The revolutionary XB-40 achieves the player’s dream of total bending capability. The normal diatonic note bending technique can be used to bend every note – blow and draw – by two complete half steps by means of a patented system of internal valve cells and zero offset auxiliary reeds. The auxiliary reeds are tuned and adjusted for fast response and optimal bending throughout the entire harmonica. The internal valve cells ensure airtight performance and provide resonating chambers for a full, rich tone. Comes in an attractive vinyl case.
Precision engineered and manufactured under the highest quality standards, the Hohner XB-40's revolutionary design permits a level of expression and note bending capability never before possible on any harmonica. On a regular 10 hole diatonic, or Marine Band type harmonica, the standard blues note bending technique involves an interaction between two reeds, one blow and one draw. On this style harmonica, only the higher pitched of the two notes from any given reed cell can be bent and then only to a point somewhat above that of the lower pitched reed. For example, the 4-blow C reed on a regular key of C harmonica, being two semitones below the 4-draw D reed, enables the D draw note to be bent down a little more than a semitone. The 5-draw F note, however, cannot be bent a complete semitone, because the 5-blow E reed is only one semitone lower than the 5-draw F reed. Furthermore, the notes of the higher pitched reeds in any reed cell, that is, 1 through 6 blow and 7 through 10 draw, are prevented by the lower pitched reeds in their cells from any significant bending at all.
The XB-40 overcomes this limitation by incorporating an additional set of reeds, tuned so that all twenty of the harmonica's notes can be bent using the standard blues harp bending technique. By a system of patented valve chambers, the auxiliary reeds come into play only during note bending. The XB-40 is tuned so that every note can be bent a whole tone, with an additional semitone bend on the 3-draw to complete the chromatic scale in the first octave.
The Hohner XB-40's design not only creates a complete chromatic scale, it offers you multiple ways to play most notes. The player can, for instance, play a g2 note in the standard manner, with the 6-blow unbent, include a sliding bend up to it from f2, or play a g2 as a bent note on the 6-draw, adding a sliding bend down to it from the unbent a2. Similarly, a d#2 note can be produced with a half-bend on the 5-blow or with a full-bend on the 5-draw. This feature significantly increases the expressive capability of the XB-40 in a way never before possible on any other harmonica.
Available keys are Low D through standard Db. The Keys of D, E, Eb, F, and F# in regular tuning are not available (only in the low octave).
