1040 age

[donie50]

Hello all. Iv just got my hands on this machine in the key of g. Looks rougher in the photo than it actually feels. Needs rewaxing, some valves but it had great compression.What era does it belong to? If I wanted to change from G to D could i retune existing reeds or would a change be in order? Thanks

 

[Squeezebox Of Delights]

Hello! That one probably dates from the 1950s, I believe that the keyboard was switched to a rounded wooden design in the 60s and a rounded plastic one at a later date. I know what you mean about it looking worse than it actually is; I had another Hohner - a Double-Ray in BC - from a similar time to yours, and even though it looked terrible it still played really nicely and the compression was wonderful. I guess the old Hohners were just built to last! I'd recommend asking on melodeon.net, which is a specific forum for diatonic boxes like yours. Anyone there will be happy to help

 

[donie50]

Hello! That one probably dates from the 1950s, I believe that the keyboard was switched to a rounded wooden design in the 60s and a rounded plastic one at a later date. I know what you mean about it looking worse than it actually is; I had another Hohner - a Double-Ray in BC - from a similar time to yours, and even though it looked terrible it still played really nicely and the compression was wonderful. I guess the old Hohners were just built to last! I'd recommend asking on melodeon.net, which is a specific forum for diatonic boxes like yours. Anyone there will be happy to help

Thanks.

 

[boxplayer4000]

It looks older than the 50s to me.
I recommend you put it on 'melodeon.net' where there's lots of blow/suck experts.

 

[Tom]

Nice find! Yeah, looks older than 50s to me too. You could just play it in D mixolydian (key of D with dominant/flat 7th). This would likely suit tunes played at the time of its creation. You could also just tune the C(s) up one half step. Tuning the whole thing to a D layout I believe would be impractical. Anyway, good luck!