General chat

[brianr]

Returning to the accordion having retired and on a limited budget, I have tended to buy older 'quality' instruments and currently have a compact 3 voice Victoria instrument and a 4 voice Sonola Sorbonne, both well over 40 years old. With no local repairers servicing is an issue and as I only play at home for my own enjoyment, I am wondering if I would be better off with a newer instrument that should require minimum attention for the next 10 years or so, and have seen a 1998 Hohner Student 96M in excellent condition. Does anyone have experience of this model or have knowledge of it's origins? Is it likely to be one of the models produced in China rather than Germany. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[JeffJetton]

The "Student" models are fine from what I can tell. I have a Student 48 myself. I believe they're basically the forerunners to Hohner's current "Bravo" line--decent beginner models (and way better than the Honicas).

Is there anything needing servicing on your current accordions? If not, I'd just play them and not worry about it.

And if something does go wrong with one, you can always just ship it to a repair shop. The accordion market being what it is, that pretty much the way things are nowadays. There aren't enough of us to support the number of repair shops there used to be back in the day, so many of us simply have to resign ourselves to "distance repairs". It's a fact of modern accordion life. You have a spare to play in the meantime anyway!

Of course, the needed repairs might be to extensive to merit getting it done. Then it would make sense to buy a new (or close to new that has been well-maintained) accordion. Maybe even make the leap to digital. But no reason to jump the gun if you don't have to, IMHO.

 

[Pianoman1]

I am upgrading in the New Year from and old Hohner to a slighly newer one The Bravos are Chinese made as is the Student I find them lacking in good bass sounds myself but may suit your needs

 

[brianr]

Thanks to Jeff & Pianoman1 for your comments, I suspected that the Student model might be of Chinese origin. I have 3 or 4 funny notes on the Sonola when the bellows are compressed so assume that the valves to replace will be on the inside. As Jeff says I can ship to a repairer but in addition to repair costs there is another £ 40+ for shipping & insurance. With an older instrument this may have to be repeated many times if you are unable to do the work yourself. I love the tone of the Sonola and it may be more economical in the long run to have a complete overhaul! Thanks again.

 

[debra]

Thanks to Jeff & Pianoman1 for your comments, I suspected that the Student model might be of Chinese origin. I have 3 or 4 funny notes on the Sonola when the bellows are compressed so assume that the valves to replace will be on the inside. As Jeff says I can ship to a repairer but in addition to repair costs there is another £ 40+ for shipping & insurance. With an older instrument this may have to be repeated many times if you are unable to do the work yourself. I love the tone of the Sonola and it may be more economical in the long run to have a complete overhaul! Thanks again.

Actually, a funny note when the bellows are compressed is typically due to the valve next to it that is supposed to close off the other reed isnt closing properly (or at all). For some reason accordions suffer more from valves on the outside of the reed blocks staying open than valves staying open on the inside. Opening up the accordion will quickly reveal any valves staying open.

 

[brianr]

Many thanks to Paul for the information about adjacent valves, I would never have guessed that! I have had a quick look inside and those valves do not look too bad but I will replace and take it from there.