Where is the serial number (Atlantic IV N Deluxe)?

[Silken Path]

Hi folks. I want to get the Hohner certificate with the manufacturing date for my Atlantic. I haven't found the serial number yet. If it's on the outer case, it must be very light. Also I haven't found it under the front cover (there's a "10" in blue ink under the resonance hood) either. Where is it supposed to be? Thanks.

 

[debra]

I was recently gifted an Atlantic IV Deluxe (not an N fortunately as these are junk, no offence intended) and I looked all over, inside and outside, and could not find a serial number.

 

[boxplayer4000]

Silken Path,
With minimal care your Atlantic will last a very, very long time. Many Hohner accordions have their serial number typed into the keyboard rear, at the bottom. I don't know if Hohner stuck with that pattern with the metal bodied Atlantics.
Hohner are a helpful company, respond to email enquiries and I suggest you contact them.

 

[Silken Path]

Thank you both.

Boxplayer4K, I'll follow up with Hohner and let you know what I find out.

Paul, no offense taken. This is my first accordion... and I like the way the Atlantics look. Anyway, I've head it described as a work horse, not a race horse. Mine was reworked in Germany and the dealer advertises a three year warranty. I'm in antebellum Dixie near Atlanta. All I'd have to do for warranty for the accordion is to send it back.

 

[JerryPH]

The Atlantic might be something that some consider "junk" but the Deluxe has hand made reeds, for that reason alone I would never qualify any accordion that came from the factory with the highest quality reeds as "junk".

As far as serial numbers go, I would look on the back of the bass section near the bottom. Hohner often doesn't stamp very hard the numbers making it near impossible to see, however I've recently been shown a nice trick that reveals hard to see serial numbers that are invisible otherwise. In this example I was shown a special one-off custom Hohner Orgnaolla made for a high ranking Nazi officer. There was NO serial number visible to the naked eye (seriously, not kidding), until we tried this:


A little baby powder and the gentle swipe of a finger and it became easy to spot. Now, on your accordion, there may be a number there or there may not... but try this before dismissing it.

 

[debra]

The Atlantic might be something that some consider "junk" but the Deluxe has hand made reeds, for that reason alone I would never qualify any accordion that came from the factory with the highest quality reeds as "junk".

As far as serial numbers go, I would look on the back of the bass section near the bottom...

You are right about the serial number. On the back side, near the bottom I did find the number 40049. It's faint (could be mistaken for a few scratches of which my accordion has many more...
Regarding the reeds, I am not a big fan of the Hohner Artiste reeds. Yes they are better than Hohner H or T reeds, but in terms of tolerance, meaning room around the reed tongue that is a source of "hiss" while playing, especially with higher notes, they are not great. I understand Hohner could do any better apparently, but these reeds are clearly inferior to good Italian reeds.
The Hohner Morino M series comes in to versions: an older version with Artiste reeds on the treble side (and inferior reeds on the bass side) and a later version with Bugari tipo a mano reeds. Everyone I know who knows that these two versions exist told me and others that when looking for a Morino M (for instance the most popular, the IV M) to look specifically for one with the Bugari reeds. I have worked on both and I must agree: the Bugari tipo a mano reeds are better than the Hohner Artiste (hand made) reeds. Hohner probably cherry-picked the best ones from whole series that were made to put in the Gola. I wouldn't say the ones in the Atlantic IV de luxe are "rejects" but they are not the same. The reed plates in the Atlantic look like brass, and the ones I saw in a Gola from around 1960 look like aluminium. In the Atlantic a few reeds have been replaced by an earlier repairer working on them and the replacements also have aluminium reed plates.

 

[JerryPH]

Definitely not the same, but they are “A Mano” of a level appropriate to the Atlantic line. Not quite “junk”.

 

[debra]

Definitely not the same, but they are “A Mano” of a level appropriate to the Atlantic line. Not quite “junk”.

OK. I just fail to see the difference between "a level appropriate to the Atlantic line" and "junk" .
Still, I'm slowly beginning to get my Atlantic to produce reasonably usable sound. I think it's another week of work to fully reach that level. It's hard to know which serious flaws I'm experiencing are really due to the manufacturing and which are a result of the previous "professional" repairer's poor workmanship. Voicing is pretty bad, some reeds were bent during previous tuning attempts, the pallet felt was too thin, resulting in very noisy key operation... Over half of my repair work is on accordions for which I'm the first repairer to perform maintenance/repair and those are my favorite repair jobs (by far).

 

[debra]

Definitely not the same, but they are “A Mano” of a level appropriate to the Atlantic line. Not quite “junk”.

Let me also add that the base of the reed blocks of the Atlantic is not wood (like it should) but a thin (1mm) strip of cardboard. with a very thin layer of that yellow stuff Hohner also uses for valves that should really have been leather but aren't. It doesn't matter how good the reeds are. The whole package is so cheaply constructed that the better reeds are not enough to exceed the "junk" level. I have only seen worse in a Weltmeister with soft plastic reed blocks and reed plates ready to fall off at any time because the wax did not really stick to the plastic.

 

[JerryPH]

There is a guy on SLAGR TV that plays an Atlantic deluxe has been on that show for 12 years with the same box… sounds great and not bad for a piece of junk.

 

[Silken Path]

Thank you Paul and Jerry. It was near the right foot pad as viewed from the back and the curve into the side, stamped vertically and not deeply between the bass buttons and the bellows. I found it by using a polishing cloth and a bright penlight held at a steep angle.

409216 it is.

Now to contact Hohner and get the manufacturing date.

 

[Ffingers]

There is a guy on SLAGR TV that plays an Atlantic deluxe has been on that show for 12 years with the same box… sounds great and not bad for a piece of junk.

