Fact

Upon request,
I contributed quite a bit to this project and much of what I contributed was later proposed by others who took credit.

Gilbert Reyes ( and others ) are/is now fully aware of this.

The one thing Mr Reyes said they would not do, change the reeds to a better quality as it would remove the signature Hohner sound

Fact.

"said they would not do, change the reeds to a better quality as it would remove the signature Hohner sound"

Probably so, but doesn't Hohner have better quality reeds of their own? If so, wouldn't that give better performance and keep the tone?

You know what's funny? A year ago I tried a box that was modified (for fun) by Tim, one of Hohner's techs. It was a Corona. He had added buttons to the keyboard, modified the bass, and most crucially, tuned it. I don't know what kind of magic he had worked, but I thought he had put special reeds in the box -- nope, just standard Hohner reeds. Amazingly responsive.
A good tech/tuner can really work wonders!

It's no secret to anyone who's piddled with these contraptions that there is an aweful lot of room for tricks of the trade, lots of little variables that make a difference. Boy I'd love to apprentice with someone like that for a bit.