Mylodica
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I was talking about the alto, whereas I think you have the soprano Alan? If so, it looks like:
Alto Mylodica = Angel Melodyhorn 37
Soprano Mylodica = Suzuki S-32CAlan wrote:
I’m puzzled about the box warping, since there’s nowhere (in the soprano, at least) for moisture to escape from the inner melodica other than back out through the mouthpiece opening, which I guess means it should be stored mouthpiece end down. But if you’re blowing without a mouthpiece, maybe some of the air and moisture is entering the outer chamber, as happens with my Suzuki M-32.
Yes, it is puzzling. I did always use a mouthpiece. I think the moisture must have leaked out of the air chamber. It used to warp after hours of playing, but when left to dry, would return to a position close to where it originally was…
Kevin, I don’t have the Mylodica anymore, so unfortunately won’t be able to make that comparison video… 🙁
Mine also displays some disappointing woodwork and not much design innovation. As soon as I got it, I was redesigning it. I think the guy at Melodicas.com who was making them died though. But it sounds nice, mellower that the Pianica, even though it wants more air. I have to go back in and tune the thing again, it needs to be in tune with itself at least! I’d also like to carve up the wood or paint it or something. It either need the strap to come off or some little footies added so it can rest on a flat surface. Or add a 1/4 ” mount on it so I can stick it on a tripod. And a pickup would be nice. Oh, enough complaints!
Hello all! I have a MyLodica (the normal one, not soprano) which I love. However, as it’s already 5 years old, it really needs some tuning. Could anyone explain how to take it apart? I unscrewed the two Robertson bolts on the right side of the case and took the end cap off, but the inside mechanism just moves back and forth for 5 millimeters and won’t come out. I tried to look inside the wooden case with a flashlight and couldn’t see anything where it could get stuck, but it just doesn’t move. I don’t want to break it so I’m afraid to use more force. Help me, please!
Hi, Erki. I have the soprano, but disassembly should be the same. The melodica body on the inside slides out. It’s an awkward fit to begin with and is kind of wedged in there. Some who actually play their Mylodicas (as I do not) report warping of the wood, which could explain why your insert doesn’t slide out easily. Some force may be required. What I would do, personally speaking, is pour water in and see if that makes it easier to pull out. We don’t normally think of water as a lubricant, but it can be. I’d try cold water first and then warm water if that doesn’t work. The idea is to get the wood to contract and/or expand and to lubricate. Then I’d be sure that the Mylodica box stands open end down long enough to dry out well. I have not tried to tune mine, so I haven’t taken the insert apart, but there could be a problem with that on account of the spit hole end having been fused.
Some older notes here, since I actually did the swap a few weeks ago but wanted to share:
I bought a broken Mylodica from Reverb, in retrospect wasn’t the best deal but I think it worked out. When it came it had two issues relative to new: the E4 reed was broken off (and everything fairly rusty in general), and the wood around the bottom two screws had stripped out.
The bottom panel was an easy fix, I used epoxy with wood flour since I had it handy but I imagine bits of toothpick and woodglue would have served just as well. One the filler was starting to set in the holes, I pre-drilled just to be sure the hardwood didn’t split, and it’s on quite solidly now.
As for the reed block, I can confirm that the Angel-branded “Melody Horn AM-37K3” melodica I found used on eBay did fit my broken Mylodica perfectly. (Likewise, the old innards went back into the green plastic Angel body just perfectly, including the spit valve. Gifted those leftovers to a young niece who hopefully will enjoy the remaining 36 keys 🙂
Unfortunately the Melodyhorns don’t seem available new anymore, though I found a few potential candidates like the Youngchang YM-NK37 (Korean-made as the Angel was, but different spit valve arrangement) and some unbranded China-manufactured 37 key instruments that looked similar. Hopefully I never need one.
It now works well and sounds good overall, though I’ve been using a new Suzuki as my “daily driver” since that one has a spit valve. At some point with the Mylodica, I’d like to add some rubber feet to the bottom for two handed playing, and perhaps work out some sort of spit valve lever — frankly I’ve yet to get much spit out of the bottom of any melodica anyway so that’s not going to be high priority.
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