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[Malcolm Clapp]

Not wishing to cause panic (as if    ), but I've today been told by a usually reliable source in the US that Hohner is about to discontinue manufacturing the Erica, DoubleRay and Pokerwork models.

Anyone able to confirm this?

Or is it just a retailer (or perhaps Hohner?) trying to get some quick turnover by scaring would-be purchasers into making a decision to buy "while stocks last".

I intend to grill the local Hohner agent in Sydney tomorrow morning, and will report back....

[Steve C.]

Malcolm, I have heard the same, plus Hohner USA plans to carry many, many less models that are still being made, for example Merlins and Galaads.  Market in USA not selling a lot of 2 and 2+ row diatonic.  So I hear.

[triskel]

I've been told by two people in recent weeks that they've dropped the Double-Ray (Black Dot) from their range - in fact the lady who told me that last week also said she'd bought all their remaining stock of them.

Mind you, they were threatening to do it about 25 years ago!

At this stage the 2-row boxes are pretty much of a minority "niche" market for them, the "big sellers" (with an ever-expanding range) are the 3-row boxes for Tex-Mex, Mexican and South American music...

[george garside]

pity they don't 'expand' the 3 row range to include a 'new' trichord with either 12 stradella or better still  a 40 or 48 bass piano box bass grafted on.  They have all that's required in their parts bin.

george

[Henry Piper]

Time to get all those never finished project Pokerworks and Erica's out of the dusty corners corners of workshops around the country !! I sense an increase in S/H prices in the offing !!!! 

[deltasalmon]

pity they don't 'expand' the 3 row range to include a 'new' trichord with either 12 stradella or better still  a 40 or 48 bass piano box bass grafted on.  They have all that's required in their parts bin.

george

The people buying the 3-row accordions in the US typically remove the bass blocks anyway so I don't think there would be much point in adding more bass keys.

[triskel]

pity they don't 'expand' the 3 row range to include a 'new' trichord with either 12 stradella or better still  a 40 or 48 bass piano box bass grafted on.  They have all that's required in their parts bin.

I'm sure they would George, if you could guarantee to take a container full off them to sell every year. That's what it boils down to, but the market for diatonics has become a very Latino one for Hohner.

Otherwise it sounds like a one-off job for Mike Rowbotham, or some other such melodeonistic Frankenstein... 

[Adam-T]

From what I`ve seen, over here, most are chasing German made versions of those boxes and more and more wrecks and beaters are getting fettled everyday so I doubt Hohner stopping making Chinese Ericas and Pokerworks are going to affect the availability of these boxes to UK players for a long while yet ......

I don`t know a single person who has ever bought a new Chinese PW or Erica

[Anahata]

I don`t know a single person who has ever bought a new Chinese PW or Erica

I bought a new PW a few years ago, as an emergency spare, but Mary H. is now using it as her learner box.

[Tone Dumb Greg]

I don`t know a single person who has ever bought a new Chinese PW or Erica

I did. And I know a number of others who have. Perfectly nice box. Attitudes to them are more melodeon snobbery than anything else (IMHO).

[mselic]

I bought a new Erica last year and was happy with it.

[triskel]

The first delivery of Chinese made Black Dots and Pokerworks that I received had issues with the gluing of the reedblocks, all of which I had to glue back together myself.

I also found them very shrill in sound.

I never bought any more.   

[Malcolm Clapp]

I intend to grill the local Hohner agent in Sydney tomorrow morning, and will report back....

Spoke to the Hohner agent in Sydney who has (so far) received no notification of manufacture of any current melodeon models being discontinued.

It seems likely that maybe it is Hohner USA who are no longer intending to distribute or hold these models in stock, but they will continue to be manufactured, and supplied to order.

[The Blues Viking]

Not wishing to cause panic (as if    ), but I've today been told by a usually reliable source in the US that Hohner is about to discontinue manufacturing the Erica, DoubleRay and Pokerwork models.

Anyone able to confirm this?

I can. these three models, plus the Morgane, are going away in the USA; I can't speak to their availability in Europe. There are still some new ones out there but the supply is rapidly dwindling. As far as I know, though, Weltmeister is still selling 2-rows here in the intermediate price range and the more expensive boxes don't appear to be going anywhere for the time being.

TBV

[Kimric Smythe]

This is interesting news, but it hardly makes a difference as nothing I have ordered from Hohner in the last 4 months has ever shown up at my shop. This includes parts.
 The other drawback is the crappy warranty, 90 days on a $6000 Anacleto? Fortunately I have other suppliers for parts for those.

[pipives]

I do (sadly) have an update on this for Hohner in the UK and Europe. I work for Hobgoblin  *not the beer firm* (as some of you know) and we have just had an email from Sutherland, the UK distributors of Hohner. This just in from Steve Proctor

"The factory in China have decided with Hohner that the keys of C/F, B/C and D/G are not being produced in big enough quantities to warrant worldwide re-manufacturing, but A/D and G/C are. The bodies (pokerwork and Erica) will still be produced but only in those two key combinations.
There will be no D/G 2915 (pokerwork) or B/C Erica by September.
Morgane and Merlin are totally finished and discontinued"

You heard it here first folks..........

 

[Lester]

Well time to start buying everything that turns up on eBay then :)

[Theo]

Well that is the end of an era. 

[AirTime]

There's a lot about this that doesn't make sense to me. If the market in the US is primarily for Hispanic style playing, why doesn't Hohner produce a box that is optimized for that market ie. no bass reed block & a BIG air button?

This would also seem to represent something of a business opportunity for Sandpiper. Do they have any presence in continental Europe? To my reckoning Sandpipers represent a much closer approximation to the "modern" Italian diatonic box than Hohner's Morgane line.

[Adam-T]

Better all get looking after your Hohner 2 rows then !!  and more to the point, fettling as many E-Bay scrappers and clunkers as you can find, I can`t see a shortage for a long while (especially over here) ...

No doubt they`ll  continue to make the Chinese Coronas and Compadres for the Tex/Mex market - though the BCC# compadre no doubt will finally be put to rest (a mercy killing that one - LOL)