$245.00
In stock
A bass voice that fits in your pocket. The Lee Oskar Pocket Bass gives a harmonica player the bottom end, so a group of harmonicas can hold down a full arrangement on its own. Key of G, chrome covers over a black comb, in a padded zip case.
Bass harmonicas have traditionally been large, expensive and orchestral, the sort of instrument you see in a harmonica ensemble and nowhere else. The Pocket Bass puts that role in an instrument you can carry in a jacket pocket and pull out at a session.
The cover plate calls it a Pocket Ensemble Harmonica, and that is exactly the job. The Key of G Pocket Bass is pitched to sit underneath two instruments most players already have:
Three players, three parts, one key. Bass, chords and lead, with no amplifier, no tuning and nothing to set up. It is the difference between a harmonica in a room and a harmonica band in a room.
Every note is embossed directly into the chrome cover plate, laid out over the chambers they belong to. There is nothing to memorise before your first session. You look down, you find the note, you play it.
Manufactured for Lee Oskar by Tombo Musical Instruments, the same partnership behind the rest of the Lee Oskar range. Chrome cover plates, brass reed plates, black moulded comb.
The Pocket Bass ships in a padded black zip case branded for the instrument, so it travels in a gig bag rather than rattling around loose in one.
Product Details: Lee Oskar Pocket Bass Harmonica, SKU LOPB-G. Key of G. Chrome covers, brass reed plates, black comb. Padded zip case included.
| Weight | 13.93 oz |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 5.71 × 1.93 × 2.32 in |
| Select Key: | Key of G |
It plays the bass line, the same role a bass guitar or upright bass fills in a band. In a harmonica group it frees the other players to take chords and melody, so the ensemble sounds complete without any other instrument.
It is built for the Lee Oskar Pocket Chord and for a Major Diatonic in C played in 2nd Position. Both land in the key of G, which is what this Pocket Bass is pitched in.
It helps, but the Pocket Bass asks less of you than a diatonic does. There is no bending to learn, and the notes are marked on the cover plate, so a first session is mostly about timing and breath rather than technique.
Because most players play in 2nd Position, also known as Cross Harp, which puts a C harmonica into G. So a player already reaching for their C harp is in the right key for the Pocket Bass without changing anything. For more information see Understanding 1st / 2nd Position.
No. The interchangeable reed plates, covers and combs are specific to the Major Diatonic, Melody Maker, Natural Minor and Harmonic Minor harmonicas. The Pocket Bass is a different instrument with its own construction.