Hohner box info

[Deleted member 101]

Hi all,
Just a passing interest really, no more

Does anybody know the age and history of the :
Hohner Amati Vl Luxe 

I'm thinking in particular of a 4 row, 96 bass, 7 registers (LMM) below the treble buttons, I saw recently.

I'm not in the market for one but it looked nice.

Thanks in advance.

 

[AccordionUprising]

The Hohner lists I have only go up to an Amati IV, Chromatic Button Accordion, 46 treble buttons, 80 bass.
It says the IV was from 1940.

 

[Deleted member 101]

Hi Bruce,
thanks for the info.
Yes, there seems to be many and varied versions
I have also seen a Amati Vl international that had the registers behind the keyboard.
That one at least was seemingly well built and sounded really good.

 

[Deleted member 48]

My Hohner Amati VI with register switch behind the keyboard has got T-style mushroom buttons,  C-system. 
I once contacted Hohner Trossingen for more info on my Amati VI. 
They answered, to my surprise, that it probably could have been built in the Hohner factory in Switzerland. They could not tell me more accurate info on this. 
Dated 1950s or 1960s? 
The Hohner book Ewig jung trotz vieler Falten indeed gives the year 1940 for the Amati IV. No later Amatis in the listings. 
Maybe Amati IV was the last production in Trossingen. 

I agree the Amati VI is a quality instrument.
I bought mine second hand from a Frenchman in the Lille Roubaix area.

It's not for sale. Lightweight and sounds lovely. 

If anyone has more accurate info... Please tell us.

 

[Deleted member 101]

Interesting stuff Stephen.
I've had a few 'vintage' Hohners over the years and the build and sound was always excellent.
Often considered lower in quality to Italian makes, but I've not found this to be the case.
As ever, it's a personal thing.

 

[Deleted member 48]

Addendum, mine has 96 basses (LMM), the bar register switch gives me 5 different register sound combinations, less than the 7 you mention. 

It's a 4 rows CBA, perhaps intended for the French market. 
The Swiss plant of Hohner was created in the 1930s or 1940s to deviate the embargo because of WWII. 
They closed down the plant after the war, but I would have to look up the year. 

The best source is the Professor Dr. Hartmut Berghoff book written in full cooperation with Hohner management. An excellent book on the history of the Hohner company, industry, sales, marketing, accountancy, mergers and fusions. 

A lot of pages are also devoted on WWI and WWII periods. Even the dictatorial period from 1933 to 1945 is treated extensively. Even forced labour in that period. 
Of course, the author had to set limits to his study. 
This is not a book for accordion players or makers. Rather for historians, economists or marketeers,...

I warmly recommend this book to Hohner enthusiasts. 

I have been reading in this book for 10 years, and I feel I need another 10 years to get all the massive amount of info in my brain... 

Definitely worth the money. Preparing and writing this book must have been a giant task.

 

[AccordionUprising]

Hartmut Berghoffs Hohner book is new to me, sadly I dont read German (yet, theres always hope), but found an interesting review in English here:


https://www.jstor.org/stable/3116638?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

(if you set up a jstor account you can access a certain number of articles/papers per month.)

[font=Arial,]Reviewed Work: [/font]
[font=Arial,][size=small]Zwischen Kleinstadt und Weltmarkt: Hohner und die Harmonika 1857-1961: Unternehmensgeschichte als Gesellschaftsgeschichte [/font][/size]
[font=Arial,]by Hartmut Berghoff[/font]

[font=Arial,]Review by: Jeffrey Fear[/font]
[font=Arial,][size=small]The Business History Review[/font][/size]
[font=Arial,]Vol. 72, No. 4 (Winter, 1998), pp. 653-655[/font]

 

[Deleted member 101]

Thanks for the further information.
The book sound intriguing, especially if you are a potential accordion historian.
As ever with potential purchases or interest in a specific accordion,   information is always valuable.