Pinu
Member
Agree. I can hear it when compared to the borsini I purchased....and even more to the other Victoria I have. Another world....
-
-
We're having a little contest, running until the end of March. Please feel free to enter - see the thread in the "I Did That" section of the forum. Don't be shy, have a go!
Hohner Atlantic IV Musette - which model to choose?
- Thread starter Pinu
- Start date
Pinu
Member
Is the Gola truly a Honer accordion?!
I had never the pleasure to try one; I just saw many videos on youtube.
I have the very personal feeling Gola was "just" a very good italian accordion from 60s. Something comparable to a Victoria or a Scandalli,
but nothing more than this.
Am I so wrong in my analysis?
I had never the pleasure to try one; I just saw many videos on youtube.
I have the very personal feeling Gola was "just" a very good italian accordion from 60s. Something comparable to a Victoria or a Scandalli,
but nothing more than this.
Am I so wrong in my analysis?
Ventura
Been here for ages!
so wrong
Pinu
Member
Why?
Ventura
Been here for ages!
because your analysis is based upon nothing
you came to a conclusion using little or no substantive
information from vague youtube videos
(which does not qualify as research)
you have not even researched THIS WEBSITE much less
patents, history, bio, or a museum like
which holds the worlds largest repository of
restored Gola's
you came to a conclusion using little or no substantive
information from vague youtube videos
(which does not qualify as research)
you have not even researched THIS WEBSITE much less
patents, history, bio, or a museum like
which holds the worlds largest repository of
restored Gola's
A couple of facts:
A Gola is just an accordion, but in the same sense that you are comparing a Rolls Royce to a Yugo, and a Rolls Royce is just a car.
A Hohner Gola is made in only one place, Trossingen Germany, and very specifically you will NEAR NEVER see a Gola on a shelf somewhere new, because 99% of all Gola ever made were commissioned by it's owner in advance and to very specific traits/colours/options. Hohner makes little to no extra Gola accordions. That particular fact makes the point that each and every Gola is pretty much unique unless 2 owners ordered the same options.
You pay 100% of it's price up front, then wait 1-2 years and THEN get to go pick it up or have it sent to you. Be ready to pay the price... today's STARTING price for a Gola is $55,000 US dollars. Modifications can come close to doubling that price.
The last time I played one it was the base 414 model (no free bass or anything), but as I played it, I had goose bumps listening to it's sweetness, that never happened to me before.
Still feel that a Gola is just an accordion?
The Hohner Gola is definitely not "just an accordion". The initial design was done as a collaboration between the designers of the top of the line Hohner, Scandalli and Bell. A lot has changed over the years. I have worked on a Gola (with 45 keys, 5 voices, MIII melody bass) from the sixties, and on a Gola from early this century (about 20 years old). The old Gola was definitely very different from all Italian accordions I have seen. The more recent Gola looks very much like similarly configured Italian accordions, so if you just look inside and ignore the design of the outside and the sordino there would be very little that shouts out "Gola"... And if you just look at the chin switches you might even think the accordion was a Pigini (as it has a rotating multi-position switch, presumably invented and patented by Pigini).
Considering that Hohner only makes a few Gola accordions per year it is not really feasible that everything in the Gola is "Hohner original". Hohner may build it, but it's impossible to tell how much of it Hohner really builds. Still, they must do something really right because the Gola still sounds very much like a Gola, whereas for instance a new Scandalli Super VI sounds nothing like the Super VI from the sixties (which sounded very much like a Gola in fact).
That triple position chin switch... interesting point of conversation, according to them, that is a Hohner patented design first used on the Morinos. Again, I could not find any patent evidence either way, but my search was no more than maybe 15 minutes with Google. It's just not important enough for me to waste the time on.
In terms what is made where, that is an interesting question for sure. Now, about 5 years ago (pre-covid), I have family in Germany that actually went to the new Hohner plant and spoke to a rep there about a Gola and took a private 1 man tour of the new location and saw 3 Golas for custom orders on benches being worked on. Per them, every part of a Gola, without exception, was made in Germany... but even that, there is always the question of truthfulness and honesty.
- How far is any representative willing to go to make that kind of a sale?
- How important is the Gola reputation to Hohner?
There is the possibility that a few white lies can be told... or maybe they are not, we here just won't be able to tell.
There are certainly no newer accordions that are in that price range and none of the other accordion manufacturers openly accept orders for custom designs and options like Hohner does for the Gola. That is not to say that Pigini or Bugari won't make a custom accordion for you if you throw enough money at them, but they don't have a model specifically advertised as a "sure, give us your specs, we will make it for you, no matter what you ask for".
