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[bison204]

[melodeon]

HA 114 Hohner or the 113 or the 112  are among my favorite 1 row boxes.  I have owned "hand made" Cajun boxes and handmade Quebec boxes and some German 1 rows including the Galotta.  Add to this a couple Castagnari 1 row melodeons.

Just because the reed blocks are glued down does NOT make the reeds impossible to service... just remove the individual (2) reed plate as necessary.. it's done all the time.  The "cajun" style boxes all so have glued in blocks.  2 laydowns.

The extra "fold" isn't a fold but just the end of the bellows on a style that is glued to the larger style frame that is held on with end bolts or  screws  rather than the sensible method that Hohner and many other makers use that are secured with "pins"
and that can be a plus



As to smokey and humid... makes no differnce what you play.. nasty
And service requirements  will be the same and no more difficult on glued in  brand to brand

Castagnari and others have removeable reed blocks which allow easier access to the inner reed. Some say this decreases volume and tone , I have not found that to be true.

Get a German made Hohner  much better than the latest Chinese made stuff.  Older is gooder.

Small modifications can make a Hohner a very serviceable unit... go for it.

Resale is good, parts are available  relatively easy to fix. Light fast and fun.  Lots of great music has been made on Hohners.

[bison204]

Thanks for all the help.

I went into the repairs section and found this, seems like the problem I fear to get into with a 4v.

http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php/topic,1326.0.html

changing the reeds in between the reed blocks is a 'royal pita' in the words of the 2nd post...

Since you praise the 1row 4v, and it really is the sound I'm going for, does anybody know of any workarounds for accessing/rewaxing reeds in between plates? Links, or other threads, anything... I'm tried looking on the forum, but couldn't find much.

thanks again.

[Theo]

changing the reeds in between the reed blocks is a 'royal pita' in the words of the 2nd post...

That was me!  Its awkward getting at those reeds in the middle, not impossible.  Just takes a little more time and dexterity. The trickiest part is getting new wax in, you have to use gravity to help you by running a tiny river of wax down between the reedplates.

Reading your original requirements makes me think that you and the Hohner 4-stop were made for each other.

[bison204]

Is that because its lighter than my socks? That being said...  it gets COLD where I live and I wear heavy socks. 

Wow... a tiny river of wax? That's out of my league right now. I'd like to learn to repair/maintain my accordion. Would you happen to know if the 'accordion repairs made easy' is any good? Or are there better sources online, for things like the 'tiny river of wax'?  p.s. i like instructions that have pictures  :)

[Theo]

I had a book called Accordion Repairs Made easy John Reuther,  its worth a brief look, but I found it not terribly helpful.  Its mostly about piano accordions.   Most of the things you need to learn are basic woodwork, and working with simple mechanisms.  There is more to learn about reeds but if you are observant and can use a few basic hand tools you can learn by trial and error.  You will make some errors, so get an old box to learn repairing.

[bison204]

Sounds good! Thank you Theo! You've been very helpful! Looks like I'll start rummaging through Ebay to try to find an old box to try to learn how tp repair.

[old geezer]

changing the reeds in between the reed blocks is a 'royal pita' in the words of the 2nd post...

when re-waxing the inner reeds, I cut the wax into about 1.5mm x 1.5mm x 10mm strips, place in the required position then melt the wax using a 50mm long tipped soldering iron (Temp' variable). 

I use a custom made 18g heat shield which I fit to the upper reed block, to protect these reed valves from accidental damage, whilst melting the wax on the lower block.

[Ebor_fiddler]

What's the best way of preparing strips and getting them to the required size please? I'm just at this stage in working on my one-row and it's the first time I've done it.

Thanks in advance,

Chris.

[baz parkes]

What's the best way of preparing strips and getting them to the required size please?

Send it to Theo or Rees... :)

Baz