Newbie restoring a Hohner Student II Accordion

[Doug D.]

Hello everyone! I have recently received a Hohner 12 bass Student II Accordion and it is in need of some repairs, and I'm attempting to do them myself (don't want to break the bank right now...). I've taken apart the accordion and have identified some of the issues but need some advice on how to resolve them, and this seems like a pretty great place to ask

The first issue is that the C5 reed on the treble side seems to be completely missing. I found a reed that looks like it would fit here: https://www.hohnershop.com/hohner-piano-chromatic-accordion-treble-reed-plates/ . Does anyone know if this would fit the accordion or does anyone have a recommendation as to which reed I should get?

Secondly, it appears that many of the leather valves have warped to the point where they are elevated around 1/8-1/4 inches from the reed. I heard somewhere that plastic reeds were better, but others have said leather is the better option, and I'm not sure which one would work best.

Finally, it appears that one of the G bass side reeds (the lower of the two) has snapped. Should I use the same website as earlier or do I need to find a different type of reed? I'm not sure what octave it would be.

As a side note, it also appears to need a re-waxing, but it seems like accordion revival has a pretty good explanation on how to do that.

I'll include some pictures in the post, hopefully that can help

Thank you!

 

[Dingo40]

All the bits and pieces are available on line.
If you are somewhat "handy ", it should be manageable with technical advice from knowledgeable members here.
It could end up sounding like this:

Google Search

If technically talented, it could be quite interesting!
Good luck!

 

[Doug D.]

All the bits and pieces are available on line.
If you are somewhat "handy ", it should be manageable with technical advice from knowledgeable members here.
It could end up sounding like this:

Google Search

If technically talented, it could be quite interesting!
Good luck!

Thank you! I do consider myself pretty hands-on with this kind of stuff, and the interior construction of the accordion seems relatively simple With some technical advice I think it's definitely doable!

 

[Doug D.]

Update: I have successfully sourced reed valves and wax for the repair, along with the C5 reed from Hohner. However, I was unable to source the G2 reed anywhere. The representative from Hohner told me that the bass reeds on the Student 2 are technically similar to the Hohner Bravo’s reeds… does anyone have a good source for these bass reeds? I can’t seem to find any single ones online, most of them are complete reed block sets
Edit: or is there any way to replace the reed tongue on the plate I already have? I’ve heard it uses a specific type of steel…

 

[Dingo40]

Not that I'm suggesting you do this, but people's ingenuity can be amazing.
There's a video of a Russian tinkerer selecting a putty knife from a hardware store and making functional accordion reeds from the metal blade, then riveting them to a reed plate for (if I remember correctly) a garmonica

 

[Ffingers]

My two cents worth - tour the charity/thrift/secondhand/pawnshops for old instruments which you might be able to break down for spare parts.
You might even try advertising for old instruments in you local internet buy and sale, or even the local newspaper.

 

[Ventura]

ps: on an accordion such as this, there is no need to
replace the reeds with oem parts

any junk pawn shop parts accordion will do

 

[Ffingers]

ps: on an accordion such as this, there is no need to
replace the reeds with oem parts

any junk pawn shop parts accordion will do

In some of these 'outlets' can be found the remains of very high quality instruments which have been badly neglected/misused at very low prices, so it is not entirely a case of "junk" accordions.

 

[Ventura]

oh ! the pawn shop was junk, the neglected accordions gems in the rough

 

[SteveBox]

Doug,

If you need help with your restoration project, a local resource for accordion repairs might be Ben Hemmendinger in Portland, Maine:

Mudlark Music

Repair, tuning, and restoration of accordions, melodeons, concertinas, and more. Located in Brattleboro, Vermont, USA.

mudlark-music.com

I have no experience with Mudlark, so I cannot make a personal recommendation, but I discovered this website recently.

Another New England resource that I can recommend from personal experience is the ButtonBox Repair Service:

The Button Box Repair Shop - accordions & concertinas

The Button Box offers professional repair and tuning services for concertinas and accordions.

buttonbox.com