Hohner Golden Melody Model # 544 Free USA Shipping.

First things first, I did not purchase these harps from Rockinronsmusic.com. This critique is based on the instruments them selves. I've been sucking and blowing for 40+ years and I have quite a collection of harps. For my style of playing the Golden Melody 542 just works. It fits my hands, the response is great, and while I'm not a pro sounding good is important. I lost my A harp so I ordered another Golden Melody and in a snafu ended up with 2 Golden Melody V-2's. After 4 days of playing I was beyond disappointed. The new design with the raised covers really changes the way it fits in your hand and how cupping sounds. The comb protrudes from the covers and for me it was uncomfortable and didn't let my hands close as naturally as with the original. Anyhow lesson learned. Customer lost. Goodbye Golden Melody... Finally, I won't be playing them, and I can't return them, so is there a place for unwanted harmonica's?

You are my go to store for harps. Great selection and delivers quickly! As far as the golden melody goes, to me the new improvement is slight. I’m glad they are still being made!

I've played for over 60 years and have had a few Golden Melody's along the way. I retune all my harps very close to or at equal tuning. The harp is very comfortable to hold and is average, in my opinion as to playability. I prefer solid comb harps. They seem more air tight. I find even some less expensive harps work better for me (after tweaking) than the Golden Melody. Probably won't purchase again, but it will be used as a back up.
Good quick service from Ron as always. His company is a 5 star operation, this harp though, for my needs, gets 3 (average)

Shipping is fast and good product selection.

I'm a huge fan of the original Hohner Golden Melody and it's my favorite harmonica to date. When I heard that Hohner was going to change it in 2023, I was very skeptical with how it was going to play. I started playing the original version in July of 2020 because of my harmonica hero, Terry McMillan, who played it up from the late 1970s until his passing in 2007. I refused to believe that the design change was a good thing because I heard the new version was bad. So I refused to buy the new one for the longest time.
How I got one in my hands was because of somebody on Facebook named Adam Winrich. He sent me a Bulletini and a 2023 Golden Melody in the key of A for Christmas last year. The harp was actually a pleasant surprise as it was airtight despite what my friends who also tried it out told me. I also thought it would be awkward to hold due to the divet in the back, but the fingers in my hand were able to cross over it and hold it just fine without any problems. How somebody thought the divet is a place to hold your fingers at, I don't know how they came up with that. Timbre-wise, both the original and the redesign sound almost identical, with the redesign sounding a tad bit brighter. I think the back of the harp being mostly open contributed to the slight tone change. Also for those who want to play amplified and are used to the original, it is going to be very bright through an amp unless if you used a mid/bass heavy sound (which I don't). So proceed with caution.
Also, can people stop complaining about the tuning on these harps to me? I get it you're used to Marine Bands, but can you please not shun me for having my harmonica tuning sound like the harp playing I grew up on? They can be used for blues too, not just for melodies. Check out Paul deLay, Terry McMillan, and Sonny Terry's later recordings. They sound just fine as they are.