Hohner Bravo and Amica Series

[murathan]

I like to make an introduction and opinions about Hohner Bravo and Amica series here. Because I m using them more than 10 years. I bought with my own money brand new both.

Hohner Bravo series are standard models (for beginners up to artist level) with a decent sound and very decent production quality. Although people argue about being made in China, I didnt see any problems with that. Every product is made in a Factory. Not in a country. Also they are shipped to Germany and quality controlled etc. and sent to markets. You cant buy brand new good quality instrument better than Hohner bravo and Weltmeister models in the same category with these prices. Yes this is not a high-end accordion such as Pigini, Scandalli etc. but they give you a good start owning a decent instrument brand new without a lot of investment. Why buy brand new. The same reasons why you buy a brand new car. I generally dont like the mold smell and scratches and dents in an instrument and I wanted to use myself only. Hohner (although sound is different, we can add Weltmeister here too) have a unique sound you cant beat in Folk music. A company established over 100 years. I know what elegant and good quality instrument looks like. You cant beat a bravo (a beginner accordion) in details of quality than that. With this, you will buy another Hohner which I did.




Hohner Amica series became Amica Forte today. I m not sure there is so much difference. Amica series are between artist models and beginner style accordions. High quality sound and production but not so professional. Professional accordions probably must have cassotto. This doesnt have. People argue about the low sound quality COMPARED TO other brands and models. But this is a relative viewpoint. Hohner brand always had a thin sound in treble and more bass, even in a HOHNER GOLA. Thats probably coming from being an harmonica company first or from Patent. You must consider that in a Hohner while buying and playing. That thin sound makes a softness and sincerity, heartiness, the grandpa sound, even Scandalli does not have to me. But you must appreciate and consider that. Maybe you want harder sound in your music, art is always relative. So you pay more for Amica models but not too much again. I think the company strategy of Hohner is giving a decent instrument to ordinary public as much as possible, not to sell an ultra model to an artist (which its possible in Gola models), like Ferrari to a collectioner. They want them to be played a lot.




In a general overview, Hohner accordions are light, good sounded and enough to satisfy your every need with a good budget price. I made this post because I really support Hohner accordions by owning, after over 11 years. I dont think I will do that again in a Scandalli or a Weltmeister if I own them. Hohner really have something special.

 

[cestjeffici]

I'll be in Paris for 3 months. I do that at least once a year. I've been renting a Hohner Bravo III (the same one) for the last 3 years. It's an old Hohner and I like it quite a bit. I bought a new one last year and it seemed like an entirely different instrument. I didn't like it at all. Very thin sound, used a lot more bellows. I gave it to my grandson (he doesn't use it) so that I have an accordion to play when we visit (several times a month).

 

[debra]

Every accordion manufacturer has to do something to keep the lower end models affordable. It's a matter of finding the right compromise between maintaining a minimum level of quality and keeping the price down enough so people will buy it. The phrase "this is not a high-end accordion such as Pigini, Scandalli etc." is therefore not automatically justified. The lowest-end Pigini beginner accordions are dreadful. Take the Pigini Peter Pan for instance: plastic body, reed plates mounted without using reed blocks... everything done to keep the price down, but going too far down in quality. The Chinese Hohner accordions are somewhat better than "native" Chinese accordions we see on the market here, but sadly way overpriced for what they are. A friend of mine bought an Amica Forte which is not really bad. She likes the sound (but I don't know anybody else who likes the sound). It is only moderately out of tune after six months of use. And had it been half the price of what Hohner charges it would have been a good deal. Had it been 2/3 of the price it would be not such a good deal but within reason. Sadly Hohner thinks it can charge what the instrument could be worth if it were made in a decent German or Italian factory. In trying to find the optimum in profit between charging more or less versus selling less or more Hohner seems to have opted to sell fewer items at higher profit in order to maximize total profit.
I'm sure these accordions can be improved somewhat by a skilled repairer (but of course you don't really want to do that during the warranty period). Another friend of mine had a skilled violin maker/repairer do an overhaul on a Chinese violin and said that fundamentally the Chinese violin was not bad, and he managed to make it enough better to become a decent violin. People also happily drive cars that are made in China. And as long as you consider the Hohner Bravo and Amica (Forte) accordions as Chinese accordions and ignore their price tag you can be a happier accordion player than people who buy a more purely Chinese accordion (Baille, Parrot, Golden Cup, Scarlatti, and hundreds of other names on the long list posted in this forum).

 

[murathan]

I'll be in Paris for 3 months. I do that at least once a year. I've been renting a Hohner Bravo III (the same one) for the last 3 years. It's an old Hohner and I like it quite a bit. I bought a new one last year and it seemed like an entirely different instrument. I didn't like it at all. Very thin sound, used a lot more bellows. I gave it to my grandson (he doesn't use it) so that I have an accordion to play when we visit (several times a month).

Thats why I dont rent or buy used.

 

[murathan]

Something died in these years. What died is: I got an accordion from grandpa in the attic. I made it repaired and started playing... What is living: I got a mano a mano reeds

 

[murathan]

Hohner Bravo and Amica are so incapable, I made an entire YouTube Channel with 315 videos, 8.000 subscribers

 

[cestjeffici]

Hohner Bravo and Amica are so incapable, I made an entire YouTube Channel with 315 videos, 8.000 subscribers

The Hohner Bravo III I bought new in 2023 sounds nowhere near like that.

 

[Scuromondo]

I got a mano a mano reeds

“Mano a mano” reeds sound like something that would get one detained by airport security!

