Hohner

The Clavinet gave funk its signature slap

Hohner is best known as the world's largest harmonica manufacturer, but in the world of keyboards, one instrument secures their legacy in the pantheon: the Clavinet. That funky, wah-drenched, chicken-scratch sound on every great funk and soul record of the 1970s? That was a Hohner. Stevie Wonder made it sing, and the rest of the world has been chasing that groove ever since.

History

Matthias Hohner founded his company in 1857 in the Black Forest town of Trossingen, building harmonicas by hand. By the early 20th century, Hohner had grown into the world's dominant harmonica manufacturer, a position they maintain to this day. But their expansion into keyboards in the 1960s would give them an entirely different legacy in popular music.

The Clavinet was designed by Ernst Zacharias, the same Hohner engineer who created the Pianet (a distinctive reed-based electric piano) and the Guitaret. The Clavinet's design was elegantly simple: rubber-tipped hammers struck metal strings, which were picked up by electromagnetic pickups — essentially the same principle as an electric guitar. The result was a percussive, twangy sound with a sharp attack and a bright, harmonically rich sustain that responded dramatically to the player's touch.

The earliest Clavinet models — the C, L, and I — found a niche in European pop and rock. But it was the Clavinet D6, released in 1971, that became a cultural phenomenon. The D6 had two pickups (one near the bridge, one near the nut) and a set of rocker switches that combined them in different configurations, much like pickup selectors on an electric guitar. Run through a wah pedal and an amplifier, the D6 produced one of the most instantly recognizable sounds in all of popular music.

Stevie Wonder was the instrument's greatest champion. His use of the Clavinet on "Superstition" — that impossibly funky, scratchy, syncopated riff — is one of the most famous keyboard moments in music history. But Wonder used the Clavinet extensively across his classic 1970s albums: Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale, and Songs in the Key of Life. He proved that the Clavinet wasn't just a novelty — it was a deeply expressive instrument capable of leading a band, playing chords, and delivering rhythmic patterns with a precision and funk that no other keyboard could match.

Hohner produced the Clavinet through the early 1980s before discontinuing it as digital keyboards took over the market. The Pianet — a quieter, more delicate electromechanical keyboard with reeds instead of strings — also found its way onto many recordings, most notably The Beatles' "I Am The Walrus." But it's the Clavinet that secures Hohner's place in the keyboard hall of fame.

Notable Instruments

Clavinet D6

The D6 is, in essence, an electric clavichord. But calling it that doesn't begin to capture what it does in the hands of a great player. The Clavinet's genius is in its physicality — every note requires the player to physically hammer a string, and the force, speed, and release of that action directly shapes the sound. Light touches produce soft, muted tones. Hard strikes produce explosive, percussive attacks that crack like a snare drum. This dynamic range made the Clavinet the most touch-sensitive keyboard of its era, and it's why great Clavinet performances have a rhythmic precision and expressiveness that synthesizers struggle to emulate.

"Superstition" is the D6's defining moment, but its resume goes deep. Herbie Hancock used it on Head Hunters — the Clavinet riff on "Chameleon" is almost as iconic as its synth bassline. Billy Preston played it on The Beatles' "Get Back." Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones used one on "Trampled Under Foot." The Meters, Parliament-Funkadelic, and the entire landscape of 1970s funk and soul leaned on the Clavinet's percussive attack and rhythmic potential. Run it through a Mu-Tron III envelope filter or a wah pedal, and the Clavinet becomes one of the funkiest instruments ever created — a keyboard that doesn't just play rhythm, it is rhythm.

All Models in Archive (1)

Portable Keyboards

• Clavinet D6 - 1971-1982