Hello, anyone out there know which harmonica model was used for the Beatles Harmonica? I’m talking about a Beatlemania item that was sold in 1964, and not a harp they played. Thank-you in advance. Paul
Hey Paul the Beatles harmonica based on the original Blues Harp (the pre MS model).
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Thank-you Richard ! I somewhat thought perhaps it was since I had seen pictures of an old Blues Harp with what appeared to be the same covers as the Beatles. I wonder why they didn’t put the model name (it has just the Hohner logo, name and made in Germany) on the harmonica?
You mean the name Blues Harp? Well the name Blues Harps hasn’t been used for this model in order to distinguish this particular signature model from the regular one.
I wonder if John started on the Hohner Echo Super Vamper. My A Marine Band crapped out while I was hitchhiking in England in1968 or 1969 and I went into a music store to have it replaced. The guy in the store had never heard of a Marine Band. I showed him mine and he said, "Oh, That looks like a Hohner “Echo Super Vamper”. Sure enough, he got me an Echo Super Vamper in A and it was exactly like a Marine Band, except for the cover plate. I still have that harp.
I wonder if that’s what John used. Do they still make this harp?
Hi. Here’s a pair of Super Vampers bought from a small music shop near the clock tower in Queens Road Brighton England in 1965. They are a bit worn but both play well. I loved that great solo in “Love me Do”. Great days.
Theo9a.
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The Marine Band was so named in honor of John Philip Sousa, leader of the US Marine Band and a great proponent of the harmonica as well as a famous march music composer. The term didn’t mean much to people in Britain, though, so Hohner renamed this model Echo Super Vamper for the UK market. Inside it’s identical to a Marine Band, but with different cover embossings. It’s virtually certain that John Lennon will have played the Echo Super Vamper, as that was what you found in British music stores in the 1960s. I bought my first one in Brixton, London in 1969 and played them until I relocated to Germany, where they weren’t available, so I switched to Marine Band.
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Beatles harmonica
Just picked up on the question !. I was playing harp at the same time as the Beatles where in 1964 ( yes I am that old ) and they would of used the same harp that was available to me, “The ECHO super vamper” it was the only 10 diatonic available at that time Hohner produced the super vamper for the European market and the Marine band for the American market. both where exactly the same spec. The super vamper was discontinued in around 1973/4 and the 10 hole diatonic got trendier names like " blues harp and "blues band " etc, I still use the super vamper to this day ( along with a few other harps )
Yeah, the Echo Super Vamper was the British version of the Marine Band. The original Blues Harp was a Marine Band with different covers, but the Blues Band was a budget price instrument of lesser quality. Unfortunately none of my Super Vampers have survived the hammering I gave them 
That is all well and good, but John Lennon said he played “one with the button on the side” which is not a 10-hole diatonic but a chromatic.
If you listen closely to the harmonica on Love Me Do, the 2nd half of the melody would suggest he’s playing a chromatic. I imagine that because that melody required notes not so easily available on a diatonic without highly developed bending skills, Lennon will have picked up a chromatic. However, he was first shown how to play harmonica by Delbert McClinton and picked up the basics of note bending from him, so he presumably played diatonic too.