Oldie Curved Keyboard Hohner Come to Roost ...

[noelekal]

... at the Home For Wayward Accordions.

I've been playing at this one for only a few days after going and fetching it home from the Dallas, Texas area.

It's a neato Art Deco Hohner from the (early?) 1930s with curved keyboard.

I was idly perusing Ebay looking for "real deals" a couple weeks ago and stumbled onto this accordion being offered. I was willing to bid as I had been given an opportunity to play this very instrument early this year. Must have been serendipity. I played it back in February when I visited the seller about another accordion, but the owner had said he'd searched for one of these curved keyboard models for years in good condition that could be rehab'ed. I was charmed by it, but didn't even inquire if it could be bought he didn't appear to be open to any notion of parting with it.

Fast forward to two weeks ago and ... zip zam ... this accordion reappeared into my life. Has a pleasing "olde timey" sound to it and is first rate for playing Irish slow airs as well as jigs and reels. At least it is to my ear as I play. The curved keyboard actually does help an accordionist with a dodgy right shoulder. It's a bit primitive in some ways and I seem to make a hash out of playing more difficult ragtime pieces on it. It's sort of like the difference in driving from here into Dallas in an antique car made before the advent of electric starters and with no automatic transmission, power steering, power brakes, windshield wipers, heater and air conditioner and driving from here to Dallas in Mrs. noelekal's Hemi Challenger. Time will tell how accomplished I can contrive to sound on it.

I would love to learn anything that could be shared about these models, when they were produced, how to determine when this one was made. Perhaps a serial number would help?

 

[JerryPH]

Sounds like me... I had no intention of purchasing an accordion when I went to the accordion museum, yet here we are... 3 accordions later... lol

 

[boxplayer4000]

I raised this question already but nobody cared to answer: piano accordion treble keys normally pivot on an axle which runs the full length of the keyboard. I understand this is put in place by drilling. Obviously with a curved keyboard drilling is not an option. It would seem likely individual keys are individually fitted ( eg. like the Hohner Atlantic) but hopefully somebody who has dealt with them will comment.

noelekal: I have a weak spot as well for instruments from this period and need to keep hands firmly on the wallet. After nearly a hundred years their quality is still showing.

 

[JerryPH]

I raised this question already but nobody cared to answer

I cannot speak for others, but I cannot answer that one. I've only played one once, never took one apart. It's fun to play but just because of habit, felt odd for me to play. I am sure the inverse would have been true had I played nothing but curved keyboards and someone gave me a straight keyboard to play.

 

[Glug]

I've seen something slightly related: the register switches on my 1950s Scandalli:



There's a curved length of 2mm wire that provides the pivot for all those switches, you have to push it all the way through starting at one end.
It's a real pain to replace, but the register mechanism makes it worth it

 

[John Doe]

I raised this question already but nobody cared to answer: piano accordion treble keys normally pivot on an axle which runs the full length of the keyboard. I understand this is put in place by drilling. Obviously with a curved keyboard drilling is not an option. It would seem likely individual keys are individually fitted ( eg. like the Hohner Atlantic) but hopefully somebody who has dealt with them will comment.

The keys in the Hohner "curved" accordions pivot on two straight axles- one for the white and one for the black just as is normal. If you only want to pull one key it had better be low F... the others will come off one at a time as you pull the axles out; it's business as usual. Wooden pallets waxed in, metal arms, ETC.

The difference comes in where the pivot holes in the keys are drilled. The lower end keys have the pivot placed close to the grill about where you'd normally find them. As you go towards the chin end of the keyboard the pivots (all in a straight line to accomodate the axle) wind up farther and farther down the key's length. This means that at the end the section of key that depresses is shorter. The end result in terms of key pressure et al is not really noticeable and hence no issue (for me at least).

What IS an issue with the passage of time is that any wear in the pivot holes in the keys (and they're drilled at an angle as you'd expect, to accomodate the straight rods through the ends of keys arrayed in an arc) is accentuated at the pallets. The differing pivot points in the keys and resultant different lengths in the portion of the keys above the pivot means odd lengths in the pallet's arms (for many of the keys the length from key tip to pallet is quite a bit longer than on a "normal" accordion so any play at the pivot means greater movement at the pallet than you'd normally expect) and this can amount to quite the pain as one tries to tidy things up and ensure consistent action with a good seal. (Side to side pallet alignment is more iffy than "flatness on the foundation plate" because of the play issue.) The tendency for the pallet pad to "pillow" with time means that even a slight shift in alignment as they age means a leak in proportion to the "pillowing".

The accordion from the foundation plate on back is standard.

Sorry for typos.

 

[PhiliGol]

... at the Home For Wayward Accordions.

I've been playing at this one for only a few days after going and fetching it home from the Dallas, Texas area.

It's a neato Art Deco Hohner from the (early?) 1930s with curved keyboard.

I was idly perusing Ebay looking for "real deals" a couple weeks ago and stumbled onto this accordion being offered. I was willing to bid as I had been given an opportunity to play this very instrument early this year. Must have been serendipity. I played it back in February when I visited the seller about another accordion, but the owner had said he'd searched for one of these curved keyboard models for years in good condition that could be rehab'ed. I was charmed by it, but didn't even inquire if it could be bought he didn't appear to be open to any notion of parting with it.

Fast forward to two weeks ago and ... zip zam ... this accordion reappeared into my life. Has a pleasing "olde timey" sound to it and is first rate for playing Irish slow airs as well as jigs and reels. At least it is to my ear as I play. The curved keyboard actually does help an accordionist with a dodgy right shoulder. It's a bit primitive in some ways and I seem to make a hash out of playing more difficult ragtime pieces on it. It's sort of like the difference in driving from here into Dallas in an antique car made before the advent of electric starters and with no automatic transmission, power steering, power brakes, windshield wipers, heater and air conditioner and driving from here to Dallas in Mrs. noelekal's Hemi Challenger. Time will tell how accomplished I can contrive to sound on it.

I would love to learn anything that could be shared about these models, when they were produced, how to determine when this one was made. Perhaps a serial number would help?

I'm almost sure I found your new addition in my Hohner book.
It should be a 1935 Tango Primas.

I'll try to attach a pdf - for now the system won't let me do it as it says "file too large" - it's 2.2MB.
Will re-scan with lower resolution.

 

[PhiliGol]

I'm almost sure I found your new addition in my Hohner book.
It should be a 1935 Tango Primas.

I'll try to attach a pdf - for now the system won't let me do it as it says "file too large" - it's 2.2MB.
Will re-scan with lower resolution.

Hope it works with resolution reduced to 300dpi.
Fortunately the book is bilingual - so nothing to interpret by myself

 

[boxplayer4000]

henry d: Many thanks for the description of the construction of the curved keyboard. It's easy to see how the key alignment right through to the pallets gets complicated, especially with the keys nearer the ends of the keyboard. I've had no dealings with this design. Maybe someday one will come along.
PhiliGol: Good luck with a beautiful instrument.

 

[noelekal]

Thank you very much PhiliGol!

I'm saving that to add to information collected on these accordions.