Review: Hohner Student 32 Melodica

Improving upon Hohner's older Piano 32 model, the S32 offers better key action and stronger tones, and is a bargain at $35. The Hohner S32, as its name implies, has a 32-key range, covering about an octave and a half. Compared to the older Piano 32, the S32's body plastic feels cheaper, and the keys are not entirely flat -- a few are slightly sunken compared to the rest.

While Hohner has obviously cut a few corners to make this model cheaper, they have inexplicably improved key action and fixed issues with sticking and clacking keys. My old model had flimsy action that felt nothing like a regular keyboard; the S32 has a springy action, large, attractive keys and no clacking whatsoever.

As with some budget melodicas, this one had issues with its reeds. A few were slow to respond -- a problem that plagues Hohner's more expensive instruments as well -- and others sounded distorted and ugly. Reed problems are strictly mechanical and are rarely beyond fixing -- just realign the buzzy ones so they are in line with the air holes, and push the slower ones closer to the air hole to increase response.

Intonation on my melodica was acceptable, with a few notes running very sharp. As with reed alignment, this is an easy fix, but it means investing your time in getting the melodica up to par.

The reed plates inside the melodica are modular -- for an alto instrument, they will add a plate with the lower notes. The smaller plate in my melodica was fine, but the larger one was badly tarnished. I'm not sure how that will affect performance in the long run.

Additional parts that come with the S32 include an angled mouthpiece -- a big improvement over the straight one that used to come with the Piano 32 -- and a more flexible tube for table- or lap-top playing. The zippered case is constructed a bit cheaply in the details, but is overall very solid considering the price range.

Sound

Aside from the slow, or buzzy, or out-of-tune reeds, the S32 has a loud, brassy timbre, closer to an accordion than a harmonica. The low end isn't as full as the Piano 32, but the highs are more mellow and not as piercing, either. Dynamic control is better on the S32 than the Piano 32, and I don't have to worry about bothering the neighbors with this model.

For acoustic jams, the volume is more than enough for dub lead lines or simple back-beat skanking. I would expect to mic it for a show with electric instruments, of course.

Final Verdict

If you can invest the time and effort into bringing the S32 up to par, it's a steal, especially compared to the older Piano 32 model. But expect some problems with it out of the box, keep you expectations low and you'll have an excellent melodica.