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A man untrammelled by modesty! |
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Melodeons I am a confirmed sufferer of MAD (Melodeon Acquisition Disease) and this page shows a gallery of those I have loved and some others :-). They are tagged Sold for those that have passed on to others or Current for those I am still providing a home for. |
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Hohner 1 Row 4 Stop My first Melodeon was the Hohner 1 Row 4 Stop in G. If you are considering learning the melodeon DO NOT start with a 1 row they are much harder to play than a two row and will teach you bad habits. |
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Hohner Pokerwork Having learned that a 1 Row is not the best starting place for melodeon playing I bought the then current instrument of choice for an aspiring morris musician a Hohner Pokerwork. |
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Hohner Pokerwork C/C# At a moment of madness I bought a C/C# Pokerwork and learned to play in C and C# :-) . Did not keep it long |
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Hohner Erica I then part exchanged my original Pokerwork for an Erica, just like a Pokerwork but more comfortable to play. I seem to remember having more than one as I had a red one and a black one. |
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Castagnari Studio Then came the dawning of the expensive Italian melodeon era. I bought a Studio because I thought it was a good idea. |
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Castagnari Lilly After 1 week with the Studio I realised it was just an expensive Pokerwork and took it back to where I bought it and upgraded to a Lilly. Still one of my favourite melodeons. |
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Castagnari Mignon (name drop warning) I saw someone playing a Mignon somewhere and fell in love. Had mine made to special order so that it plays with the normal octave fingering rather than the normal upper octave fingering. Andy Cutting imported it for me. For a video follow this LINK |
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Castagnari Tommy It has a single stop in the treble end which brings in an additional reed one octave below the other two reeds. I have had this melodeon modified to a non standard keyboard layout which can be seen here . It gives the advantages of access to both the normal accidentals at the top of the keyboard plus the low notes that are usually lost due the inclusion of the accidentals. The highest reed on the D row has been reversed as it is more often used to provide the F# when playing in G so I prefer it to be on the draw. In addition I have removed the thirds from the chords, to provide chords that can sound either major or minor dependent on the context of the tune, and the low notes from the basses to give a more subtle sound to the bass accompaniment. |
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Castagnari Mory Came into some money so bought a Mory. Found it too heavy plus this particular one was undoubtedly the worst made Castagnari ever made (their equivalent of a Friday afternoon British Leyland car) :-( |
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Castagnari Lilly As I said above one of my favourite melodeons so I bought another one when I sold the Mory. But I again sold the Lilly to finance my next concertina. Still regret it. |
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Castagnari Max As I always enjoyed 1 Row 4 Stops I thought a Castagnari Max would be a good idea and that I would get used to the incredibly badly placed air button. Turns out it wasn't a good idea because I didn't get used to the air button. |
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Saltarelle Nuage The Max made way for the Nuage a fine melodeon and still my wife's favourite. |
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Hawkins Bazaar Toy Melodeon Great little melodeon in C |
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Hohner 1 Row 4 Stop An addition to my stable that I spotted at Melodeons @ Witney looking a little unloved on the Music Room stall. |
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Jorgina The picture is of a different Jorgina than the one I had but was the only one I could find. Mine was similar but only 8 bass. A really nice melodeon which I saw again recently strapped to a morris musician. |
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Streb eMelodeon 2 Bought for the fun of it after playing Neil Wayne's at Witney one year. Streb Website Will probably sell it on soon as I don't play it enough. For some audio example tunes follow this LINK |
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Saltarelle Conammara 3 Memories of my Nuage drove me to buy this Connamara. I prefer the Saltarelle sound to the Castagnari sound, I love the buzziness , hurdygurdyness of it all. |
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Lester 1 Row My first Ebay purchase, just could not resist a Lester melodeon. Totally unplayable at the moment but is on my list of things to do when I retire in a couple of years. |
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Saltarelle L'elfique Needed a replacement for my Tommy as it was in need of retiring after 15 years of hard use. Decided on another Saltarelle for all the liking the Saltarelle sound reasons. Part exchanged the Conammara 3 for it as the Connamara was too heavy for morris and band work. For a video of me and my L'efique follow this LINK |
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Hohner Liliput Another Ebay purchase. Was in C/F when I got it but had it fettled by Theo Gibb who tuned it to D/G and rewaxed and refaced the pallets. Turned it into a very good box. Been sold on to finance another Connamara 3. |
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Hohner Club Model 1 Accidently bought on Ebay :-). Saw it going for £99 with second left and got it for £101. Love the big fat Hohner sound and the key.s (C/F) For a video follow this LINK |
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Hohner Erica General consensus in the band that although both my Castagnari Tommy and Saltarelle L'elfique are great melodeons they are the wrong sound for an English Ceilidh Band so I bought a newish Erica and very good it is too. For a video follow this LINK |
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Saltarelle Connamara 3 Bought a replacement Conammara 3 of a member of melodeon.net . Finally decide that I seem to buy a particular melodeon 3 years before my skill level is a match for it so sell them on as "never be good enough for this melodeon" only to realise what all the extra buttons, stops etc were for two years later. Well you live and learn. For a video follow this LINK |
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Concertinas A milder case of CAD (Concertina Acquisition Disease) as well |
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Lachenal English Concertina
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Conner English Concertina
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Wheatstone Aeola English Concertina
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Updated - 10-May-2009 |