Hohner Comtessa IIIM

[VicAccoFun]

Hello! I'm a new forum member.

Someone sells locally (I'm in a continental EU) a vintage 1950-s Hohner Contessa IIIM piano accordion. First of all I checked the Hohner models list in a pdf available in this forum section. For some reason there are Contessa I, II and III in that list but no Contessa IIIM. Weird?

I would expect nonetheless that following a simple logic Contessa IIIM was a variation of Contessa III. It doesn't work as that. Contessa III is a 34 LH/72 Bass configuration while Contessa IIIM is 41/120 full layout.

Anyway since I'm basically new to accordions and I only familiar with former DDR Weltmeister/Royal Standard products (which are good enough for what they are worth) I have no idea what to expect from a box such as Hohner Contessa IIIM built in 1950-s in the Western part of Germany.

Please tell me anything you can share with me on the subject. I'm an amateur player on a budget but as you know any amateur would be happy to obtain the best box they could afford for their little money.

 

[debra]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

The Contessa was made between 1953 and 1959 (but you probably already knew that). It exists in two versions: Oktav and Tremolo. It's a 3 voice instrument according to the list, which may indicate that it has either LMH or LMM reeds. I'm not sure, I haven't seen it. The "M" is likely to mean that you have the tremolo version (the M then means Musette).

Others on this forum may be more familiar with this model.

 

[VicAccoFun]

Tnank you and yes - please fill this thread up with interesting and helpful thoughts.
I need to know what to expect when I go to look at it.

...
Others on this forum may be more familiar with this model.

 

[VicAccoFun]

I want to clarify what my post is all about.
Since I'm not an accordion expert and judge and I'm only familiar with similarly priced DDR products like Weltmeister for instance I don't know how this Western Germany Hohner Contessa IIIM compares to its DDR contemporaries.
Do I potentially gain any benefits in build quality or keyaborad action or reed response or anything else?
I don't mean that I'll immediately migrate to the next upper level judging by their typically modest price tag but I want to know in advance what I'm going to look at when I go to visit the seller of this Hohner Contessa IIIM.

 

[triskel]

To gauge the quality -, in 1955 the Contessa III and the smaller Carmen III were the cheapest 3-voice, 120-bass models in the Hohner range at C$249.50 each, whilst a Verdi III was C$325.00, and an Atlantic III was C$450.00. More expensive models were 4-voice, and even 5-voice.

The Contessa would be better than most East German models, though a genuine Royal Standard (before they got made by VEB/Weltmeister) could be a decent enough instrument.

 

[VicAccoFun]

Thank you triskel!
Thats enough of general information for me to spend couple hours both ways to go and have a look at that box.
Ill post my comments later on tomorrow.

So far - accordion players please feel free to add more opinions.

...The Contessa would be better than most East German models, ...