valveless Easttop Forerunner and others refer to the Easttop King dream WITH valves.

Defective item non returnable😠

Chromatic without valves can be difficult, and 'airy' taking more breath. This is a beautiful harmonica, well made with everything fitting as it should. It feels chunky in the hand and the slide works really well. The mouthpiece is sublime, really comfortable and rounded. The ingredients are all as they should be so I had high expectations, and had already bought the Swan, which was cheaper.....in every way. The price and build quality were all much cheaper than this....but, the playability was massively different. I have a number of Easttop harps and they are an eye opener at the quality, great sounding, easy to play and airtight. This one just wasn't. So in every way it was better than the Swan, except the important bit, when you play it. Sounded good too, but way too leaky for me, but I couldn't get over how nicely it was made....but not so easy to play.

I have a number of Harmonicas from East top and the diatonics have been fantastic. I wanted another unvalvef chromatic Harmonica following on from the success of the excellent Kmise I had ordered. And with my previous experience of Eastop Harmonicas I had high expectations of this one. Sadly this did not live up to expectations it is beautifully finished has a really nice feel and heft to it and the sound is pretty good. Where it fails is in two major build areas. The first is a problem with reads that stick which suggest that they are not lined up properly with the slots in the read plates and they are catching on the edges of those. The other problem is with the slide which works well but is noisy as it rubs in the channel. These are very basic problems that could be overcome if the Harmonica has been set up well to start with at the factory. It was a bit of a punt on my part to try to experience what an East top chromatic Harmonica might be like this sadly was a failure. The Kmise was a far better harmonica, airtight, quiet slide and reasonable slide. Have now ordered a far more expensive Seydel Non Slider chromatic

Just to clarify: this is review about the Easttop T1040 chromatic harmonica.I needed a chromatic harmonica to play Tango music, and this appeared to fit the bill. As soon as I unpacked it, I could play it with no warming up of the reeds. Low notes are resonant and easy to play. The harmonica has a warm rich sound and the rounded mouthpiece makes it easy to move from low notes to high notes.I would recommend this harmonica to anyone wishing to move from diatonic to chromatic harmonica or for serious players. It is not concert standard, but for the money it is exceptional.