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[Lester]

Blimey.
Having read both melodeon and Kymric's experiences it does answer a lot. Set against a backdrop of Italians improving the build, expanding the range reacting to the demands of players and gaining a reputation for a quality product. Essentially supplying a product their clientele want to buy.

Whatever your product, if you don't keep up with customer demand you will get left behind.
Q

To be fair Hohner and 'the Italians' are at totally different price points

[Thrupenny Bit]

Very true, but have the customers migrated to a more expensive product because it met their needs better?

I remember the days of total dominance. If you played melodeon it was wall to wall Hohners with the occasional other make being a rarity. The main choice being Pokerwork or Erica, then one year at Sidmouth I saw these 'other' boxes, wood finish, sounding different .... and we all know the rest.
You had a choice, and a lot of people voted with their wallet.
Q

[Lester]

As a tutor at a few melodeon things I have noticed two things, 1) the age of the average starter player is now quite old and therefore, on the whole, they have more disposable income and 2) they all play 'expensive' Italian boxes. I think 1) drives 2).

[Tone Dumb Greg]

...then one year at Sidmouth I saw these 'other' boxes, wood finish, sounding different .... and we all know the rest...
Q

I wonder if Hohner had done something more in tune with the desires of the market that those boxes pampered to they might have fared better here.

I'm thinking that something like the Coronita Dave linked to

The Hohner Coronita - the 3-row version of the Erica that was never produced:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfPSgsDQxh8&t=10m52s

A light weight three row with a classic pressed wood finish, that looked and sounded great.
I think it would have gone down a storm, but it doesn't seem to have occurred to anyone as a possibility.

It's a bit of a shame we will never know.

[Thrupenny Bit]

I think you're right Greg, they were complacent and took their eye off the market.

I'm new to the party, only playing for ~ 10 years coming from English Concertina. I haven't been brought up on a Hohner diet.
I started on a Castagnari Tommy, spendjng far more than I'd planned to spend, but it looked to be a better build and the reeds spoke immediately without squeezing really hard and waiting for a sound as all other boxes ( mainly Hohners ) seemed to need.
Perhaps the reason for my initial choice explains the differences observed by a then total novice, and the difference between the options available ( and I realise I was lucky enough to be able to afford that choice ).
I now own an old Erika. I love the sound but do find it harder to play. Obviously I missed out on years of bicep building!
Q

[Winston Smith]

"the age of the average starter player is now quite old and therefore, on the whole, they have more disposable income and 2) they all play 'expensive' Italian boxes. I think 1) drives 2)."

My thoughts exactly! The newly "well-off" (either by dint of age or just having inflationary incomes) are ruining a great number of the poor folk's traditional avenues of pleasure. Old Land Rovers can no longer be bought for less than a week's wages, and the same goes for any "classic" cars, which could be picked up for less than a hundred quid just a few years ago. I'm sure that people with other interests could come up with plenty more instances.
There's something gone wrong with the old adage of " You get what you pay for!" in that, very often, many of us get exactly the same article as someone else pays half as much for, simply because we no longer feel the need to get value for money.

[Tone Dumb Greg]

I think you're right Greg, they were complacent and took their eye off the market.

I started on a Castagnari Tommy, spendjng far more than I'd planned to spend, but it looked to be a better build and the reeds spoke immediately without squeezing really hard and waiting for a sound as all other boxes ( mainly Hohners ) seemed to need...I now own an old Erika. I love the sound but do find it harder to play. Q

Funnily enough, my old 1930's Hohner sounds really easily. Just as easily as the Mory I had for a bit. Even the Chinese Pokerwork spoke really easily and has been favourably commented on for this.

I may just have been lucky. In the case of the old Hohner, it could be Microbot's fettling.

[arty]

Maybe it’s the people who like to play them that are becoming extinct? 
I have had three and I just couldn’t get on with them - the sound....it made me feel like I had eaten too much chocolate! I still have one, a pre-pokerwork C/F, which is the first melodeon I ever had. I shall keep that and I do play it from time to time. The sound reminds me of an old fairground, which is nice but not something I want to hear too much of.
Some sound really nice, I guess it’s the way it is set up and also the player. I listened to one the other day, an old Erika, Eb/Bb and it was beautiful. I listened to that video 3 times over. Beautiful 

[richard.fleming]

It's all a bit circular. The sound of old Hohners is associated with Morris dancing because that's what we've been listening to (or avoiding) for years.

