A Newbie bought a Fever F3048-WH, but no bass key has any sound!

[Farshad]

Hi,

This is my first post here. I bought a Fever F3048-WD at Ebay as my very first accordion. It is so beautiful and looks like new. All piano keys are working with nice sounds (to my armature ears, of course), but strangely non of the bass keys make a sound! the bass keys are not stuck and all of them are reactive. If I push and keep one down, the bellows get empty very rapidly as if nothing is behind the valve. All the bass keys have this same behavior.

Is it a simple repair or this beauty has serious flaws and should be returned?

Any help is much appreciated!

Thanks a ton

 

[JerryPH]

Welcome. Personally, I would suggest you just get your money back and then come here, read up on what to REALLY do to get a fair accordion.

 

[Ventura]

Fever F3048-WH Piano Accordian with 3 Switches, 30 Keys & 38 Bass, White | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Fever F3048-WH Piano Accordian with 3 Switches, 30 Keys & 38 Bass, White at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[debra]

Fever F3048-WH Piano Accordian with 3 Switches, 30 Keys & 38 Bass, White | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Fever F3048-WH Piano Accordian with 3 Switches, 30 Keys & 38 Bass, White at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

And when I go to that listing it says "This listing was ended by the seller because the item was lost or broken."
The OP's description suggests that the accordion has no bass reed blocks installed.

 

[JerryPH]

And when I go to that listing it says "This listing was ended by the seller because the item was lost or broken."
The OP's description suggests that the accordion has no bass reed blocks installed.

I hope they weren't expecting a new and fully functional item! They sell those on Amazon... uhhmm, I don't want to mention manufacturing country of origin, we all have a good idea by the name alone.

A copy and paste of the original comments were also “Like new, barely used, still smells and looks new.” I bet that if there are any bass reed blocks in it... that the bass mechanism was never protected for travel.

Scarey.

 

[Dingo40]

but strangely non of the bass keys make a sound! the bass keys are not stuck and all of them are reactive. If I push and keep one down, the bellows get empty very rapidly as if nothing is behind the valve.

Welcome Farshad!
Of course I can't be sure but, from your description , it almost sounds as if your accordion has been made/adapted to play the Modena/liscio style of Italian music .
In this genre, the bases are not used and are often removed altogether (saves weight?) and trebles are played only on the draw, with the bellows rapidly snapped shut to enable continuing on the draw.
With the bass reeds removed, all the bass buttons together add up to the equivalent of a single gigantic air button .
One avenue for you would be to take up liscio?
Otherwise it could be quite expensive.
As Jerry said, you could try getting your money back?
See here:

 

[Farshad]

First, Thank you all for the valuable information and also for your guidance. Such a nice and warm community is here, do other music instruments have the same vibrant and helpful people around them or is it just with the Accordion?

Anyways, after Dingo's perfect explanation of the situation with this Fever accordion, I eventually decided to keep it, regardless of if I ever play it, because it is so pretty and perfect and also the fact that I just paid $140 for it!

And now, as Jerry said, is time to dive deeper into the wealth of information here at accordionists.info to find the best ways to buy my first real accordion.

Thanks again

 

[kimric]

Fever accordions are pretty rough pieces of work straight out of the factory, but I am pretty surprised that the bass blocks are missing. My guess is that this was a instrument that was damaged in shipping, fixed and resold (minus the bass blocks that had probably broken loose and were damaged) I dealt with a wholesale dealer in the 90's that ended up with some Chinese accordions like this. The boxes would even have parts from other instruments loose in the case.

 

[tcabot]

do other music instruments have the same vibrant and helpful people around them or is it just with the Accordion

Since most people tend to hate accordionists, we kinda have to stick together .

 

[Farshad]

They rip me off again. I bought another one, in " excellent, working condition" and 10 piano keys don't have any sound, others have a hum and scratchy sound with them, bass buttons always play an extra note and bellows are like %80.

If one have $1000, it is possible to buy a decent violin or guitar or electric piano online, with which a newbie can stick for many years of learning, but it is almost impossible with accordion. I humbly think this fact makes a huge wall around this instrument and restrict access to a few. My thoughts was to have an instrument to enjoy playing, mostly for myself, and I still love the voice and the manner of playing accordions, but I think I should go to some cheaper and more accessible musical instrument.

You have a wonderful community here.

Regards

 

[Dingo40]

They rip me off again. I bought another one, in " excellent, working condition" and 10 piano keys don't have any sound, others have a hum and scratchy sound with them, bass buttons always play an extra note and bellows are like %80.

I hate to say it but eBay does have a reputation for rip-off's, sorry
The best way to buy is to never buy unseen: don't hand over any cash until you have personally checked out the item and satisfied yourself as to its suitability!
I don't know enough about online buying to know if you can recover your money on eBay.
Perhaps someone here knows enough to help you ?

