Reply To: Hohner piano 27 Year of manufacturing?
Hello, Jaime. This Hohner Piano model was in production during the 1980s and continued until about 2011. There was a Piano 26, identified as soprano, and this Piano 27, identified as an alto. The 27 seems to be be rarer than the 26. It is plastic and nicely designed, though not of high quality construction. It is unusual in its sound, softer than most melodicas, and in the fact that sound actually comes out the holes in the bottom rather than just up through the keyboard. If you look though posts here by Lowboy Bootay, who is a blues player, you’ll see that he likes these models and has provided various sound samples demonstrating how he gets blues effects with them. I myself like the unique sound of these models; there also was a Piano 32. If you’re able to play it and have heard other melodicas, you’ll notice the difference right away.
The most likely defect would be leakiness. When you blow into it with no keys pressed or spit valve open, no air should be escaping. This particular instrument is not one of the older ones; it is fairly recent and should not have leakage. Prices on these vary widely. New ones were still being sold a few years ago for $58 by the Hohner Shoppe. I’ve seen used ones for as little as $30 and for over $100 (U.S.).
In my opinion, it is far superior to current generic melodicas such as the Student 32. But I probably wouldn’t buy it for a child.