If I'm not mistaken, that's a guy that lives here in Los Angeles whose name escapes me at the moment. He has been playing tuned diatonics for many years. I have never been a huge fan of the overbends because of the extreme lack of continuity of note sound and the rampant out-of-tuneness I hear by virtually everyone doing it, but I have real hope for the XB-40 to become the king of chromatic diatonic playing.

The chromatic you picked up is the model (260) I prefer and play myself. If I was just starting out, there's a very good chance I would be playing the XB-40 instead, but I'm happy with what I do with the chromatic. I agree with your need for chromaticism, my brain also needs to hear more than purely diatonic scales (at least sometimes).

The guy that created the XB-40 for Hohner, Rick Epping, is someone I"ve known for many years and I remember him talking about the concept over 10 years ago, so I'm very happy to see he made it happen.

Let us know how you like and compare your 3 "chromatic" ways of playing. When you're ready, start a new post over at the ADVANCED FORUM.

Play on,
Dave Gage

To me it's interesting and inspiring that you would probably use the XB-40, if you were starting out today. (I bought the 260, because i know that you use it).

Knud

Play on,
Dave Gage