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[waltzman]

Someone gave me an old  48 bass Hohner student VB piano accordion.  It seems to be in good shape.  The reeds appear to me to be  LM two voice.  I haven't ventured inside of a PA before.   My question is when you tune a LM two voice instrument Is it done the same as MM.  In other words if you want some tremolo can you tune the M reed sharp a few cents to create the same tremolo effect as MM?  In principle, it seems like it would work the same way but I've never done it.

Thanks,
Michael

[RGF]

OK, I'm going to duck the tomatoes here and admit that I'm an old PA guy from way back in the fifties.....hope I don't suffer banishment!

Are you sure it's LM configuration? All of the old Hohner student series I've seen are MM, which are typically tuned M/M+. I don't know that I've ever encounterd a Low/Middle PA, Hohner or otherwise, that was not dry tuned, straight L/M, both on pitch. Most with three switches. You know....."violin", "bassoon", or "bandoneon".

But I could be wrong........it's happened before!

Bob

[RGF]

oops. Don't know why that picture's so small. It's supposed to illustrate the treble side of a Hohner Student that's currently on ebay, showing switches for M and MM. You'll have to take my word.

Bob

[Theo]

The VB is a LM version of the Hohner Student.   Rare instruments, great if you want the octave sound, but as RGF implies LM tuned with tremolo can sound a bit peculiar.   I'll swap you a set of MM Hohner Student reedblocks if that's what you would prefer.

[waltzman]

The VB is a LM version of the Hohner Student.   Rare instruments, great if you want the octave sound, but as RGF implies LM tuned with tremolo can sound a bit peculiar.   I'll swap you a set of MM Hohner Student reedblocks if that's what you would prefer.

Thankyou for the offer but I think I'll stick with the LM.  I realized after I posted the inquiry that it has switches to play the L and M reeds separatley or together so it would only make sense to tune both on pitch.  Perhaps the "B" in the VB is for bandoneon?

[triskel]

The VB is a LM version of the Hohner Student.   Rare instruments, great if you want the octave sound ...

Theo,

I don't think I've ever seen a VB in the British Isles, but I suspect they might be not so unusual in the US because plenty of piano accordions made for the American market seem to have been in octave tuning.

[RGF]

Having grown up learning PA during its heyday here in the States, during the 50's and 60's, I will concur that the vast majority of instruments were LM or LMH. Our parents just were not very fond of that "old world" sound of MM!

But for all the attention I've paid to ebay U.S. over the past six years, as well as the likes of Craig's List, and online vendors of used instruments, etc., (I'm a window shopper!), I've never seen a VB over here, either. Hence my ignorance to the fact that such a thing even existed.  The Student VM (and similar), while still not terribly common over here, do at least turn up on occasion.

Bob

[Theo]

I've seen one only which I bought a couple of years ago from somone who lived about 5 minutes away. I think it had been in that family for many years.