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Author Topic: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!  (Read 4211 times)

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jerfish

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http://youtu.be/eiy5n0gzVGo

Well she finally arrived.  I must say overall she's in better shape than I would've even anticipated. The fact that even somewhat playable at this point makes me ecstatic.  I'm sure the leathers should be replaced and need to see what servicing she needs on the bellows, for she is losing a lot of air on the push (mostly on the left hand end from the spoons). The video is a demo of the instrument and me struggling to use it. I say struggle because it does not have strap brackets and the thumb strap could be adjusted for my particular needs, as well as the amount of air loss on the push (okay enough excuses already, the instrument isn't completely to blame of course!). I am accustomed at this point to using a shoulder strap for anchoring. 

She needs a little work but overall for US  $199 off of eBay, and all the unknowns that eBay entails, I'm pretty happy! 

As a bonus it matches the paint job of my newly painted dining room!
« Last Edit: June 25, 2014, 09:46:20 PM by jerfish »
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Weltmeister GC MMM, Hohner "Morgane" GC, Paolo Soprani 19 button 3 Voice AD, Castagnari "Lilly" DG, ~1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" Eb/B, ~1930's Hohner one row "A", 1950's Hohner Club II CF (Declubbed), 1950's Hohner Erica GC

Sebastian

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2014, 11:44:18 PM »

Congratulations! I can hardly believe how good it is still in tune.  :o
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jerfish

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #2 on: June 26, 2014, 12:16:34 AM »

Thanks!  Someone must have kept it up a bit I'd say.  Biggest fix right now is tightening up the air issues. Next a reed servicing (especially the left hand).  Would it be taboo to place a shoulder strap bracket on it somehow?
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Weltmeister GC MMM, Hohner "Morgane" GC, Paolo Soprani 19 button 3 Voice AD, Castagnari "Lilly" DG, ~1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" Eb/B, ~1930's Hohner one row "A", 1950's Hohner Club II CF (Declubbed), 1950's Hohner Erica GC

Nick Collis Bird

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #3 on: June 26, 2014, 08:17:57 AM »

That is a lovely machine Jerfish.
My opinion as far as fitting a shoulder strap is yes go ahead do it. The box was made to be played and if that's how you play, go ahead. They can be removed at a later date and the holes invisibly repaired. ;D
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forrest

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #4 on: June 26, 2014, 04:30:06 PM »

Looks to be a wonderful instrument, jerfish. Hard to tell from the video, but it would be interesting to know if it is tuned in the "old pitch" (A=432) or has been retuned to modern pitch.
   I have sought melodeon strap hardware  in the US in the past, and have found just the ticket from CGM in Scotland. A regular two row melodeon strap will probably be too wide and not fit well on the frames. I hope to see and hear more of this Hohner as your restoration progresses!  ;)
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hickory-wind

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #5 on: June 26, 2014, 05:07:42 PM »

Forrest-
I'll check the tuning when he brings it into the shop. I'm also curious to see if it has long reedplates or individual. I'm tuning a similar age 3 stop LMM Hohner box that has the longplates. It is tuned A=442Hz (the L & M tuned the same- the second M is sharp from those) but not with Equal temperament. It's closer to Just temperament but not exactly.

Scott
« Last Edit: June 26, 2014, 05:09:19 PM by hickory-wind »
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boxcall

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #6 on: June 26, 2014, 05:11:47 PM »

looks nice!!
good luck with it / her
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forrest

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #7 on: June 26, 2014, 06:39:15 PM »

Forrest-
I'll check the tuning when he brings it into the shop. I'm also curious to see if it has long reedplates or individual. I'm tuning a similar age 3 stop LMM Hohner box that has the longplates. It is tuned A=442Hz (the L & M tuned the same- the second M is sharp from those) but not with Equal temperament. It's closer to Just temperament but not exactly.

Scott

Paul Groff has made the suggestion that older instruments in reasonable state of tune be recorded (which can be done quite quickly on Dirk's) before re-tuning or re-pitching. This would offer a window into the way that the factory tuned these originally (if they haven't already been altered) and could be a valuable resource.
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hickory-wind

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #8 on: June 26, 2014, 06:55:38 PM »

Yes. I will do so on mine and on the Jerfish box. I have Dirk's and have 'maps' for a bunch of the old Hohners and PS's that have passed through my shop. Quite surprising at times how far from Equal they are. My 3 stop in A could be Just tuned since it is always in the key of A. Two and three row don't make as much sense due to cross row playing. I have tuned an older 3 row Hohner (DGC) 16 bass model with Just temperament on all the chords as an experiment. They sound great. I could tune the treble side with Just temperament but each row would of course have a different Root key. Problems arise when you formulate chords across rows and it doesn't sound right.

