Reply To: Trying out the Hohner Shop

This is a good time to give you a follow up report on my experience with the Hohner Shop in Glen Allen, Virginia, USA.
You may recall I sent in two 60s vintage melodicas for repair, adjustment, and tuning. These are tough melodicas to service in my opinion as they are built well (except for the plastic welds that connect the key to the pads). It took about 3 weeks but the Hohner Shop finally provided an email with a written estimate of 100 dollars per instrument. I called Blanca, the customer service rep, with questions. She provided much information but could not answer technical questions. She did however, have the technician call me. Both Blanca and Tim, the technician, were very personable and helpful.
Since one of the melodicas did not require tuning, Tim took 100 dollars off the bill, basically evaluating and fixing one of the medodicas with a broken key for free. That was a nice gesture.
He said they no longer have their melodica tuning machine, so they must tune by hand the way you guys do it.
Their labor rate is $100 per hour.
Both Blanca and Tim said they normally do not service vintage melodicas because it can get expensive. But if your willing to pay, they are probably the best people to try and repair special models or melodicas with sentimental value.
My melodicas are due back soon and I will provide a final report. But it does appear that if you are trying to find a really good HM-926 or HM-927, it might just as economical to by three on Ebay and throw two away than to buy one and try and have the Hohner Shop tear it apart for a complete reconditioning.
Lowboy