Its been a long and fustrating road finding the ultimate chromatic harmonica.
Compared to the majority of other instruments out there, what is available on the market for chromatic harmonica is pretty slim pickings. But who can blame the manufacters? The market is tiny, and they are not the simplest of instruments to build and harder to build well. There is little money to put into its improvement or raising the bar.
Chromatic harmonica players all know the bugbears that plague the everyday chrom, popping & buzzing valves, sticky slide, air leaks, inconsistant reed response, uncomfortable mouthpieces, varying tonal qualities, nails, swollen; split or warped combs, stripped threads, rusting screws, temperamental behaviour, and after that an all too short a life span. Thank goodness for harmonica customisers!
Add to all this, compared most other popular instruments they are a remarkably difficult instrument to master.
Someone made a comment to me a while back. They regretted not having the fine instrument they play today twenty years before when they started out. Because if they had it back then, they would have spent so much more time practising & playing than tweaking & repairing the damn thing. I took that cautionary tale to heart and decided not to let the same happen to me.
So I've tried most of the popular brands, read a lot of reviews & opinions on & offlist from chromatic harmonica players, tried the services of a few customisers, all in the search for an instrument that would perform & last to my expectations.
Finally I realised I would have to invest in something different & above the accepted norm of what makes a chromatic harmonica just that. Essentially the components and the way they are assembled was letting it down.
I was willing to pay top price for an instrument, but I had to make sure that it was built with high precision, with a good understanding & plenty of experience in the engineering involved and not least a love for the instrument.
I got to try a few impressive custom instruments at Summit 2000 including the Renaissance. I was impressed by them all. The big difference though was the Renaissance was for sale. :o)
After asking a lot of people a lot of questions so I could make an informed decision, I ordered my Tenor C Renaissance for delivery in July 2001.
>From that point on both Bobbie and Doug made me feel like a special customer, treating me with professional care, they explained everything that would take place. They were very reasonable over terms of payment, and took great care to ensure customer satisfaction. Quite a new experience for me.
Despite Douglas' commitments as President to SPAH 2001 I recieved my instrument in a timely manner with a minimum fuss. Even the way Bobbie packs it in bubble wrap is something else! :)
These guys are bent on making sure the end result is satisfaction. AND their after market support is no less than before delivery, its ongoing whats more!
Six months after the event I received a Christmas card from them. That is admirable service. My hat is off to you both. :)
There is a kit included with the instrument which has a number of well thought out extras. This really gives you the feeling you own something special, and in my view IT IS something special, because apart from being very beautiful it has ~what counts~... and in the end that is what I was paying for.
The tone was the first thing that really struck me! Georgous tone like none of the chromatics I'd played before. A very rich taste, the draw note filled my head with its resonance ... quite an experience the first time round. Very sonourous intonation across the entire range. Another important point is the reeds respond evenly & predictably across the three octaves - a delight. :o)
Tenor C solo has usually been a compromise of lower register over reed response for me, but with this instrument there is no compromise.
It is very comfortable to hold and play. The slide is so slick and takes very little effort. Its the shortest action I've ever played so I can forget about it as I play as it responds on command.
After a gentle warm up to avoid condensation, there are no airleaks, no hissing, no popping, no buzzing, and everything responds quickly and on command.... just what I play. Awesome. :)
It is heavy for a chromatic harmonica. But when I recieved it I had been learning saxophone for a while. In comparison to an alto sax the Renaissance is easy to handle. A side effect after playing the instrument for a while is it makes all other chromatics feel very light which has a positive effect on handling them.
Under the hood the Renaissance is something completely different. It is obviously built with a good understanding of both engineering & the instrument.... and with precision & attention to detail. The ease of assembly & access is far better than the stock design. Its a very solid durable design which makes me pretty certain that I will still be playing this instrument for decades to come. All of which is reassuring.
I waited six months to give my review to make sure that I had given it a decent workout and discovered any foibles, bugbears or hidden problems. But all that happened is it has ~improved~ over that time. I was warned this would happen.
If you follow the concise instructions given with the instrument it really encourages practise & makes performance a pleasure.
The Renaissance is great value for money, a long term investment with both immediate & long term rewards, backed by excellent customer support. It is a quality professional instrument built for life.
For me the Renaissance is the ultimate Chromatic Harmonica and my search has finally come to an end. Congratulations Bobbie & Douglas, the ILUS team!
