Faux Yamaha?
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I recently bought the woodnote in blue and I have not taken it apart — outside and the case certainly are just like the Song Lin.
Experimentation is good. But I don’t know how much sense it makes to spend the same amount of money to check out five cheap imitations as opposed to just buying the established quality instrument, such as a Yamaha P-37D Pianica or a Suzuki M-37C Melodion. In the end, one $100 dollar Yamaha is worth more than five $20 (or $40) Chinese knock-offs. Comparison of sound can also be misleading: immediate impressions about tone are one thing; what kinds of sounds a player can get from the melodica and its versatility are something else. There are many variables that may not be evident until one has been playing the instrument for a while. I have found, also, that how my melodica sounds to me while I’m playing it and how it sounds to others (or to myself when I record it) may differ significantly. It’s not entirely different from beer drinking. Tasting a beer is one thing, drinking a six pack is another, making it your regular for a few weeks is something else. And then: I like Stella and buy it occasionally, but if I drank it every day, I’d get tired of it after a few weeks. I’d never get tired of Guinness.
Alan, Doug, I have been asked many times by newbies to the Melodica, “which Melodica should I buy as my first Melodica” and my answer is always the same, Buy the least expensive Melodica and see if you like it first. More than often I find that if you play the Melodica and you don’t love it, the cost of a really expensive Melodica is going to leave a bad taste in your mouth. But if you end up loving the melodica the move up to a more expensive Melodica it will be a more positive and exciting experience. So with that said a less expensive Melodica has its place in our Melodicaworld. Now for the comparison of a faux Melodica to a name brand Melodica as in this thread, unless you play a quality made Melodica and understand what tone, resonance, intonation, action and response is, then your comparison is going to get lost in translation. Comparing a low budget Melodica to another low budget Melodica is more of a “which one sound more out of tune than the other”. If you play a Melodica like the Yamaha P-37D and compare it to a knock off for a third of the cost including case, and you find it has the same sound, I suggest you buy the knock off until your ears catch up. Trust me I am all for the least expensive melodicas when you are new to the Melodica. For all you that have traveled the road to the ultimate Melodica I would love to know how many melodicas have come before your current favorite Melodica and what were the biggest disappointments.
Melodica-Me
Monsters of MelodicaI agree with the concerns about the cost of experimenting but I feel that some of the expense has gone to introducing others to the melodica. My earliest acquaintance was the hohners as they were so available in local music stores in the 60’s and 70’s in the U.S. But after purchasing 2 new ones, the 32 and 37 , I began to read alot and listen to you tube. Also following Ebay and Amazon caused me to become curious about the wide range now available. With a range now that covers Yamaha and Suzuki I have now a sound for every feeling. I hope we can all be so lucky. Happy New Year everyone,
That is one I was afraid to try as Schoenhut was basically a toy company. Please share more of your experierence sometime, Alan.
I think Melodica-Me is right that if you’re going to become a melodica enthusiast, almost any melodica will suck you in. The 37 key Schoenhut as not bad at all. I bought it to have some kind of keyboard to take to Mexico for a couple of months. Its conspicuous deficiency was that the sound thinned out toward the upper end of the keyboard. I was so taken with the instrument, though, that I knew I’d want to upgrade and so gave it away to the kid who did out lawn work in Mexico and ordered a Yamaha P-32D when I got home.
Many very good melodicas have been designed primarily for children. This is actually true of the P-32D, which is probably the most widely used melodica in Japanese elementary education, in which all children are required to learn to play the melodica. Almost all, if not all, of the innovative Japanese 25-27 key melodicas were designed to be marketed to young children. My guess is that this is also true of the small Italian melodicas.
I remind myself periodically that improving my playing is a much higher priority than finding a better melodica. Anybody with the money can collect melodicas — I do and I do, but it’s hard to become a decent player and humbling to hear what a really good player can get out of even the cheapest melodica.
Finally, experimentation is fun, but for serious differences in sound and playability, I think vintage melodicas are the place to go.
I bought a uaed Schoenhut 37 on ebay today. It was advertised as used but like new. I’m thinking this will be alot like my woodnote. Only this is black with the deluxe carrying case. You are absolutely right when you say they are not comparable with Yamaha but at $18.87 who could go wrong?
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