High end harmonicas are analogous to high end cars.
All right then. What's the Rolls Royce of harmonicas and how much do they cost?
Well, that's difficult to answer because, like cars, harmonicas are built for different purposes... a Ferrari is better than a Rolls Royce unless your are trying to move five people
. You can go to Long and McQuade and spend $2000.00 on a bass harmonica.
But let's assume that we are limiting the discussion to the standard, ubiquitous, 10 hole diatonic "Blues harp" that is so popular.
In that circumstance, a case could be made for the Dannecker Centurion as the Rolls Royce of harmonicas. It would cost near $400.00 in Canadian dollars. The Centurion is made with a solid brass comb (the main body) and chrome plated brass cover plates. Dannecker uses Hohner reeds but customizes them with embossing, gapping, arcing and individual tuning...like taking a factory engine and blueprinting it.
There are actually gold-plated Danneckers that sell for over $1500.00! But, if you cut-out such fancy trifles, the $400.00 Centurion is probably about the snazziest 10 hole diatonic that you can buy.
Here's a demo:
http://youtu.be/Xk0Khgc23W4?t=4m14s
