Dinky little Hohner 12 Bass

[Davey]

I’m told, this is a WW2 vintage — in surprisingly good condition in most regard; thinking of getting her restored … No idea of model or exact age, however she does appear worthy of spending a lil time, money and tlc? Thoughts …

 

[Ventura]

it looks super clean and not ever kept in a hot attic

the nice thing about restoring a small one is all the jobs are
also small and not daunting..

some things will still be dried out and need replacing.. gaskets.. wax..

i say yes ! fix her up

my feeling is it is much older than WW2 because the
little grey Hohner's had taken over in the 1930's,
but maybe they kept making this kind too

someone on here has the Hohner list and can probably tell you
the overall period this model was produced

 

[Davey]

Intrigued to learn how old it potentially is — I’d been told WW2 era, but I could well believe it to be older?

 

[Ikesaccordions]

If it's WW II era or 1930s, it would have Zinc reed plates. If it were never played in rain or fog, and kept dry, the reeds migt be easy to restore. Zinc is unstable, and turns into a white powder, which makes the reed plates cause problems. There are a couple of ways to treat this, but the reed will never be quite as good as new. However this kind of reed was very nicely made, and still better than some others, depending on how far corrroded the plate is.

 

[Ventura]

hi Ike

still kicking !

i noticed that Continental you have on eBay..
how difficult was that one to restore ?

ciao

 

[Ikesaccordions]

Phil, it was a bear. The treble pads don't come off without a flame thrower, so the spindle had to be pulled. You know the bad adhesive story that necessitated that. Bass note valves also had to be replaced. No reed work worth mentioning was done as the reeds sounded fine and were clean.
The wiring of the stereo pickups had been modified by some tyro, and had to make a new spiral bass bellows wire which old one oxidized, Wood mute had been incorrectly modified for wiring, and also had to figure out how to rewire the cconnection to the circuit board.
Original owner since the 1960s had apparently made or had made a new back panel, so no serial number if there ever was one. I sent it back, and he was losing some hearing and decided just to play piano.
He sent it back to me on consignment, and a very old guy bought it but just turned 91, and found 33 lbs daunting, and I'm still trying to get his money back for him. Somebody on eBay offered $2300, but that represents a loss for everyone, if they were even serious.

 

[Davey]

If it's WW II era or 1930s, it would have Zinc reed plates. If it were never played in rain or fog, and kept dry, the reeds migt be easy to restore. Zinc is unstable, and turns into a white powder, which makes the reed plates cause problems. There are a couple of ways to treat this, but the reed will never be quite as good as new. However this kind of reed was very nicely made, and still better than some others, depending on how far corrroded the plate is.

 

[Davey]

Within the bowels …

I noticed the A549 — if that might help date? The reed block marked 19 …

 

[Ikesaccordions]

Within the bowels …

I noticed the A549 — if that might help date? The reed block marked 19 …

Zinc reedplates are a zinc color; Aluminum obviously would be looking like aluminum. can't tell from your pics.

 

[Squeezebox Of Delights]

I've always liked the look of these little Hohners. The design is almost identical to the famous Pokerwork melodeon, which is post war, as far as I know. A question about the basses, are they stradella basses laid out like diatonic, or diatonic basses on a non-diatonic box?

 

[Ikesaccordions]

They are stradella pattern.
A bit of interesting trivia: Most 12 bass accordions are "in C" specifically the 25-note keyboard starts and ends on C.
Some of the older ones started and ended on G, and the basses went F C G D A E instead of Bb F C G D A