Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). It is a subsidiary of Matth. Hohner AG. The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg. Hohner has manufactured a wide range of instruments, such as harmonicas, kazoos, accordions, recorder flutes, melodicas, banjos, electric, acoustic, resonator and classical guitars, basses, mandolins and ukuleles (under the brand name Lanikai). Hohner is known mostly for its harmonicas.

From the 1940s through 1990s, the company also manufactured various electric/electronic keyboards. Especially in the 1960s and 1990s, they manufactured a range of innovative and popular electromechanical keyboard instruments; the cembalet, pianet, basset, guitaret, and clavinet. In the 1980s, several Casio synthesizers (such as the Casio HT-3000/Hohner KS61midi and the VZ-1/HS-2) were sold under the Hohner brand.

Nowadays, Hohner produces harmonicas, melodicas, accordions and recorder flutes.

History

Clock maker Matthias Hohner began crafting diatonic harmonicas in 1857, assisted by his wife and a single employee. 650 were made in the first year.

Hohner harmonicas quickly became popular, and in his lifetime Matthias built the largest harmonica factory in the world.

During the American Civil War, Matthias Hohner distributed harmonicas to family members in the United States who in turn gave them to the soldiers.

In the 1920s, Hohner began manufacturing chromatic harmonicas, which unlike the "standard" diatonic form can be played in any key. Famous harmonicist Borrah Minevitch claimed he sold his design for the chromatic harmonica to Hohner.

thumb|left|200px|The company headquarters in Trossingen

In 1964 Hohner released "The Beatles Harmonica Kit" which was sold in a blister package, much like most Hohner harmonicas nowadays, retailed for $2.95, and help what Hohner calls "bring about a new popularity upsurge of the Hohner harmonica on both sides of the Atlantic.".

Matthias Karl Eduard Hohner, son of and a direct descendant in fourth generation and name bearer of the founder , was one of the last members of the Hohner dynasty involved in managing the family business, he worked since 1968 at the company and in the 1980s he became the president till 1986 when he left the company. His son Matthias Francisco Hohner belonged to the first generation of direct descendants who did not enter into the family business. Many direct descendants of the founder are still active as members of the "Deutsches Harmonika Museum" and the "Hohner'sche Familienverein".

In 1989, a controlling interest in Hohner was acquired by Kunz-Holding GmbH & Co., a German wood products manufacturer. Kunz obtained 67 percent of the public firm, with the Hohner family retaining an 8 percent stake.

In 1997, the Taiwanese company KHS Musical Instruments bought a majority holding in Hohner from Kunz via the Tortola based HS Investments Group. By 2012, HS Investments Group held a 75% stake in Hohner.

Diatonic harmonicas

Marine Band

"The Marine Band" is the base model of the line. Technically named the Marine Band 1896/20 for the year it was introduced and the twenty reeds it possesses, it has been the basis of a number of Hohner's harmonicas over the years. It also has some tuning variations like the 1896N (natural minor key) and the 1896H (harmonic minor key).

The Marine Band has been Hohner's most popular model of harmonica for generations. Made in Germany on a wood comb, most blues and rock artists play a Marine Band. Several noted users are Bob Dylan, Brian Jones, John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Little Walter and Neil Young. There are various subdivisions of the Marine Band.

The Special 20 (#560) was introduced in the mid-1970s. It has the same reeds as a Marine Band, but it has a plastic comb instead of a wooden comb, and rounded edges. It was the first Hohner harmonica to have a plastic comb, which not only made the instrument more airtight, but also eliminated the swelling wood combs go through as they moisten from use. Made in Germany, this model quickly became the preferred choice of many rock and blues players. Now, most harmonicas being manufactured from all companies are based upon the Special 20. Its most noted user is John Popper, who appears on the blister. Like the 1896, the Special 20 also has tuning variations available, like the #560C in country styled tuning, and the #560N in natural minor. In the 1990s, Hohner made the Blues Harp part of its Modular System (MS) line. This new Blues Harp lost its uniqueness, and is interchangeable with the other models in the MS line, but it currently remains the standby of many players who use MS harps.

The Pro Harp features lacquer-coated cover plates with a glossy black finish and a plastic comb. Since its inception, it has become a very popular model among rock and roll players. The Pro Harp was another model that was in Hohner's handmade line of harmonicas, and was later adapted to the modular system.

