Buying Used Melodica and Tubes
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Hi all. English is not my first language so I’m sorry if I have any mistakes.
So I bought my Yamaha P32D about a year ago( pretty sure the pianica is used because I saw some Japanese name outside of the case). I bought this one from Japan with a pretty good price(I’m from Vietnam btw). The long tube has tiny holes on it so I’d buy a new tube. Saw some on Amazon and Ebay but not sure if those can fit the P32D. Has anyone bought those tubes ? Can you give me any advice ?
And also anyone have any experience in buying auction melodica on Ebay ? I’m looking for a Soprano one or a 36-37 keys that’s can perfome ok.
Can’t buy a brand new one because I don’t have lots of money :(.
Thanks for read 😀Hi, Ngo Minh Tan. I have been to Vietnam several times. Beautiful country, great people. I think buying from Japan is your best option. I use the auction buying service, Buyee. Prices are usually low, for example on the Yamaha P-32D, which is widely used by school children in Japan. Maybe that is where you got yours. Shipping is more expensive, but that is generally true of shipping to Viet Nam.
At Buyee, additional items are added every day. I would watch for a while and see if you can get a good price on a Yamaha P-37D. Or one of the past Suzuki 36 key models.
The soprano models I prefer are the 25 key Suzuki models made in the 1970s and 1980s. If you search in the Forums here, for “soprano” and for “Study 25” you will find some photos and comments. The soprano model I have in mind is the companion to the alto Study 25. Most people who play soprano models will probably say the best is the 32 key model now sold by Suzuki. It is hard to find at a low price.
The actual tube (usually white) for most melodicas is the same tubing. The tube sold on Amazon has fittings on the ends that probably will not fit your Yamaha. But it is easy to replace those fittings with the ones from your Yamaha tube.
If you have trouble finding the melodica you want at a reasonable price, I may be able to help you. You can find my email address in my profile.
You will find lots of photos and information about older melodica models if you look around in the Vintage Melodicas Forum.
Do you play the music of Trinh Cong Son, Ngo? I do not care for most recordings of his songs by popular popular singers. Too much orchestration. I prefer a simple presentation and how he sang his own songs. I think they may work well on the melodica.
Thanks for the informations Brinton, it helps a lot !
I’ve been checking out Buyee yesterday, but I don’t know which site should I choose. I saw YH Auction (I thought YH got shutdown entirely), Rakuten,… But I only saw Pianicas that marks as new (mostly P32E). Am I looking in the wrong section or something ’cause I’m looking for a used one. And do you have any tricks for searching in this site ? It’s hard to find a specific melodica… I searched “P-37” and end up with some random things.Do you know how much does a used P-37E usually cost ? And also a used Study 25 ? I think I might get one from my local stores. I searched for some online shop and they sell a lot of Suzuki’s melodica (I don’t know what model are they but I had some picture of them, how can I upload :b).
About the tube, I found one called “PTP-P32” which I think is the official replace tube for the Pianicas. Ebay Japan has some brand new which cost about 350~450yen. I think I’ll search some more about the shipping cost and then I’ll decide 😀
Do you have any experiences buying used melodicas, Brinton ? Maybe some other sites beside Buyee ? My friends told me the shipping cost from US or other nearby countries is much lower than shipping from EU.
Here is a link to where melodicas are on Buyee. It is under Musical Instruments—Keyboars—Other.
http://buyee.jp/item/search/category/22568
When you get there you can scroll through the pages for the most recent items that are being auctioned.
eBay is the other big source, though sellers may not be willing to ship to Vietnam.
I have bought many used melodicas from both Buyee and eBay.
That would be P-37D, not E. The usual cost is about $100 U.S., sometimes with free shipping to the United States from Japan. The price would be lower sometimes if bought directly from Japan, but then there would be shipping fees. But if melodicas are now being sold in Vietnam, buying there might be best. For used melodicas, though, Buyee or another Japanese auction is best for Japanese melodicas.
I like some of Trinh Cong Son’s pieces but I never tried playing them on melodica ’cause I think his songs will be better on guitar. Trinh is a legend in our country. I think that’s why people are over-saturated about his songs.But they should play his songs simple. The more simple the better.
You play jazz, right Brinton ? Can you recommend some fine songs for melodica and maybe some techinique ? I’m obsessed with “Just the two of us” by Bill Withers. Will it works well on melodica ?
The shipping fees is trully a pain in the ass 🙁 It usually cost even more than the actual product.
I found lots of great melodicas with affordable price from eBay but the sellers usually don’t want to shipping outside of EU.You are right, Ngo, Trinh Cong Son songs sound best on the acoustic guitar, as he played them. What he did with his voice, though, makes his performances special. Maybe some of that can be captured with a wind instrument.
I know “Just the Two of Us” but have never played it. There are so many great Jazz tunes for the melodica that it’s hard to know where to begin. “I’m Confessin’ that I Love You” and “I Wish You love” are easy to play and sound good on the melodica. Same for “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Pennies from Heaven,” and “Over the Rainbow.” But there are so many more. You can find lead sheets (melody and chords) for these tunes on the Internet. Free ones if you do an image search.
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