First Note FN160 Firstnote Mouth Harp, Original

Funnies thing I ever got for a white Christmas gift. No one knew what it was, so I showed them how to play it and it was one of the funniest things I ever used. This one is great. Metal is strong and works as it should. Great price as well. Just be careful not to hit your teeth.

I didn't know it was possible to make a defective jaw harpI am the proud owner of a jaw harp for maybe, 3 years now, and please note that this review isn't me complaining because I just can't figure out how to play it. Jaw harps can be tricky to get the hang of, but I have no trouble getting the correct sounds out of mine. It is a different brand from a museum gift shop that I can't recall the name of, and I can play it well. Unfortunately, when I got this Firstnote one for one of my friends, BOTH of us were unable to play it due to poor craftsmanship. The necessary vibrations of the instrument had shifted the middle tongue of the harp to the bottom metal frame of the harp and caused it hit the frame with a nasty ting. When I bent it back to the normal position between the frames, only a few twangs shifted it to hitting the frame again. Because the suspension between the top and bottom frame is essential for the vibrations of the instrument, this defect rendered the jaw harp unplayable. The whole fact that the tongue shifted at all is a sign of poor craftsmanship along with small lumps of unnecessary metal shag that chipped off and the sloppy unstable tongue base (look at the picture). But maybe you'll be lucky. Who knows? I know I'm not requesting a replacement. Hopefully I'll be able to get a refund, despite the fact that it isn't unopened. And because the packaging consisted of shrink-wrap to a bit of cardboard, it's a bit impossible to repackage it.

Fast delivery and good price, but not quite the instrument we hoped. Bought this for my boyfriend, who is musical and has played one of these in the past. He has been unable to make the mouth/jaw harp play and "twang" as it ought to. I have also tried, and have been unable. Not sure if this is the material the harp is made from, or if it has yet to be "broken in", needless to say it has yet to really offer the musical notes we hoped.

I was watching an old Clark Gable movie a while ago, and I heard the most beautiful song ever in it. It was twangy and upbeat, unlike anything I had quite heard before. Clark's character was playing "Skip to my Loo" on the jaw harp! Right then and there, I knew I had to get one. I Googled it and it brought me to Amazon. I bought two jaw harps(one for me and one for my husband, so we can jam together). It took me a while go "get" how to do it. I watched many YouTube videos (mainly done by kids) until I sort of got the hang of it.This jaw harp is a good, solid product, and the quality is good. The price was reasonable as well. I do wish I knew how to play the jaw harp better. I can't play a song or anything like that. But when people see it or hear it, they are certainly curious!

The tongue was slightly off, but it was really easy to bend it back into the correct position. This compares to other mouth harps that I've used. If you are familiar with the instrument then it is really easy to pick it up and go through several different tones. For those that haven't played one before be aware that it may take some practice before it produces clear and correct sounds. I learned a friend's instrument that looked identical to this and didn't take more than 2 or 3 times of casual experimentation.

When affixing the instrument in your teeth, the tongue clanks against the arms when triggering. This is either due to the tongue being too wide or the metal being used having too much give. Either way, it's hard to produce a substantial sound in an effective manner. I'd suggest trying a different brand.

I've always wanted a jaw harp. When i finally broke down and bought one, I was cheap-minded.I typed it in the search bar and looked at them. Browsing through, I see cheap ones and rather expensive ones, wow!, who'd pay that much for one of these things? This one I picked wasn't the cheapest, it was $9, but far from the most expensive. I bought it. Well, I was excited for the next few days, in anticipation for the arrival my new toy. I watched some youtube videos on how to play it, thinking I'd be ready upon its arrival. When it came, I tried it right away.A sudden disappointment...1. This thing is huge2. The tounge on it is super stiff3. When played, it rattles on the arm everytime you strum.At the time these were not complaints, merely thoughts. I was semi-enjoying playing the faint sounds of a jaw harp.After a bout 15 minutes, I noticed blood on the harp. Holy geez, my lip was bleeding! Thinking, its probably my fault, I'm not doing it right....I keep trying to "perfect my technique".The sound wasn't getting any better and my lip was getting worse. So... stopped.Getting more disappointed and letting, yet another dream (of being a jaw harpist) slip away, I decide to stroll through Amazon again to look at different harps.I see one that looks like the one that guy in that video had. That's the one! Only $20, I ordered it that same day I received the first one. What a difference, I love it! My girlfriend not so much.My advice, spend the extra money, for your safety, inspiration and your peace of mind.....unless you just need a paper weight.

I bought this because I saw the jaw harp in a movie and thought it looked fun. I looked it up and Amazon and found a cheap affordable one to get the basic idea of how it worked. 5-stars for that purpose. It took a couple hours to start to get the hang of it after watching 2-3 short You Tube videos. I love it.