The 225 - Deuce and a Quarter was a limited edition harmonica on the modular system that was put out in 2007 and 2008. It was made on a black plastic comb, with chrome-plated reedplates, and black powder-coated coverplates with art resembling a vintage car's hood-emblem. It was available only in the key of A.

Other diatonic harmonica models

The Old Standby is another model beloved by generations of harmonica players. Up until the 1990s, this model was a quality instrument made in Germany on a wood comb. Where the Marine Band was the choice of blues players, many country music players such as Charlie McCoy preferred the Old Standby. In the 1990s, Hohner began manufacturing this model in China on a plastic comb with a significant decrease in quality. Among harmonica fans the downgrade remains unpopular. and tremolo harmonicas.

Chromatic

thumb|200px|Hohner "Super Chromonica"; case marked "No.260 1/2" (model); images top-to-bottom show the case top, harmonica top, case bottom, and harmonica bottom/obverse

The Chromonica, no longer in production, contained forty reeds and played 2½ full chromatic octaves. This was the original Hohner chromatic model, available until recently in C or G.

The Discovery 48 an entry level chromatic harmonica, aimed at beginners. Contains forty-eight reeds featuring full length cover plates, the same 1.2mm reeds found in the deluxe and a reversible mouth piece.

There is also a Super Chromonica 270 which contains forty-eight reeds and spans three octaves.

The Super Chromonica 270 Deluxe is an updated improvement on the Super Chromonica, featuring tighter reedplate fixtures, thicker reedplates, round holes in its chrome-plated mouthpiece, a smoother slide mechanism which can be remounted for left-handed use, and a round-edged comb for more comfortable holding. The cover plates extend the length of the comb. Essentially, it looks like a bigger version of the original diatonic Meisterklasse introduced in the 1980s (but which was later revised for the MS series reed plates).

Tremolo

On tremolo harmonicas each channel has two reeds for each note, i.e. one pair for blown notes and another pair for drawn ones, each pair tuned slightly apart from one another to produce a tremolo sound.

Toots Thielemans

Jazz player Toots Thielemans also has a chromatic harmonica line with two types being Mellow Tone (for classical material) and Hard Bopper (for contemporary material).

Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder, plays both Hohner the 64 Chromonica and Super 64 with four-octave range on all his records since the 1960s.

Steven Tyler

Aerosmith's front man Steven Tyler has two types of diatonic harmonicas. An Artist Series and a Signature Series with the latter being more expensive.

Bob Dylan

Folk musician Bob Dylan also has a Signature Series diatonic harmonica as well as a Collection which features seven harmonicas.

Guitars

Guitars were produced under the Hohner name from the late 1950s until around 2015 when the company withdrew from the guitar market. During that period, guitars were commissioned or designed by several of the Hohner companies including those in Germany, USA, United Kingdom and France.

History of guitar production

The earliest documented Hohner guitars were made for Hohner London (the trading name of the UK subsidiary M. Hohner Ltd.) around 1960. The first guitars were named after London districts (Kingsway, Farringdon) with a second run of guitars having more exotic names (Amazon, Zambezi). By 1962, Hohner London focussed on distributing Kay guitars and production of their own guitars petered out.

The US subsidiary M. Hohner Inc had an existing relationship with the Sano Corporation of New Jersey to make accordion amplifiers under the brand name Contessa. In the 1960s, Sano also imported Zerosette guitars from Italy and they started to be badged as Contessa for sale by Hohner. By the late 1960s, a range of solid body, semi-acoustic and acoustic Contessa guitars were being offered in the US and Europe. Guitars were sourced or commissioned from manufacturers including Eko, Framus and others. Steve Vai's first guitar was a Contessa HG-200.

During the early 1970s, production of especially classical and folk guitars continued under the Contessa, Contessa By Hohner and Hohner Contessa names. By 1974 (and probably much earlier) at least some guitars were being sourced from Japan. In 1974, M. Hohner Inc. registered Hohner International as a trademark for use on musical instruments. The Contessa name was dropped with the exception of a small number of classical guitars. From 1975, most guitars had the Hohner name on the headstock and Hohner International branding on the soundhole label of acoustic guitars. Guitars were then produced under the Hohner brand from around 1975 to 2015, when Hohner withdrew completely from the guitar market.

