I had the exact same problem. I got a replacement spoon from a Hohner dealer, and it was a snap to replace it. A bit later, I sent the box to Charlie Ortego in Lake Charles, and among other upgrades he replaced the entire bass box with a "real" Cajun style one (reusing the reeds).
I think I still have the old spoons around somewhere if you aren't able to find them somewhere.
The quick and dirty repair is to use a safety pin as a spring.
If you can get a bass box(the small "box" where the bass buttons are)from one of those cheap chinese boxes, you can easily replace it for the Hohner "spoon box" yourself. You need to drill new holes for the box and fill the old ones with glue to prevent air leaks, but it's an easy fix. You don't have to do anything with the reeds, just make shure you line up the holes in the frame with the right bass box compartment.
Perhaps there are someone out there that has a broken chinese box or just the bass they want to sell ? I've already moved my chinese bass box to a Hohner.
The April 2011 Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week