To be fair, Jerry, any sound that travels the ether by means of the TV system is not one by which can judge the sound quality of any musical instrument.
Second thought, the 'box' may be one thing in appearance and something entirely different internally and, as another 'maybe' is quite frequently serviced by a good technician.
E,g, my 1972 VW Combi van looked original, almost sounded mint, but the replacement of the factory motor by a much modified Subaru motor made it something else entirely

 

[boxplayer4000]

Let me also add that the base of the reed blocks of the Atlantic is not wood (like it should) but a thin (1mm) strip of cardboard. with a very thin layer of that yellow stuff Hohner also uses for valves that should really have been leather but aren't.

This sounds like the work of a less qualified repair person who did not use standard/proper repair material rather than it being the Hohner company itself.
The problems you describe in re-tuning the treble reeds all point to an unqualified person having been involved.
It seems very unfair to me to condemn a whole accordion range on this basis.
Atlantics have been around for much of my 4-score+ years and I can't recall any complaint, in any form, about them.

 

[debra]

This sounds like the work of a less qualified repair person who did not use standard/proper repair material rather than it being the Hohner company itself.
The problems you describe in re-tuning the treble reeds all point to an unqualified person having been involved.
It seems very unfair to me to condemn a whole accordion range on this basis.
Atlantics have been around for much of my 4-score+ years and I can't recall any complaint, in any form, about them.

The reed blocks in this Atlantic look absolutely original, even still with the original wax (Hohner wax being darker than typical Italian wax.)
This accordion has seen some bad repairs, by a so called qualified person (and accordion store keeper), but I'm very sure that replacing some unknown good material for the reed block by cardboard is most certainly something that person wouldn't do. I have seen other Atlantic accordions inside as well, so I already knew they contain half-size reed blocks made out of cheap wood (but any warping is less noticeable and/or problematic with reed blocks that are only half the length.
I'm definitely not saying that Hohner Atlantic accordions are not usable. In fact I am hopeful I can bring this one back to life like new (except for where some reeds have been butchered). What I'm saying is that the rubbish material used in the Atlantic, combined with the cheap metal construction (instead of the more traditional wooden construction that requires real craftsmanship) all represents an Accordion that should have been priced a lot lower than it was when new. This is my general complaint of most of what Hohner has produced and sold over the many decades: hugely overpriced for what the instruments are. Hohner (for accordions) was priced like Miele was for household appliances. But Hohner did not deliver the quality people expected for that price whereas Miele did and still does. And it is all due to just one common characteristic: greed.

 

[JerryPH]

To be fair, Jerry, any sound that travels the ether by means of the TV system is not one by which can judge the sound quality of any musical instrument.
Second thought, the 'box' may be one thing in appearance and something entirely different internally and, as another 'maybe' is quite frequently serviced by a good technician.
E,g, my 1972 VW Combi van looked original, almost sounded mint, but the replacement of the factory motor by a much modified Subaru motor made it something else entirely

If you check out Slagr TV, its all about live shows for the people, the cameras filming it and making a local TV show are near incidental, they are very popular in the Czech republic, so the guy is not there for his accordion, he is there because he is a very good musician, his choice of accordion has always been his Atlantic deluxe, and he gets called back regularly and often, not by the people that make the show, but by requests from the people that watch and want him.

All this means nothing, but hey, if they can race Morris Mini's at much improved horsepower levels of around 75 peak horses and are called a "good car", why can't an accordion that sounds goods for well over a decade for thousands of people live and yes, on TV, is proven reliable and has hand made reeds not be a good accordion?

I've had a chance to play a standard version and Deluxe version several times. It's a workhorse and sounds good. Is it a Gola? Of course not, but then again, I never said that it was... but it is not some piece of junk... on that I will have to politely disagree.

 

[Silken Path]

@JerryPH , I found several videos on youtube under "Slagr TV accordion." Do you recall the fellow's name? Is it Pepino before he got the Roland?

 

[debra]

There is a guy on SLAGR TV that plays an Atlantic deluxe has been on that show for 12 years with the same box… sounds great and not bad for a piece of junk.

How an accordion sounds and how it is constructed are two very different aspects of quality. That explains how an accordion player and an accordion repairer can have very different opinions on the same instrument. As an accordion player I know I'm going to be quite happy with my "new to me" Atlantic IV de luxe once the repairs are done. As the repairer I see the shoddy materials used (cheap wooden reed blocks, and cardboard base of the blocks, keyboard with all plastic keys, etc.). I do also see the good quality reeds, with for inexplicable reason valves stopping at A5, making notes like B5 and C6 play with a very noticeable hiss... It's like a lot of things in life. Take furniture for instance. A lot of it is now some form of hardboard with veneer (which is often not even real wood veneer) and people can be happy with it for quite a long time before it disintegrates completely (inside) because the material is in fact rubbish. (We too have mostly furniture not made out of solid wood.) Junk quality can sometimes last surprisingly long before it disintegrates or just falls apart, but before it does you can of course use it happily, like that Weltmeister with soft plastic reed blocks that played reasonably well but fell apart when you tried to take reed blocks out and do tuning... Technical quality is often underrated. If it looks fine and plays fine it must be good quality... sadly not.

 

[JerryPH]

Thanks Paul, appreciate the input. I'll stick to what I know, you do the same.

 

[Silken Path]

Progress - I heard back from Ralf Tritschler at Hohner and sent my 30 Euros. He said that from 1930 to 1987, they can provide the delivery date and location. After that, they can only provide the month of production.

 

[JerryPH]

Progress - I heard back from Ralf Tritschler at Hohner and sent my 30 Euros. He said that from 1930 to 1987, they can provide the delivery date and location. After that, they can only provide the month of production.

I'll likely be meeting him personally next month.