[Clep]

Hi! Just got a (60’s era?) Hohner Melodica Professional 36… it needs a little repair and such, but the reeds are in fantastically clean shape considering the age… except for the low C which is snapped off.

Is there any hope of finding a replacement reed somewhere, or should I be focused on finding another old HMP to scavenge a reed from? (They are individual reed plates.)

Anyone have either a reed or old/broken HMP that they’d like to sell?

Thanks for any tips!

It’s a great-looking melodica and sounds tantalizingly good so far… I’m excited to get it playing again.

[Melodica-Me]

Hello Clep, is it the Hohner professional 36 or Piano 36. These are two different monsters. In either case the best bet is to find a second Melodica for parts. The Piano 36 with a multi reed plate and the professional 36 with individual reeds. If it is the Professional 36 I can check and see if I have an extra reed in my shop, if it’s the Piano 36, I do not have an extra plate.
Melodica-Me

[Clep]

Thanks MM — Yes, it’s a professional 36: wooden, individual reed plates, etc. I would greatly appreciate you checking to see if you had a reed: it’s the low C. Thanks so much!

[Alan Brinton]

The Professional is tricky to work on for various reasons, Clep, including having the tiny old screws break off. The reeds are usually in good shape. I have one like that. It probably makes more sense to sell it to someone who wants one for parts (though it could be fixed) than to start parting it out. On the other hand, it could be fixed by someone who can deal with the screw situation. If you’re interested, you can find contact information in my profile. The value of a reed one needs is, of course, way out of proportion to the value of a “parts” instrument as a whole.

[Clep]

Thanks, Alan — I’m pretty handy and have worked on / tuned a few melodicas so I think I’m up for the challenge. It’ll be a learning experience at any rate. 🙂 And fortunately I think I don’t need to get in to it much at all, so hopefully I can avoid messing with too many breakable screws: just need a new C reed, put one of the pads back on, and glue a key top back on. Then I’ll see where it stands… the reeds look like they’re new — I was really surprised. I expected a mess in there and it looks really clean. One of the reeds looks like it may have been replaced in the past (different color pitch around the reed, tool mark near it, etc). The action of the keys is not perfect, but I think I can live with it, and it doesn’t seem worth getting in to the key bed which does look like kind of a pain.

[Clep]

Incidentally — are the reeds in this thing stainless steel? They aren’t the brass I’m accustomed to seeing in melodicas.

[Melodica-Me]

Hello Clep, sorry I do not have a lower C reed. Did you buy this Melodica on eBay about a week or two ago? I am always looking for these for parts. As Alan states these are a little bit of a pain to work on but once you understand how things go together it’s not to bad.
Melodica-Me

[Clep]

Thanks for checking! Yep — got it off eBay. We were probably competing bidders. First one I’ve seen for sale there, so I guess I’ll be waiting a while on this project. 🙂

(Unless anyone else here has a low C reed or a professional 36 they want to sell for parts!)

[Melodica-Me]

Clep, I did not bid, it went for a little over what I wanted to pay for a parts only melodica. If you hang in there you may find another for parts or use the one you just picked up for parts. I bought one that I was going to use for parts, when it came in I decided to keep and restore that one as well as it only needed minor work. When buying these vintage melodica on Ebay, you just never know what you are going to get.

[Clep]

I’m assuming it’s a lost cause trying to frankenstein reeds from other things (e.g. accordions or other melodicas) into these, yeah? There would likely be an obvious difference in tone, yeah? (Not to mention size of the reed, etc.)

[Melodica-Me]

It is almost impossible to substitue a reed from another maker, they just don’t sound the same, even a good accordion repair shop will have trouble with this.
I sent a message to Martin Mauer and asked if he has a Low C reed available, hopefully he has one that he can sell you.

here is his email address and web site

his email address is fewakkordeon-maurer.de

https://www.akkordeon-maurer.de/verkauf.asp?id=3&id2=10&lang=1

[Clep]

Thanks! I’ll check with him…

[Clep]

Got a reed from Martin Mauer, thanks for the connection! (It’s not here yet, but I’m eagerly awaiting it.)

[Melodica-Me]

Yes, Martin emailed me yesterday letting me know that he connected with you and had sent the reed you needed. Remember you will need some reed wax to seal any air leaks around the reed. Do not seal with glue or silicone, you want any holes to be fully sealed, it easy. Good luck and give us an update on you progress and let us know how you like your Pro36.
Melodica-Me
Monsters of Melodica

[Clep]

Will do!

In terms of getting out the old reed: sounds like the way to do it is to carefully cut/chip/scrape it out, as opposed to warming the old/brittle wax?

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