[Alan Brinton]

Thanks for the informative posts, Lowboy. Actually I didn’t miss your earlier post about the Hohner Shop. I just was not looking for a Piano 32 at the time and thought the prices would be higher. But then I got interested in finding a Piano 36, ended up making a successful offer on an old stock Piano 32, got it, really liked it, and then jumped at the Hohner Shop prices and ordered two Piano 26 and two Piano 32 (one for a friend — but it turned out my friend was unlucky and there was only one left). In the back of my mind I’d been thinking about Hohner Piano models based on your and Melodica-Me’s comments on them. You guys are invaluable sources of information and insight. I should have followed up on that earlier. I also bought the used Piano 36 I’ve mentioned and then a very cheap junker Piano 36 ($12.50, actually) for replacement keys and future parts.

You have commented that the Piano 32 is relatively hard to play, which I’m sure it is for what you are doing. But I would say it has a more fragile sound (and mechanisms perhaps), and that I’m finding it easier for manipulating the sound and getting kinds of acoustic sounds out of it that I really like. It’s also easier for me to work on improvisation when I can do that. As there are separate Review listings for the Piano 32 and the HM-32, I will write and cross reference a review after I get to compare the 32 I already have and the one I’ll get in a few days from the Hohner Shop. I fully expect that the two are, as you say, essentially the same instrument.

It’s unfortunate if some more recent Hohner student melodicas have been marketed as “HM”, which just adds to the confusion.