 

[debra]

Hohner Bravo and Amica are so incapable, I made an entire YouTube Channel with 315 videos, 8.000 subscribers
...

These accordions are certainly capable for playing this style of music. And you appear to have been lucky to make many videos and still not have things break or fall apart (which is known to happen due to inferior steel used for springs, rods and other metal parts.
For "serious" classical stuff it may be a bit more disappointing as these accordions go out of tune faster than the old better built ones, and when you use registers that are supposed to be completely dry it's easy to hear when the accordion needs tuning.

 

[OuijaBoard]

I disagree that Hohners have always had a thin treble sound. During the era of what I call the "West German Workhorses," with models like the Concerto I, II, and III generations and the Students 1-V (there were different "Student" models that were Czech-made, I'm not talking about those), and the bisonorics like the Corona so beloved of US Zydeco and Tex-Mex/border players . . the consensus was always that the Hohners were robust, loud, even strident, while the Italians had the sweeter, more lyrical tone.

With the Asian Hohner Bravos, which is what is available in place of the WGWs, I do find the lung power slightly less robust, and with slightly less of a strong core to the voice core as with the WGWs. However, I'd call the difference a small one. I think the sound of the Asian Hohners gets pretty close to the WGWs.

I think the same of contemporary Weltmeisters. Many of the technicians who worked on the WGWs took their knowledge to Welt after Hohner moved production of their workhorses to Asia. Supposedly contemporary Weltmeisters have the "T" action that was the latest developed on the WGW Hohners--That would have been the last Concerto generation that had a "T" in the model name. Concerto III T. (As opposed to the "N" generation, and the "S" generation.) And I think the contemporary Weltmeisters also come very close to the voice quality of the West German Hohners, the WGWs. Again, something slightly less strong and robust in the core of the sound.

Both the Bravos and the Welts have Czech reeds. Their tone has a slightly less robust or strong core to it versus the old West German workhorse reeds. But I think they're pretty close. And provided there's no big defect with the box (a risk with both the Asian Bravos and the Harmona Welties), I think they sound and perform fine and dandy for folk music. Especially the small models. More can go wrong with the big ones IMHO.

 

[Scuromondo]

Hohner Bravo and Amica are so incapable, I made an entire YouTube Channel with 315 videos, 8.000 subscribers

In my (admittedly, limited) experience, much of one’s satisfaction depends on one’s baseline. Before trying an Amica, my baseline consisted of well-maintained older Italian boxes. Those boxes suffered from some noisy button and keyboard mechanics, while the (newer) Amica’s mechanics—including the overall “feel” of the buttons and keyboard, as well as the near absence of mechanical noise—was, by comparison, nearly flawless.

Conversely, the overall quality of tone from those old accordions—especially the depth of their bass notes (on both the left hand and right hand sides)—was noticeably richer, “thicker,” and more satisfying than the Amica in every register.

That said, the skill of the player and the receptiveness of the audience goes a long way—at least as much as the quality of the instrument in my opinion—in establishing the satisfaction of any performance.

 

[OuijaBoard]

I'm taking a little Weltmeister Rubin to perform at a folk festival this weekend--that's the MM 60-bass model with 30 thinner keys in a chassis the size of a 26-key PA. Got it used six or so years ago from Allodi in London. It's a huge outdoor event at a big fairgrounds with a lot of coming and going all day, and I don't want to take a more costly Italian box. I love having a couple of little Welties around for folk music--for practice and for settings like this one. Can be handy for Irish sessions in noisy, rowdy pubs, too. Though I've largely stopped doing those because I hate the noise.

 

[murathan]

The Hohner Bravo III I bought new in 2023 sounds nowhere near like that.

Heres a bravo example for you:

 

[murathan]

These accordions are certainly capable for playing this style of music. And you appear to have been lucky to make many videos and still not have things break or fall apart (which is known to happen due to inferior steel used for springs, rods and other metal parts.
For "serious" classical stuff it may be a bit more disappointing as these accordions go out of tune faster than the old better built ones, and when you use registers that are supposed to be completely dry it's easy to hear when the accordion needs tuning.

I ve had spring and bass button problems but didnt care. Repair guy made it all in a week.

 

[murathan]

I want to express these mines are both Chinese. Maybe luck but mostly I didnt buy from the middle men. I bought directly from the country main distributor company. I waited Amica one month after paid to be purchased and shipped from Germany to Turkey. I didnt made any modifications on these.

 

[OuijaBoard]

My Asian Hohners are my small CBAs. Because the only compact CBAs made in Italy are hugely expensive. I swear by the 60-bass 4-row MM Nova II 60A. As well as the even lighter 48-bass 3-row MM Nova II 48. I use those for outdoor folk festivals too, and love them for folk music. A Nova II 60A I bought in 2010 started to get mechanism problems after about 12 years of hard play, but it's all reparable.

The Saltarelle Chaville that is the same specs as the Nova II 60A -- 60 bass 4-row MM, no bass register switch --- goes for $6,000.00 US. The basses are way too powerful in proportion to the treble side and no bass switch for your six grand. Gosh, thank you, but I'll stick with the Hohner Nova. I do have small Italian PAs both MM and LMM, because you can get them at a price that while of course more expensive than Weltmeister or Delicia, is less stratospheric than small Italian CBAs. But I also like my little Welt PAs too.

 

[murathan]

I admin a Hohner bravo is not for a Tony Murena music but who cares