Or if not the best, at least a really good harp like the Chromatica 280 C. I'm a beginning harmonica player with 15 years of musical instruction and 30 years of playing piano, clarinet, and guitar under my belt. My musical bent turns mostly toward classical with a bit of gospel, so I searched for almost a year to find the "right" harp (as harmonicas are called). I decided not to waste money on a less expensive instrument because I figured from all I've read the 280 C can grow with me, or rather, the better I learn to play it, the better the music from it. Just like the other three I've learned to play. The advantages for me over the other instruments are that I can take it anywhere, play almost any sort of music on it, and play a wider range of music because of its 4-octave reach. Being in the key of C doesn't matter, either, because the slide will enable me to play in all the keys I can learn. Unlike the diatonic harps I won't need to buy other harmonicas to play in other keys. I figure this harmonica will be as good as I can play, and thanks to a couple of great harmonica books, it already sounds better than when I first picked it up a little over a month ago. The books are The Chromatic Harmonica Method by Max De Aloe, and Harmonic for Dummies by Winslow Yerxa. With this combo of books and instrument, the only limitations on where I can go musically are my own.