[Steve C.]

Along with Gregs' thinking, I was always surprised that the Merlin and Morgane never caught on.  Also, that the Cap Horn never became available in the States (and when you could find one, they were a bit pricy).
Casta and the other were smart to introduce the Studio, Brincu, etc. as it brought the price points mighty close together.  And for some of us, the Lilly was cheaper that some other boxes when the pound/euro was low vs. the dollar (back in the not so distant day...)
The other thing, to me, was that you could fairly easily order a 4th button start/Anahata scale at no extra cost.
I do still love me some Hohner tho.

[Thrupenny Bit]

Sorry, I missed Leater's earlier comment regarding age and disposable income. I think that is exactly right, and I fit into that category.

Winston I think the build quality and playability of modern boxes show you do get what you pay for.

Greg, mine speak well and easily I just find they don't 'breath' as easily, and quite possibly it is what I'm not used to, my problem not the box's!

[Dick Rees]

I prefer Hohner:

1.  Classic sound.
2.  Price allows purchasing more to cover different keys.
3.  Magic ratio of bellows volume/mass/balance gives a lively feel to the box that I miss in the more expensive, weighty boxes.
4.  Reverse snob appeal...

[Steve C.]

I wonder if the price point issue has any connection with reformed concertina players coming to melodeon.  Nice new Italian boxes are cheap compared to decent, but nothing fancy, concertinas.
And in addition to Dicks perceptive comment (reverse snob appeal!) there is also the "all hat and no cattle" feel of some folks (guilty, been there) carting around a box that we cannot begin to play to its potential. (Though they do sound nice.)

[Lester]

I wonder if the price point issue has any connection with reformed concertina players coming to melodeon.  Nice new Italian boxes are cheap compared to decent, but nothing fancy, concertinas.
And in addition to Dicks perceptive comment (reverse snob appeal!) there is also the "all hat and no cattle" feel of some folks (guilty, been there) carting around a box that we cannot begin to play to its potential. (Though they do sound nice.)

"all hat and no cattle"


or as known over here "all the gear and no idea"

[Dick Rees]

Hohner:

The Hawaiian shirt of the accordion world.

[Tone Dumb Greg]

Hohner:
The Hawaiian shirt of the accordion world.

That's a definite improvement on the Brownshirt image.
Mind you, those Conjunto things are outstanding in their bling. Visually and aurally.

[Helena Handcart]

As a tutor at a few melodeon things I have noticed two things, 1) the age of the average starter player is now quite old and therefore, on the whole, they have more disposable income and 2) they all play 'expensive' Italian boxes. I think 1) drives 2).

I agree and the tendency for beginners to start with a 'posh' box seems to be becoming more pronounced.  Certainly Melodeon Playgroup was wall-to-wall Hohners when we started now we get many beginners turning up with a brand new Castagnari - or at least feeling like they will need to upgrade very quickly in order to improve which is really not true.  It also seems to be more prevalent in the older age group which may well be the result of greater disposable income but also seems to stem from a feeling that they have started too late (they really haven't) and having a smoother box will somehow give a head start or provide a shortcut to improving.

When I'm teaching Absolute Beginners I always try to use the Pokerwork, but they are becoming rarer in the rest of the room.

[Winston Smith]

"all the gear and no idea"

That's a new one on me! My mind would go straight to wearing a "fur coat but no knickers"! But perhaps yours is more apt in this specific situation?

[Thrupenny Bit]

It does occur to me - if you walk around a festival shop  ( ok not now but in normal times! ), do you see many cheaper alternatives than a so called posh box?
If new Pokerworks are scarce or non existent then are there alternatives?
I chose a Tommy simply because it worked so much easier. Perhaps others are experiencing similar situations...Maybe?
If you are not tuned in to melodeons yet, is their choice seen as a safe bet?
Q

[Tone Dumb Greg]

It does occur to me - if you walk around a festival shop  ( ok not now but in normal times! ), do you see many cheaper alternatives than a so called posh box?...
Q

Black Diamond seem not too bad and I like the quality market Italian boxes John has, especially the Olivia