We did a piece not long ago on Brendan Power’s Powerbender harmonica, which uses a unique tuning setup designed by Brendan that dramatically expands the number of bend-able reeds on the diatonic harmonica. At the time of our review, the Powerbender was only available in the key of A–which is not enough to keep you going in a 12-key world.

Brendan has just announced that Powerbenders are now available in the keys of Low F, G, C, and D in addition to A. This is a big step forward, and it makes Powerbenders more interesting to players at all levels.

The issue of availability is still there–what do you do if it’s Saturday night in some faraway place and your Powerbender breaks? But with the recent drop in prices for these instruments to about US $32 (a very reasonable price that helps players to buy ahead of the need), and now the expanded key range, this issue becomes a bit less important. If you haven’t tried a Powerbender yet, maybe it’s time. Check it out here.