In the end, a Gola is a Gola is a Gola... just like there are no other cars like a Rolls, (though there are other really nice cars out there), there is nothing out there like a Gola, for better or worse.
That's my 2 cent opinion and I am sticking to it.
Of course Hohner is not making everything for the Gola. The main question is, what is essential to define an accordion? My personal answer is that the most important things are the reed blocks. The shape and size of the resonance chambers for each note, and the type of wood used for each part of the reed blocks, these are very important for defining the sound. Then comes the construction of the "case": treble side with cassotto and bass side. The sordino is also important for the sound. All these parts together really determine the sound of the accordion, more than anything else. Even the make and type of reeds used have less influence on the sound than all these wooden parts together.
The reality of modern accordion making is that most of the rest of the accordion consists of parts bought from other companies: bellows, bass mechanics (including the convertor) or parts thereof, like "catorcetti" and pistons, sound board, reeds, valves or materials for the valves, felt+leather for the pallets, register mechanism and register sliders, etc., etc.. Some bits may be Hohner-specific such as the register switch tops and the sordino knobs. Other things have to be "adapted", like treble key levers have to be bent into the right shape for each specific treble side design. Making an accordion requires an awful lot of manual labour, but a lot of it is with the use of standard materials. This holds not just for the Gola, but for every accordion from every brand. When you visit the site www.carinidena.it (or www.carinidena.com) you can see that there is a vast collection of different "standard" parts that go into every accordion. Every accordion manufacturer (in the western countries) is using these parts.
And to illustrate my comment, and return back to the original topic: it is the all-metal case of the Atlantic (and a few other product lines) that is responsible for the horribly sharp tone of the Atlantic. Everyone I know who plays an Atlantic IV (original model, not the N) plays with the sordino always closed so the sharp tone is mellowed down a little bit (but still way too sharp). People with the Atlantic IV N are stuck without a sordino and must suffer from the very sharp tone. A Hohner Verdi sounds much nicer without being of better quality overall. It just has a nice wooden case and better (full length) wooden reed blocks to thank for that.
The Gola thus also thanks its wonderful sound for in large part to its case and reed blocks, much more than anything else, so it is essential that Hohner keeps making these bits themselves. Everything else can be made elsewhere and the Gola will still sound like a Gola. If Hohner could make a Gola with a pressed metal case that costs almost nothing to make and have it sound like a Gola I'm sure they would have done that decades ago already. But it would sound horrible just like the Atlantic... so they must keep making the expensive wooden case.
I know this thread is old, but supplementary: Today a German dealer informed me that the newest versions of the Atlantic are wooden construction. Last "Metalbau" version was Atlantic IV T (according to this dealer).
That must be correct: The new Atlantic has bellow pins and that only really works when the accordion has a wooden construction.
The wooden construction also guarantees that the new Atlantic will not have the typical (very sharp) Atlantic tone as the Metalbauweise was a contributing factor to that sound. Only the "looks" of the Atlantic remain.
boxplayer4000
Prolific poster
Pinu: If you say you're confused after all the comments I wouldn't be surprised.
The Hohner Atlantics were an extremely successful range of accordions. The only thing against them now is their age.
They are still capable of being very good accordions but this will depend on how they've been maintained/restored or be in a state
to be able to be restored, at a cost of course.
The Hohner Atlantics were an extremely successful range of accordions. The only thing against them now is their age.
They are still capable of being very good accordions but this will depend on how they've been maintained/restored or be in a state
to be able to be restored, at a cost of course.
Hey.
I am not very confused.
I own an Atlantic 3N that I took over from my farther, when he passed away (in 1989). So somehow this metallic sound still is "the sound of him".
But personally I like better the more soft and balanced sound of my Bugari Seniorfisa.
Since I started wearing hearing aids, the Atlantic sound has unfortunately become more "screaming".
The great advantage of the Atlantic is the low weight, and low "air consumption" - despite the age of the accordion. And I like the special below lock.
From today's view, i've heard that you'd want to take a "de luxe" model since the better reed plates make for a nicer sound (possibly because they respond with some reliability at lower pressures). We have some remaining in our accordion orchestra though some have been "upgraded" to Morinos. I'm not convinced the change is for the better because the cassotto sound does not make all that much sense when put in all voices.
The Atlantic DE LUXE had a mano reeds and sounded very nice, I've played one a few times and its a positive experience. A standard Atlantic was kind of ordinary sounding. The one I played was very dry tuned but had the standard German level of musette.
Looking back at this thread now that I have my Gola, all I can say was that I was kind of right, but it is SO MUCH MORE than any other accordion I have ever played, and I feel I've played a lot of very good accordions over the years.
