AndyM said:
I'm toying with the idea of buying a Hohner Morino, but wondering whether new or secondhand is better? Or if it doesn't really make any difference?
I've seen a new Morino that the dealer says has H2 reed plates. If anyone has any information or advice about these, would be muchly appreciated. Thanks.
New or secondhand makes a HUGE difference for the Hohner Morino, because the sound of the Hohner Morino has changed over generations. What I'm saying ONLY applies to the piano accordions and to the X and IX button models (not the Artiste IV or VI).
Many people consider the Morino with the nicest sound to be the Morino IV M (or the V M if you want an MMM register, or the VI M if you want melody bass). The M series is the one with the "domino" style register switches. There are two otherwise identical versions: the older ones have Hohner reeds and newer ones have Bugari reeds. The ones with the Bugari reeds are generally considered a bit better.
These accordions are really old and may need at least some overhaul (like bellows seal and tuning, not really something major).
The most common Morino series are the N and S. These accordions were not made by Hohner (in Germany) despite what it says on the instruments themselves. They were built by Excelsior in Italy. They can be recognised by the rounded white registers, also found on the Gola. The N started out with Bugari reeds. I'm not sure when Bugari stopped making reeds. At some point the reeds started being from Cagnoni and this may or may not coincide with the switch from the N to the S model. The N series has a sliding mechanism to fasten and unfasten the grille. The S series uses decorative bolts, which are a more common and more reliable method. For a brief period some Morino N accordions were built with bad pallets that stick. These are known as the "Klebemorino" and should be avoided. The S series is technically superior (and newer) but there is a slight difference in sound that can only be heard when you hear an otherwise identical N and S side by side. (The difference is probably mainly due to the Bugari versus Cagnoni reeds, I'm not sure.)
Around the year 2000 Excelsior was taken over by Pigini. The Morinos built after that date have black register switches, and they have a nice sound that nobody recognises as being a Morino any more. So if you want Morino sound, you MUST avoid the newer Morino with the black registers. You cannot buy a new Morino with Morino sound any more so if you are after that sound you must get an older used one.
The Morino always had H2 reed plates, meaning hand-finished or tipo-a-mano. Hohner reserved the really good a mano reeds for the Gola. You can buy lots of good quality Italian accordions with the better "a mano" reeds for a fraction of the price of a Gola. Hohner also made a "Goletta" or "Golina" accordion which had Gola construction but only with tipo-a-mano reeds. It's more like a Morino that looks like a Gola than anything else.