By 1975, guitar production was entirely in Japan. Around 1976, the 300 Limited Edition series and the 700 series acoustic guitars were added to an expanded range of classical, folk, concert and dreadnought guitars. In 1977, a range of electric guitars was introduced consisting mainly of replicas of popular Fender and Gibson guitar and bass models. Some electric guitars were made at the Moridaira factory in Matsumoto, some acoustic guitars were made at the Terada factory, with the remainder made by unidentified factories.

Some acoustic guitar production started to move to Korea as early as 1978 although electric guitar production remained in Japan until at least 1983. By 1985, new ranges of Korean made electric guitars were introduced - the budget SE range (known as the Arbor Series in the United Kingdom) consisting mostly of Fender and Gibson copies; and the Professional range which included headless basses and guitars based on technology licensed from Ned Steinberger as well as the ST (Stratocaster and Superstrat style guitars), TE (Telecaster style guitars, including reissues of the Prince guitar), and L (Les Paul style guitars) models which would form the core of the Professional range for years to come. These guitars were made at the Cor-Tek factory in South Korea, more commonly referred to by their in-house brand Cort Guitars.

In 1990, the English guitar maker Alan Entwistle joined Hohner UK bringing his ATN tone shaping circuitry. In 1991, this was incorporated into the existing ST59 model as the ST59-ATN and into a new model, the JT60-ATN. The popularity of these models allowed Hohner UK to influence guitar production for the next few years, introducing the Revelation series of guitars which were designed in the UK and made at the Delicia factory near Prague and in 1994 setting up a Hohner Custom Shop in Bedwas to produce made to order variations of guitars. To differentiate budget models from the Professional Series and other higher end guitars, the brand Rockwood by Hohner was introduced in the mid-1990s.

Notable guitar models

Hohner London Kingsway (1960)

This is probably the earliest Hohner guitar, dating to the second half of 1960. It features a hollow construction, a birch neck and a single pickup. The pickups and electrics were made by the Weill company who had previously worked with Burns London and assembly was probably by Stuart Darkins, a furniture manufacturing company.

Musician Prince bought a Hohner HG-490 guitar in the late 1970s and it was said to have been his favourite guitar. Although very few original models were made, Hohner and others have since made many other versions starting in the early 1980s. Hohner reissues include Hohner THE Prinz, Hohner TE Prinz and Hohner The Artist HTA490.

Prince himself had multiple luthier copies of the guitar made, some of them indistinguishable from the original. As such, it's difficult to be definitive about when he was using an actual Hohner guitar.

B2 (1985)

The Hohner Professional B2 was a headless bass introduced in 1985. It used a bridge licensed from Steinberger and was available with passive or active pickups, the latter designated B2A, as well as a five-string active version designated B2AV. The B2 proved a popular alternative to the much more expensive Steinberger headless basses and remained in production until at least 2012.

JT60 "Hollywood" (1991)

The JT60 was designed in the UK but produced in Korea from 1991 to around 1996 and was an offset guitar similar to a Fender Jaguar but with a Fender Stratocaster pickup and control layout. It was designed by Alan Entwistle, who had recently joined Hohner UK, and features Entwistle's own ATN tone circuitry to emulate different guitar types. The first production models were displayed at the British Music Fair in June 1991 where orders for it greatly outstripped those of the more conventionally Stratocaster-shaped ST59 ATN model which had been produced because of fears that the JT60 was too unconventionally shaped.

Accordions

The Hohner Electravox is an electronic accordion made in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which has one channel (combined left hand and right hand) or two channel (separate left hand and right hand channels, which enables independent volume changes), 92 bass/chord buttons, keyboard percussion effect for the bass buttons and keyboard, a vibrato effect (with slow/fast options), and a separate power supply unit, which sits on the floor. The Electravox had 16', 8', 5 1/3', and 4' registers.

  • John Sebastian – The folk, rock and blues harmonica player has primarily played both Hohner Meisterklasse and Marine Band harmonicas, sometimes with customizations.
  • Neil Young – The rock, country and folk harmonica player is known to play a Hohner Marine Band in the key of G.
  • Bobby Darin – The multi-faceted artist released the Blues album "Commitment" in 1969. Several of the album's songs (including "Me and Mr. Hohner") rely heavily on his use of harmonicas.

References

  • Official website
  • NAMM Oral History Interview with Past President, Horst Mucha (2004)