Curtisaneumann
21 posts
Jan 29, 2019
1:01 PM
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I've learned quite a bit about Hohner Marine Bands with all the resources online. I've learned a lot of the different ways to determine when they were manufactured. (six pointed star, cuffs on the hands, Hicksville, NY on the box, etc. etc. etc.)
Is there any similar resources out there for Special 20's?
Specifically what I'm wondering is what years did Hohner use the softer orange case for the Special 20' and when did they start using the hard orange cases for the Special 20?
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SuperBee
5789 posts
Jan 29, 2019
2:20 PM
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I’m not exactly clear on years but the brown cases predate the release of the MS harps, which I think is around 92.
Special 20s were MS when I started playing ‘for real’ in 96. Not too long after they reverted to the way they were before the MS experiment but I didn’t catch on for a long time. The cases have been grey ever since the MS years
The hard cases are later than the soft cases.
I don’t know when the Sp20 was first made but I’m thinking 80s. Could have been 70s. I did start buying harps in the 80s and I remember the soft pvc cases were around in the mid 80s but the hard cases were around by 89 I believe.
All dates approximate and I’m sure there are people here with longer history and better memories than me re the 80s. I got my first harp around 81-2, but it was a Marine Band and was in a cardboard box.
I did own up to 5 harps in the 80s but I really don’t remember what or where they came from.
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The Iceman
3761 posts
Jan 29, 2019
3:05 PM
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Ask them out for dinner and a movie?
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The Iceman
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nacoran
10051 posts
Jan 29, 2019
3:38 PM
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Damn you Iceman. You stole my joke!
Anyway, I think you chill and watch Netflix these days. At least that's what I hear from the few young people not embarrassed to be around me.
Edit- More on topic, the switch to the Progressive line would be another way to date them, but only for the pretty new ones.
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Nate
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Last Edited by nacoran on Jan 29, 2019 3:38 PM
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SuperBee
5790 posts
Jan 29, 2019
5:28 PM
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Sp20 was introduced in mid 70s
Original package would be the soft cover
Hard box introduced maybe earlier than I thought. I saw one post which indicates the hard box was introduced in 1982
So my best try at the approximate timeline is like this:
soft cover 1975 - 1981
Hard brown box 82-92
MS grey box 92 - 98
Handmade, in grey box 98- 2015
‘Progressive’, grey box 2015-
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Gnarly
2617 posts
Jan 29, 2019
6:08 PM
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The ones in the brown cases didn't have screws holding the reed plates on--drift pins into plastic.
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Thievin' Heathen
1107 posts
Jan 29, 2019
7:37 PM
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I have driven the pins out and replaced them with screws on a couple of old SP20's, but it was not really worth the trouble. All you have in the end is a SP-20 from Hohner's bad years. That be the 80's in the brown vinyl snap covers.
Last Edited by Thievin' Heathen on Jan 29, 2019 7:37 PM
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SuperBee
5791 posts
Jan 29, 2019
8:56 PM
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Are you all saying drift pins were used on all the ‘brown case’ Sp20s, both soft and hard covers?
I restored a couple old Sp20s recently, bolted together. I didn’t have cases for them but they were pretty old and I assumed pre MS but maybe they are later than I think.
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Gnarly
2618 posts
Jan 29, 2019
10:14 PM
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I meant the soft cases, but I am no expert on Hohner's dates of manufacture.
I acquired several NOS SP20s with those cases, they were not as good as the current build.
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SuperBee
5792 posts
Jan 30, 2019
12:46 AM
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I am very firmly of the view that current Sp20 production is as good as its ever been, and superior to anything pre 2005.
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barbequebob
3561 posts
Jan 30, 2019
8:37 AM
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BTW, the MS version of the Sp20's, like the MS version of the MB, were ONLY sold in Europe. The Sp20 was introduced the same year as the Golden Melody was and that was in 1974. They started using the large plastic cases around 1985-86.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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SuperBee
5796 posts
Jan 30, 2019
12:02 PM
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Great to have that info, thanks Bob!
Do you know when they made the change to grey cases?
I’m guessing Asia and ‘Australasia’, and probably Africa are “Europe” for the purposes of Hohner distribution.
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Bilzharp
180 posts
Jan 30, 2019
3:39 PM
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I have a fairly decent collection of mostly 60's and 70's Hohner U.S. catalogs and price lists. I show a Special 20 in '74 but not '73. No idea about the case types. I show a Golden Melody in the Sept'73 price list but not the January'73 so it looks like the Golden Melody got a slight jump on the Special 20.
Last Edited by Bilzharp on Jan 30, 2019 3:52 PM
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barbequebob
3562 posts
Jan 31, 2019
9:52 AM
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I know they first used the brown or tan snap cases when they were first introduced in 1974 and in 1985, that's when they used the gray cases similar to what the MB presently uses around that time and also that's when they stopped tuning them to 7LJI and tuned them to 19LJI. Those cases were pretty much identical everywhere to the best of my knowledge. Tho many people think they went to that for stronger cases, like the MB, the real reason for that was because they were cheaper to make.
@Bilzharp --- They were issued just a few months apart but much of the stock didn't see the shores of the US until 1974.
Back in the 60's thru the early to mid 80's, they had distributors in the US, Canada, the UK, and France but once they moved to Virginia in the US, they closed the Canadian offices and I believe they closed all the other ones up around that time as well.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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