Hohner Marine Band Harmonica

The Hohner Marine Band harmonica is the instrument that put blues harp in rock and roll. Bob Dylan's nasal, buzzing harmonica — played in a neck rack while he strummed guitar — became as iconic as his voice itself. The Marine Band's wooden comb and brass reeds produce a raw, slightly overdriven tone when played aggressively, and Dylan's cross-harp technique (playing in a key a fourth above the harmonica's tuning) gives his playing its characteristic bluesy wail. Every folk and rock harmonica player since owes a debt to this $40 instrument.