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Author Topic: Hohner 114 fingerboard  (Read 4352 times)

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911377brian

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Hohner 114 fingerboard
« on: January 25, 2016, 03:42:34 PM »

Just acquired ANOTHER 114G in the belief/hope that it was in C...it's in very good order but the faint patina of rust on the spoons and corners suggest it's older than my original. Both have plastic fingerboards with the Made in Germany logo.anyone out there know when the wooden fingerboards were replaced by the current plastic ones? ???
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Adam-T

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2016, 04:30:39 PM »

if I remember rightly  the concensus was early 1960s when asking about when it happened to Ericas etc , I`d think the 114 was the same ..

I always wanted a 114 in D . I never ended up with one
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Theo

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2016, 06:29:40 PM »

Hohner 114 keyboards are Bakelite, which has been around much longer than the thermoplastics used for two row models.  My guess is that 114s went onto plastic significantly earlier.
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Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

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911377brian

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2016, 07:07:59 PM »

Are later 114 fingerboards still in Bakelite,Theo?
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Theo

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2016, 07:44:53 PM »

Dont't know,  but I've only seen Bakelite.
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Adam-T

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2016, 07:56:34 PM »

The wooden one I had (Pictured below) must have been pretty old then .. I didn`t realise the non wood ones were Bakelite, I thought they were the shiny plastic similar to 1st plastic 2 rows

« Last Edit: January 25, 2016, 07:58:31 PM by Adam-T »
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gettabettabox

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2016, 08:26:23 PM »

on the earlier models that i've seen, the plastic seems different, less shiny often with double rivets for the thumb strap. no evidence of manufacturing marks especially on button surface of board.
bass end strap is also a good indicator of age, (if original,) earlier ones sometimes having fine leather or cloth straps like the saxony lot.
other date signals for subsequent years include string/wick gasket, reed letter stamp, valve material and use of reedplate pins.
got a 113 in D here, wooden board, wick gasket, skived leather backed cloth strap, h reeds and full set of curly leather valves.
love these boxes.



« Last Edit: January 26, 2016, 12:21:40 AM by gettabettabox »
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911377brian

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2016, 10:35:37 PM »

I'm a recent convert but I love them too, but I think that two in G is being a bit self indulgent...this one has neoprene gaskets so doesn't go back to the Ark, but the corners and spoons are a bit rusty. It plays well and the only leak is the air spoon. I suppose Charlie Marshall's pallet leather / felt sandwich is best for the job,but it seems to be thin cork at the moment...
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Rog

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #8 on: January 26, 2016, 07:41:24 AM »

They're ok but the action is not the fastest, even after fettling.

gettabettabox

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #9 on: January 26, 2016, 10:33:08 AM »

They're ok but the action is not the fastest, even after fettling.

do you specifically mean the action mechanism is not the fastest or is it the general playability and response of the ones you've fettled?
(114G boxes are a special case!)


 
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Lester

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #10 on: January 26, 2016, 10:52:45 AM »

They're ok but the action is not the fastest, even after fettling.

Depends what you are measuring them against. Against a Castagnari Max they are slower but a bit cheaper  (:) and the air button is usable

Rob2Hook

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2016, 11:42:37 AM »

Against a Castagnari Max they are a LOT slower (but a lot cheaper).  The air button on a Max is fine if you hold it right!  I always have to play the Hohner using the side of my thumb to roll across the air spoon - OK, but initially feels a little wierd.  But then I speak as one who simply can't play the Pariselle one-rows as my hand is too small to bridge the growl box - don't ask about bridging in snooker, I don't.

I used a Hohner in the morris band for some years but just when it really needed a renovation as it was getting to be hard work to pump it for the length of a dance (and the others had deserted me), I got an opportunity on a 2nd hand Max.  I missed the fairground sound of the Hohner and the honkin' basses, but the Max, despite its rather pathetic bass, could shout so loud and sweetly I was smitten.

The Hohner fingerboards I've had were always a satin finish, so I guess they were all bakelite.

Rob.
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Adam-T

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #12 on: January 26, 2016, 12:06:39 PM »

The non-wood one I had (a G) had a satin one on . I thought it was a replacement plastic fingerboard as the rest of the box was an utter mess and later plastic 2 row ones were satin rather than shiny, so I take this must have been Bakelite . Bizarre that they should use the stuff at a time when they were happily making 2 row ones from plastic .
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baz parkes

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #13 on: January 26, 2016, 01:15:24 PM »

They're ok but the action is not the fastest, even after fettling.

Depends what you are measuring them against. Against a Castagnari Max they are slower but a bit cheaper  (:) and the air button is usable
And they sound like a Hohner... :|glug
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melodeon

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #14 on: January 26, 2016, 03:19:35 PM »

My 112 in A,  113 in A,  and 114 in C are all with original wooden keyboards.

I have owned a half dozen more, half of them with wood boards and the others plastic or bakelite.
My favorite was a 113 in D which went to Paul Groff many years ago.
My current 114 in C came from Paul.. it's a cracker and has the original cloth bass strap.. which I have refitted with a  Hohner leather bit.

I make/made  wood boards to replace the plastic units.

My current Castagnari melodeon is in D.. I have owned others in D and C.. oddly they were different sizes than the current unit.
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Harmonicatunes

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Re: Hohner 114 fingerboard
« Reply #15 on: January 26, 2016, 10:27:39 PM »

Over the last 12 months I've been on a HA114 spree, and now own a D one (tuned up by Theo), and a G one tuned by Martyn White. I've done a few mods, a cedar block inside the back to flatten out the "ergonomic" Hohner ridges, a sweatband velcro'ed to the strap, and a balsa rod with a green felt strip glued inside the cover for keyboard limiting. Great instruments, I play them most days.

The HA114 in D has a wooden fingerboard, nicer than the newer plastic ones.

I've also recently gotten a C/F Pokerwork from Canada. A bargain it seems. It looks brand new, plays likewise, but has a wooden keyboard, then same shape a a plastic one. This would make it 40/50 years old I think?

I didn't know it was plastic until I removed it, to replace it with an Acorn Instruments woodern keyboard, bought so that I could install the felt for keyboard limiting. Turned out that the Acorn keyboard was a little short, a problem fixed y adding two large washers between the keyboard and the instrument body.
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