Best Modern Harmon???

[Mv2541]

I know it's been touched on before but what does everyone think? I have tenor in mind, but no point in limiting the discussion.

[Crazytrombonist505]

I really like the Jo-Ral. Mine plays great and I love the sound.

[mbarbier]

I buy wayyyyy too many mutes so have more of an opinion than I should so apologies in advance! I've got way too many harmons specifically (probably 8) and I'm a big fan of the Harmon E one.

I got a new one of them maybe 2 years ago and it's *slightly* different than the one I bought 15 or so years back (and all the recent ones I've checked seem to have the same difference). The bottom section is just a little bigger, but for my money its the best one.

On the getting into the weeds side, if you're going stemless, the Jo-Ral one is my favorite both in sound and response. And it gets into the 2nd partial much better. I also really like the Humes and Berg Wah wah-du-all. It give a little less character to the sound than the others, but that cleanliness can be really nice in certain contexts, and (i think) plays the most evenly with and without the stem (and does very well in the low range). It has issues staying in the bell (as does the JoRal depending on flare) and I've found the cleaniness of it's sound leads to blend issues when there are other brass using harmons.

I'm not much of a fan of the Dennis Wick or Best Brass- they're totally fine but don't bring anything to the table that the Harmon or Humes and Berg brand ones don't have, imo. I'm curious to try the Humes and Berg version of the JoR

al bubble harmon in the hopes it stays in better. I'd be very curious on any opinions out there!

[TromboneConcerto]

+1 for the H&B Wa Wa Du All. I love the sound, just gotta hold it in the bell at all times. I'd never trust a Harmon to stay in anyway.