Scott
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jerfish

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #9 on: June 26, 2014, 07:13:48 PM »

I have a pretty decent audio recorder arriving tomorrow (a Tascar), I'll at least record 'as is' as well.  Should I just record the scales with maybe a push pull 1 second each note or any other suggestions?  Thanks!
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Weltmeister GC MMM, Hohner "Morgane" GC, Paolo Soprani 19 button 3 Voice AD, Castagnari "Lilly" DG, ~1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" Eb/B, ~1930's Hohner one row "A", 1950's Hohner Club II CF (Declubbed), 1950's Hohner Erica GC

forrest

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #10 on: June 27, 2014, 06:23:04 AM »

I have a pretty decent audio recorder arriving tomorrow (a Tascar), I'll at least record 'as is' as well.  Should I just record the scales with maybe a push pull 1 second each note or any other suggestions?  Thanks!

I'm afraid I wasn't articulate enough in my post...but by 'recording', I meant observing the tuning of the notes and their intervals with one another, by means of a meter of some sort, (and writing them down or charting them), so that a temperament will be revealed, and thus be compared to existing temperaments. In this way, one can learn some otherwise unobserved tuning schemes, and duplicate them, if desired.
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Theo

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #11 on: June 27, 2014, 08:12:38 AM »

There is a nifty smartphone app called RTTA (real time tuner app) that does this very quickly.  It has settings for a whole range of different temperaments and pitches so it's a very quick way if identifying a tuning scheme. It works best with just a single reed in play.  Very quick and easy to use and produces a graphical display as the results are recorded. I can't remember the cost, but it's either free or very cheap.
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Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

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Tyker

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #12 on: June 27, 2014, 09:32:39 AM »

RTTA is Apple only. No Android version.
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jerfish

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #13 on: June 27, 2014, 02:41:38 PM »

Here's the data for the two scales in that app, set to A440 mode.  I interpret this as out of tune A440 but I confess a lack of knowledge on the subject.

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Weltmeister GC MMM, Hohner "Morgane" GC, Paolo Soprani 19 button 3 Voice AD, Castagnari "Lilly" DG, ~1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" Eb/B, ~1930's Hohner one row "A", 1950's Hohner Club II CF (Declubbed), 1950's Hohner Erica GC

Theo

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #14 on: June 27, 2014, 03:14:17 PM »

Worth trying that over the full range instead of just one octave. Then look for matches in deviation from ET for notes an octave apart.
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jerfish

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #15 on: June 27, 2014, 03:39:54 PM »

Worth trying that over the full range instead of just one octave. Then look for matches in deviation from ET for notes an octave apart.
Will do after work tonight (that should be the wee hours of the morning across the way).  I agree that is a nifty app BTW!
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Weltmeister GC MMM, Hohner "Morgane" GC, Paolo Soprani 19 button 3 Voice AD, Castagnari "Lilly" DG, ~1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" Eb/B, ~1930's Hohner one row "A", 1950's Hohner Club II CF (Declubbed), 1950's Hohner Erica GC

jerfish

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #16 on: June 28, 2014, 05:39:01 PM »

Here's the full range of notes, first Eb then B (at least I think that was the order I saved them in)
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Weltmeister GC MMM, Hohner "Morgane" GC, Paolo Soprani 19 button 3 Voice AD, Castagnari "Lilly" DG, ~1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" Eb/B, ~1930's Hohner one row "A", 1950's Hohner Club II CF (Declubbed), 1950's Hohner Erica GC

jerfish

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #17 on: July 12, 2014, 04:11:25 AM »

Here's her innards, she's up with Hickory-Wind getting tuned, pads, leathers, wax, bellows touch up, and a strap bracket

https://www.flickr.com/photos/125343752@N06/14445500159/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/125343752@N06/14628872901/
« Last Edit: July 15, 2014, 06:03:40 AM by jerfish »
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Weltmeister GC MMM, Hohner "Morgane" GC, Paolo Soprani 19 button 3 Voice AD, Castagnari "Lilly" DG, ~1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" Eb/B, ~1930's Hohner one row "A", 1950's Hohner Club II CF (Declubbed), 1950's Hohner Erica GC

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #18 on: June 20, 2015, 12:41:27 AM »

Wow.. All I can say is What a Gem... Someone really took care of that one !!

Nice Find

Johnniez
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brazilian.BOX

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Re: 1930's Hohner "1926 Philadelphia Grand Prix" EbBb - she's here!
« Reply #19 on: June 20, 2015, 01:42:42 AM »

Really nice box man! All the congrats. When you played the basses, it was sounding powerful like a TRACTOR for me!  ;D
The brand new condition, specially the painting. You have really a relic in hands.  :||:
« Last Edit: June 20, 2015, 06:00:11 AM by brazilian.BOX »
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The Brazilian chromatic tuning: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwLF1tH3q5Y
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