Chromatic harmonicas vary in price from $50 to $,3000 + ! As a beginner I can hardly justify an expensive instrument, especially knowing that they are hard to maintain. I began by reading reviews on Amazon for popular brands. I was dismayed to find that almost every harp had some bad reviews, regardless of cost! So, I decided my first requirement was that I purchase from a dealer who could make repairs and adjustments.
My second requirement was that the harp should be $200 or less. The most popular chromatics for beginners are in the key of C and have 12 holes. I decided to ignore the harps less than $50, their reviews were as expected bad news. The lowest price harps that had "some" good reviews at $100 to $200 were from companies such as Seydel, Harmo, Swan, and East Top. They also seemed to have similar fragile construction as my "downed" chromatic so I visited the largest Chromatic discussion forum to see what others thought. The forum is called Slidemeister.
You can search Slidemeister without creating an account but if you want to be able to make posts and ask questions you must create an account. I created an account and found that under general discussion several people had created what they call "Fan Clubs" for specific chromatic harmonicas:
As you can see the Hohner CX12, which I had never heard of, far outpaced the other units in both replies and views. I did a quick search of Youtube and Amazon reviews and found a very positive reviews for this model. The comments in the Slidemeister forum were also very positive. This review by Ronnie Shellist points out how unique the harp is in terms of ease of maintenance for cleaning, adjustment of wind savers, gapping etc.
The design of the instrument is radically different than other Chromatics and on the surface seems much more robust. Numerous reviews I found supported that opinion. Since my frustration with the chromatic I had was "leaky" air issues, the common comment about this unit being VERY air tight along with ease of maintenance won me over. Here is another good review that talks about how robust this instrument is:
I just love that you can easily take it apart WITHOUT TOOLS!
Additionally, the reviews and discussions on Sliedmeister recently mentioned the responsiveness and the fact that the CX12 played louder than most Chromatics. I found this example that shows it can be responsive indeed:
The following musician plays some Gospel for us using both a diatonic to begin with and switching to Hohner CX12 Chromatic at about 1:44.
So, until I get more skills, and more knowledge about what it takes to maintain an expensive Chromatic from Seydel or Suzuki, I decided to purchase a Hohner CX 12. As an added bonus, I found out my friend George Miklas at HarmonicaGallery.com could sell me a refurbished Hohner CX 12 for a significant reduction over what a new unit would cost. And he informed me that along with making sure my specific purchased instrument performed well, he would be available (as he is for all his customers) to do repair and adjustments on the harp going forward at a very reasonable price. From what I learned, I would definitely recommend you purchase from a dealer that makes it easy to send your harp in for adjustment and repair.
My new Hohner CX12 from Harmonica Gallery arrived! Very happy with the instrument.