[Hans]

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Today he came , my Hohner Soprano.

It looks that he / she is “never” been played with!!

Only, and i did not know, there is no box with it [ is that the right name for it ??]

[Alan Brinton]

That is the very first Hohner Melodica, the HM-900 Soprano, Hans, introduced in late 1958. It does look new. If these models are playing well, all buttons working smoothly and no leaks, I would not take them apart. If they do not have an unpleasant odor, I wouldn’t even give them a bath.

[Hans]

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That is good news Alan .

Nice pictures…thanks. !!

What are the difference between this first one and the later ones ??

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[Alan Brinton]

These (including a “student” model) were made well into the 1970s with little or no change in the design. Other later models all have piano style keys.

[Hans]

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I thought there was a difference between the first ones

and the later ones so i could see from wich years they are.

Thanks for your answer.

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[Alan Brinton]

I think the older ones have the logo printed to the left of the lettering, and the more recent ones have the logo on the back. I could probablt figure this out for sure from old advertisements.

[Joanna Funk]

That’s a great present for you Hans! Looks in very good condition. Very cool.

[Hans]

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Thanks Joanna !!

@ Alan….that is possible and sometimes i see on pictures difference in

black and white “nozzle ” [ right word?? ] and model of nozzle

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[Alan Brinton]

“mouth piece”

[Hans]

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“mouth piece”…

Thanks Alan.

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[Melodica-Me]

It is my understanding that the sopranos made in the 50/60’s had the little man playing accordion in the back and the ones made in the 70/80’s had the little man in the front.
Melodica-Me

[Melodica-Me]

To add to my comment, I believe that the sopranos made in the 80’s had the rubber tabs at the rear for moisture release and the 50/60/70’s had the mechanical button.
Melodica-Me

[Alan Brinton]

I have just reviewed old ads, brochures etc. that I have, and I’m still uncertain about the placement of the logo. In most of them the photos are not very clear, but here are a few.

#1) from a late 1970s brochure:

#2) from a 1966 Hohner catalog:

#3) from an early 1960s Hohner catalog:

There are some complications, though. For example, (1) Hohner sometimes used photos from earlier ads or brochures in its advertising. This is a conclusion I drew when collecting and comparing images; (2) It sometimes happens with melodica models from the same time period that there are variations in the same model. Not sure if this is so with Hohner, but it seems to have occurred when a production run ends and a new one is started or when there’s more than one manufacturing location.

If the case or box is shown, this can help to date the melodica. The little green and white sliding cardboard box goes with the one with the logo on back. The vinyl case with the logo on front? I think the box is earlier, which suggests that Oscar is right about the time sequence.

Okay, here’s another one. Probably 1970s since it includes the Piano 32. The logos are on the front. That’s where they also are on the Piano models shown.

#4) https://lucy421.smugmug.com/Other-1/Brochures-ads-etc/i-rxMgcLP/A

[Hans]

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A lot of info and pictures…Thanks!!

What i see is that always the “Student” has the logo

on the front??

I found this two pictures on een selling-site here in Holland.

Two Sopranos with different mouth-pieces and a green Soprano-box

and a red Soprano-box.

Hohner makes an little mess with this ?? ..hahaha

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[Mysha]

So far, I’ve assumed that they ended with these plastics, with the logo on the front. Before that, they were using green boxes, some time after the Altos were added; the logo was on the back on those. Before that, there was no colour-coding, with the Soprano having a red box. Going back even further, there was not even a “Soprano” on the box.

The Soprano that doesn’t show a well-shaped mouth-piece really doesn’t have a mouth-piece at all.

[Author]

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