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Golden Cup Tremolo Harmonicas
From the same company who import the Leo Shi harmonicas, I
also received some Golden Cup tremolos for review.
The first model is a 24-note 48-reed tremolo in harmonic minor
tuning. This model is available in the keys of Em, Gm, Am, Cm
and Dm, using the typical Asian pseudo-solo layout, giving three
full octaves of the harmonic minor scale, with an extra note
added at both the low end and high end. Unlike some brands of
tremolo harmonica, the layout of notes is consistent in each
key: the Em starts on low B (an octave below the lowest note
of a standard B diatonic) and goes all the way up to G (the
same as the highest note on a standard G diatonic): the Gm starts
on a low D and goes up to Bb; the Am ranges from low E to high
C; the Cm ranges from G to Eb; the Dm ranges from A (the same
as the lowest note of a standard A diatonic) and up to F (the
same as the highest note of a standard F diatonic).
They all have a brown plastic comb and nice chrome plated brass
covers, unlike the cheap aluminium covers found on many Chinese
tremolo harps. The reedplates are attached with screws and the
assembly is nicely airtight. There were some occasional sharp
corners on the reedplates (easily fixed with a file), but mostly
the harps are very smoothly finished. They are packaged in a
no-frills card box.
The tuning and reed adjustment are both reasonably good, although
I would definitely want to regap a couple of reeds here and
there. Typical of Asian tremolos, they are in equal temperament
around A=443Hz, with quite a dry tuning, ie the tremolo effect
is less pronounced than you would get on a Hohner or Hering
instrument.
I believe these are retailing at US$18. If you are looking
for a minor tuned tremolo harp, this could be a bargain, as
it is about a third of the price of the Suzuki SU-21H and less
than 1/4 price of the Tombo 1521. Not too many other tremolo
models are readily available in minor keys.
I also received for review some double-sided tremolos made by
Golden Cup. These are in major keys, each side having 16 notes
and 32 reeds. Unlike most other double sided instruments which
are paired in fourths or fifths (ie C/G, or A/D), these are
paired in G/A and C/D. Again, the typical Asian pseudo-solo
tuning is used and as with the above mentioned minor tremolos,
the scale layout is the same in each key: there is a middle
octave with a complete diatonic scale, a low octave with the
low third, fifth, sixth and seventh of the scale and a high
octave with the high second, third fourth and fifth. This gives
each side a scale equivalent to holes 2 to 9 of a standard diatonic.
The comb is made from the same brown plastic as the single
sided minor key tremolos. The covers are aluminium, with a black
finish on the G/A harp and a red finish on the C/D harp. I hesitate
to call the covers flimsy, but I don't think it would be a good
idea to stand on them! The covers are attached by a much more
sensible method than that used on the traditional German designs
(still in use by certain German and Brasilian manufacturers),
making them easy to remove and replace without having to mess
around with nails. Removing the covers on one of the samples
lead to a surprise discovery - rather than both pairs of reedplates
being mounted on a single comb, there are actually two separate
combs held in place by the covers. I guess this means that if
you don't like the G/A and C/D arrangement, you could easily
alter them to C/G and D/A.
The reedplates are attached with screws and for the most part
the reed adjustment is OK, but not quite as good as on the samples
of the minor key tremolos. As well as a little inconsistency
in gapping, there were a couple of reeds that had a convex curve
to them, which is not good for reed response. However, anyone
with some basic harp tweaking skills could soon fix that. Tuning
is equal temperament around A=443 Hz, with some slight variation
here and there, but nothing too far out.
The harp fits comfortably into the hand, measuring about 13
cm x 5 cm x 2cm (5" x 2" x 3/4") and arrives
in a simple card box. I think these would make a nicely affordable
entry into the world of tremolo harmonicas, or for those who
find themselves frustrated with the missing notes of the German
style tremolos.
The usual disclaimers apply, but I'd like to thank Cain Trader
for giving me a chance to try these out. You can buy these instruments
on eBay, or contact them directly:
Cain Trader
4940 Zuni St.
Denver
CO 80221-1376
email: caintrader@attbi.com
web: http://caintrader.com/
Pat Missin
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