[Melodica-Me]

Great topic Daren, I personally prefer the sound of accordion reed than harmonica reed plates but I do agree that the harmonica reeds plates do provide better air chambers. The Hohner Pro 36 has a good chamber but if you have a small leak it can drain the air right out if not found and sealed. The Solist has a much tighter air chamber than the Pro 36, which makes it a louder melodica, even though the reeds seem to be the same… For over a year I have hoped that the plastic version of the Vibrandoneon would have been released, since Ballone Burini advertises that it would have accordion style reeds as the original Eolina or Vibrandoneon. Being plastic I would assume that the air chamber would be tighter with rubber seal possibly. No dought in my mind that BB would create a great sounding blow accordion as they did with the Eolina and Victoria with the original Vibrandoneon. Replacing a single reed over replacing a reed plate because as the saying goes “one bad apple” has put a bad taste in my mouth if you know what I mean. If and when the new Vibrandoneon is released I do hope that reeds will be readly available to the consumer at a reasonable cost. I recently paid approx. $75 for a reed plate set for my Hammond 44, I can imagine what a set of reeds would cost for the Vibrandoneon. In the case of the Clavietta the biggest issue with its single reeds is volume. If you remove the metal body over the reeds, it is definately louder but the sound is thin with no resonace afforded. In my opinion with all that is given above the Pro-36 is the best alternative for a single reed melodica for most as long as you can get one slight to no leaks.
Melodica-Me
Monsters of Melodica.