[Alan Brinton]

The Hohner Student 32 is a very undistinguished melodica. The Hohners are now all made in China. Hohner has basically chosen the route of maximizing profit through cheap production in China and mass marketing, with an emphasis on cosmetics (flashy color schemes, dorky mouthpieces, and buzzy model names). Some of our members have complained that the more expensive current models don’t sound much different from the cheaper Student or Instructor 32. I am speaking only of current models; the old Hohners were all better.

I know some people will strongly disagree with this assessment, but you asked! If you look under Articles at the top of this page, you’ll find one on buying a melodica. The listing there is not one man’s assessment; it is based on reviews of melodica models by members of Melodica World.