Hi Josh, at great risk to my standing with this group (as if I even have one) I do have a Hohner Ariette I would be willing to sell you. Now this may cause great derision to be heaped upon my fragile novice musicians ego, but it is in my humble opinion a pretty decent little box for someone just wanting to start out. Now, nothing like a handmade of course, bellows are stiff, buttons sluggish as compared to a better quality, but for someone wanting to learn the basics and see if they would enjoy learning, it is a great box. Really does sound quite nice, although very wet tuned as compared to traditional cajun. I played mine about 6 months before my Bon Cajun arrived. If you want to try it out, let me know. I payed $299 new as are most prices on the net. I'ld let you have it for $199 plus shipping.
Hope it's ok to post this to the group, but I wanted to open it up for comments in case anyone wanted to provide input. Maybe another Chinese/LA debate would get everyone's minds off the trolls
Thanks Hal. I'm not sure if I want to go the Ariette route. After chattin on here with some folks I think the least I want to go is the Hohner 114 on Marc's site.
If you don't mind me askin, how much was your Bon Cajun?
I payed $1395 for my C, then last year a got a D and I think that was 14-something. That was a bit more because it was curly maple. Let me know if you change your mind about an Ariette. If you never played before it really isnt a bad box to start out on. I enjoyed the heck out of it.
A friend of mine is selling a German made ( not Chinese ) HA 114B in C, but he's in the UK, so shipping may be dearer.
He wants £325 - ish , so double it for US dollars.
I'll send you his e-mail when I find it.