 

[Dingo40]

If one have $1000, it is possible to buy a decent violin or guitar or electric piano online, with which a newbie can stick for many years of learning, but it is almost impossible with accordion. I humbly think this fact makes a huge wall around this instrument and restrict access to a few. My thoughts was to have an instrument to enjoy playing, mostly for myself, and I still love the voice and the manner of playing accordions, but I think I should go to some cheaper and more accessible musical instrument.

You should be able to find a used accordion in playable condition for under $1k US: Google accordion for sale on Facebook or Gumtree in your area, then go and check out the instrument in person.
I see there's some (used) accordion dealers in Vermont listed on YouTube: check them out too!
Good Luck !

 

[Ffingers]

They rip me off again. I bought another one, in " excellent, working condition" and 10 piano keys don't have any sound, others have a hum and scratchy sound with them, bass buttons always play an extra note and bellows are like %80.

If one have $1000, it is possible to buy a decent violin or guitar or electric piano online, with which a newbie can stick for many years of learning, but it is almost impossible with accordion. I humbly think this fact makes a huge wall around this instrument and restrict access to a few. My thoughts was to have an instrument to enjoy playing, mostly for myself, and I still love the voice and the manner of playing accordions, but I think I should go to some cheaper and more accessible musical instrument.

You have a wonderful community here.

Regards

"There was a little girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead -
"When she was good, she was very, very good, but when she was bad she was horrid."

A childrens' rhyme which can reasonably be applied to accordions.

With all musical instruments, though, good research and where possible a hands-on trial is highly recommended.

In your case, having no prior knowledge of the matter, best that you seek sound advice from a reputable dealer.

 

[Tom]

They rip me off again. I bought another one, in " excellent, working condition" and 10 piano keys don't have any sound, others have a hum and scratchy sound with them, bass buttons always play an extra note and bellows are like %80.

If one have $1000, it is possible to buy a decent violin or guitar or electric piano online, with which a newbie can stick for many years of learning, but it is almost impossible with accordion. I humbly think this fact makes a huge wall around this instrument and restrict access to a few. My thoughts was to have an instrument to enjoy playing, mostly for myself, and I still love the voice and the manner of playing accordions, but I think I should go to some cheaper and more accessible musical instrument.

You have a wonderful community here.

Regards

I'm so sorry to hear of your bad luck in buying an accordion Farshad. I don't know where you live, or what the market is there. It's so true that eBay is full of bad accordion deals. One has to be so careful. Where I live in Wisconsin it is very possible to buy a usable accordion for less than $1000. I just helped my friend list a beautiful, like new Iorio for $800. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[SteveBox]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck on eBay. If you live in Vermont, consider visiting the New England Accordion Connection and Museum in the northwest corner of Connecticut. I have not been there myself (so this is not a personal recommendation) but I have read many good comments about the place on this forum. Give them a call first to set up an appointment and see if they have some used accordions for sale in your price range. Even if you find nothing you like, as a beginner, you are sure to leave knowing a lot more about accordions.

New England Accordion Connection & Museum - Sales & Museum

New England Accordion Connection & Museum Co. Accordion Music Store and Museum. - A collection of antique and modern accordions.

newenglandaccordionconnectionandmuseumcompany.com

 

[JerryPH]

Depending on where in Vermont you are, it could be a cool 1-2 day event. Last time I was there, I drove from Montreal Quebec to his location (roughly a 5 hour trip each way).

It's an awesome trip, the New England architecture along the way is always entertaining.

The owner's name is Paul, and yeah, I know him personally. Great guy and always gives a fair shake. I've picked up 3 accordions from there already (wow, just surprised myself thinking about that, but it's true!).

He told me that he will be getting one of those gigantic button accordions, the one that starts from your eyes down to your knees (or thereabouts), and the day he gets that accordion, I'll be making a trip down to see that, this is an historic accordion!

 

[Ikesaccordions]

Norteno players often take the bass reeds out to save weight.

 

[Ikesaccordions]

Hi,

This is my first post here. I bought a Fever F3048-WD at Ebay as my very first accordion. It is so beautiful and looks like new. All piano keys are working with nice sounds (to my armature ears, of course), but strangely non of the bass keys make a sound! the bass keys are not stuck and all of them are reactive. If I push and keep one down, the bellows get empty very rapidly as if nothing is behind the valve. All the bass keys have this same behavior.

Is it a simple repair or this beauty has serious flaws and should be returned?

Any help is much appreciated!

Thanks a ton

I see a lot of these where the Player took out the bass blocks to save weight.