[Alan Brinton]

My wife keeps asking how many melodicas I have now, a question I refuse to answer. It has gotten beyond being a marital issue, however! Except that she says they’ll all go in the dumpster when I go on to my reward.

I don’t have a Pianetta. The Utava I got on eBay, but it was inexpensive. It’s a novelty item, though it does play. The first octave isn’t too bad. The Pianetta was made in Italy, the Utava in Czechoslovakia, but the design is clearly the same except for the number of keys. I think these were being played in the background when the Berlin Wall came down. The Pianatto and the Guerrini also seem to be the same as each other. I suppose we’ll never know the history of all these Hohner inspired models.