[Kevin]

“You guys are completely out of control”-Ha,ha,ha true Lowboy, but thankfully we have this site and melodicas to focus it all on, imagine what the world would be like if we turned to mischief!!! 😉

[Benjamin]

Since it is possible to tune and gap the reeds, would buying a cheap melodica with the express purpose of improving it out of the box be a more economical choice?

I recently obtained a Yamaha P32D and adjusted the reed gaps, and the difference in playability blew me away.
So I was considering buying a cheap 37 key like the Schoenhut via ebay, and modding it; for usage with songs that require more keys.

Is this a good choice?
If so, which melodicas would you suggest?

[Rodrigo]

Benjamin, I will recommend a Angel AMEX37K a melodica with a cheap price, this has Korean-made and give you better quality than a Schoenhut. This last one is one more of the generic Chinese melodic, more toy than a plastic instrument and has very sound. According to my opinion. Greetings.

[Benjamin]

Hehe, Rodrigo, you are quickly becoming my favourite person on this forum.

Sadly there doesn’t seem to be a seller who would ship that to me, without a huge shipping fee. Mostly UK sellers, guess the angel melodicas are popular there.
The Yamaha corporation in my country only stocks p25s and p32s (not much either)…
There’s a guy on the local music forum selling his Suzuki M37, for a good price too.

Are secondhand melodicas even a thing? It’s kinda weird to think of sharing something that has been in such intimate contact with someone else.

[Alan Brinton]

I recently posted on the Suzuki M-37. It’s a good melodica, but it is difficult to assemble and disassemble, much more so than the other Suzukis. The metal tray is a much tighter fit on the M-37, and it has to be pried open with screw drivers or other levers, and then it is difficult to get back together. The screw holes also are hard to line up during re-assembly. I don’t know what country you are in, Benjamin, but The Yamaha P-37D can be ordered from Japan for about $110 US delivered, if you look around on Rakuten Global and eBay.

[Benjamin]

I see what you mean Alan, the screws holding Suzuki M-37 together look really small, and probably easy to strip by accident. If I end up getting one, I’ll probably hold off on opening it unless I really had to.

[Alan Brinton]

The tiny screws are the same as on the Suzuki M-32C and A34C and aren’t a problem for those versions if you’re careful and have a good 00x50mm screwdriver. The problem is that the melodica is such a tight fit in the M-37C’s metal tray that it’s hard to get the holes lined up so the screw doesn’t go in at an angle and get stuck and mess up threads. It’s possible to buy assortments of tiny screws (for jewelry, computer equipment, etc.) fairly cheaply, if screw heads or threads do get stripped. Amazon.com has some, and hardware and craft or hobby stores might.

[Lowboy]

I just wanted to let you know I posted a detailed review of the Hohner Melodica Piano 32.

Hopefully I will get to reviewing the Yamaha P-25F and P-32D soon. The more I play the Yamahas, the more I like them.

Lowboy

[Melodica-Me]

Good review Lowboy, a quick FYI most of my melodicas do the same thing after I play them I try to blow them out as best as possible and stand them upright but the keys stick and I have to pat the keys down before I play them.
Melodica-Me

[barb]

In addition to reading “ad copy for a harmonica that reads rich melodica-like tone!!” I look for a day when the spell checker stops trying to correct me when I type the word “melodica”!

Of the suggested criteria to include in a review, I think air tightness, keyboard action, keyboard and tonal evenness, tuning stability, reed response, moisture resistance and ease of playing chords are the things I count on to hear about from players who had experience with the instrument. I agree it may be hard to describe tone color, but think that we should try at least for a few broad categories.

reed moisture tolerance
volume
air efficiency
hand strap
tube
mouthpiece(s)
case
looks/image
tone
evenness of tone
number of keys (listed in description).

[barb]

In addition to reading “ad copy for a harmonica that reads rich melodica-like tone!!” I look for a day when the spell checker stops trying to correct me when I type the word “melodica”!

Of the suggested criteria to include in a review, I think air tightness, keyboard action, keyboard and tonal evenness, tuning stability, reed response, moisture resistance and ease of playing chords are the things I count on to hear about from players who had experience with the instrument. I agree it may be hard to describe tone color, but think that we should try at least for a few broad categories.

[Koshersalaami]

You might want to add Key Noise to the criteria. I mean mechanical key noise. I started on a Hohner Student 32 and it clacks like mad,which my Mylodica doesn’t.

[Author]

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