Hohner ??

[Nesha]

My first post and I'm asking for help already.
I bought an old Hohner 30 key 8 bass and can not find any information on it.
The pattern on it is different then any one I can find on the internet.

 

[John Doe]

I appears to be a Club system accordion (https://ogaccordions.com/hohner-club-accordions/).

The system, which has a devoted following, was not exclusive to Hohner and there are surely boxes from other manufacturers which use the system. Hohner itself was, as I understand it, not the first to use the system.*

Hohner was pretty much always given to proudly labelling all their products "Hohner", with usually fairly prominent logo placement. Yours doesn't have that except on the really nice condition case which is for a Hohner diatonic including Club models. This causes me to think there's a decent chance your instrument is made by "Wolfe" or whoever they had it built for them by and the case was not original to this box. This in no way means that it's an inferior instrument. From your pictures it appears in decent condition. It could play "great", could be "terrible", most likely "quite satisfactory for the majority of players". Play it yourself and let us know.

Good luck- Henry

*And I know this how? "I read it somewhere..." (see link above)

 

[knobby]

This causes me to think there's a decent chance your instument is made by "Wolfe" or whoever they had it built for them by and the case was not original to this box.

That's what I was thinking too.

 

[Nesha]

Reed plates are aluminium and marked T

 

[JerryPH]

Add me to the list. Though the case says the name, the accordion is not likely a Hohner. Hohner never stamped the insides of their accordions with an ink stamp using the words "Wolf". It also mentions the town of Mannedorf, which is in Switzerland... Hohner is Trossingen Germany.

 

[debra]

Reed plates are aluminium and marked T

T-marked reed plated are Hohner reed plates. A specific characteristic I found of T reeds is that the "wall" in between the two reed tongues has parallel sides, and as a result the reed tongues that are trapezoid (narrower at the tip than at the base) having these sides parallel emphasizes the trapezoid shape even more. This trapezoid shape of the T reeds makes them visually clearly different from for instance the H reeds.

 

[boxplayer4000]

Hohner T and H reeds.
Both ranges of reeds employ both parallel and trapezoidal shapes; the lowest frequency reeds can be parallel. The T range, which have been in production for almost a century, have undergone refinements and are still in production, as far as I know. They remain a good ’spare’ reed in many situations.

 

[Nesha]

What would be a fair price for this instrument?

 

[John Doe]

$200 - $375 (USD) assuming the reeds all still speak. The leathers look rough and will need a bit of work (replacement were it mine).

The bass blocks on many of these are glued in place. If that's the case and the leathers are also in need of work it's a pain to dislodge and then reset the bass blocks fo interior valve access.

I base this on what seems to be the going price for Hohner Club models with three banks and a shift. Sad but true the Hohner name might well command a higher price than a Wolfe for all that the instrument may be fully comparable.

 

[Nesha]

Thanks for the reply, this instrument really looks great considering its age. It is in almost mint condition

 

[John Doe]

The exterior looks fine. The inside perhaps a little less so.

For me, the latter would weigh more than the former but time and again looks sell.

Good luck.

PS The club, when mastered, really does allow a pretty much fully chromatic instrument. My C/F two row is a bit limiting for... well for tunes other than what it specializes in.

 

[dak]

PS The club, when mastered, really does allow a pretty much fully chromatic instrument. My C/F two row is a bit limiting for... well for tunes other than what it specializes in.

Yes and no. You can play "fully chromatic" on the treble, but the bass tends to be much more limited: chords fit only with the most basic scales, and the requirement to match push/pull also means that playing in "strange" keys may end up rhythmically "interesting" because either main notes of melody or bass have to be shifted off-beat. The more buttons are in the third row, the better your chances are to be able to avoid really awkward bellows changes.

That being said: this does not look like a Hohner to me. Its shape is untypical. Unfortunately, the "Wolf" sign looks more like a shop sign than a manufacturer sign.

The reed plates are waxed in, the valves are partly plastic and partly leather and are flat. That is not what would be expected from an accordion of the vintage that the design shows. The case is comparatively new.

That means that the accordion has been actively played and maintained for far longer than anyone would have actually bought such an instrument new. Most instruments looking like this on the outside tend to be actually crying for a technician they could not afford.

So I would not be surprised if it is in good playing order. I still would be surprised if you managed to sell it for a price in reasonable relation to its state. Maybe try playing it yourself?