Hello with identifying and valuing a Pigini accordion

[FinaleGuitar]

Hello and thanks for welcoming me to your forum! I own a guitar shop in Sheffield and have recently been asked by a customer to sell a Pigini 72 bass accordion on her behalf. The instrument was bought in the late 90s and has seen very little use. It's in immaculate condition in its original hard case. What I'm wondering is whether anybody could help me identify it so that I can work out what price to ask for it please? Please do let me know if you can tell me anything more about it!

Thanks in advance,
Nye

 

[debra]

Pigini is a very good brand. A 34 key 72 bass 3 voice (LMM) accordion is a beginner accordion and there are a lot of these for sale. When you look up what such an accordion sells for when new, today, you might be disappointed to see what these accordions go for when they are 25 years old. It is hard to sell a 25-year old accordion for more than half the current price of a new one. (That roughly corresponds to the sale price of the new one 25-years ago, dus to inflation.)
An important property of the accordion is its base tuning. Pigini tunes accordions to 442Hz unless specifically asked to do it differently. As this is a lower end accordion typically bought by or for beginners it is unlikely that the tuning is different from 442Hz. That may make selling the accordion now harder, unless you were to "forget" to mention the tuning...

 

[FinaleGuitar]

Pigini is a very good brand. A 34 key 72 bass 3 voice (LMM) accordion is a beginner accordion and there are a lot of these for sale. When you look up what such an accordion sells for when new, today, you might be disappointed to see what these accordions go for when they are 25 years old. It is hard to sell a 25-year old accordion for more than half the current price of a new one. (That roughly corresponds to the sale price of the new one 25-years ago, dus to inflation.)
An important property of the accordion is its base tuning. Pigini tunes accordions to 442Hz unless specifically asked to do it differently. As this is a lower end accordion typically bought by or for beginners it is unlikely that the tuning is different from 442Hz. That may make selling the accordion now harder, unless you were to "forget" to mention the tuning...

Hi Paul. Thanks very much for your help! Looking at the current range I think it must be a Preludio P36 which seem to retail at around £4,500. The owner was looking for a minimum of £2,000 so it seems we might be in the right general area price-wise which is encouraging! Perhaps I will list it on the sales page here and see if there's any interest . I'm surprised to hear that Pigini tune above concert pitch! Is there a logical reason for that other than preference?

 

[debra]

Hi Paul. Thanks very much for your help! Looking at the current range I think it must be a Preludio P36 which seem to retail at around £4,500. The owner was looking for a minimum of £2,000 so it seems we might be in the right general area price-wise which is encouraging! Perhaps I will list it on the sales page here and see if there's any interest . I'm surprised to hear that Pigini tune above concert pitch! Is there a logical reason for that other than preference?

I think that £2,000 may be a stretch, but if someone really wants the Pigini it may be possible.
Manufacturers do not specify how they tune accordions when the customer does not ask for a specific tuning. I know Pigini and Victoria tune to 442Hz by default and Borsini used to do the same. Russian bayan makers also tune to 442Hz by default. Bugari tunes to 440Hz by default. In the past, say 5 or 6 decades ago it was quite common for accordions to be tuned somewhere between 442 and 444Hz. Hohner was an exception, tuning to 440Hz.
In many countries symphonic and philharmonic orchestras use 442Hz nowadays, so accordions tuned to 442Hz blend in well.
The existence of different tuning would not be a real problem if one of the first things everyone were to learn about music is the different tunings and the importance of knowing which tuning you need to play with other people. But nowadays still 99% of people who start learning the accordion do not know there are different tuning frequencies, and in countries where for instance Bugari and Pigini are popular people are confronted with accordions that do not go well together and they don't know what is the cause of the problem.

 

[Thomas N]

That's around $2600 US. More than a stretch. This accordion appears to be in marvelous condition on the outside. The case and straps look great. No blemishes and a great accordion brand.

It's still a student model, however. Small, 34/72 with only two bass registers. It would be a nice pickup for somebody just starting out. Somebody linked an Excelsior 960 5/5 professional model in incredible condition today selling for $2750 US. Apples and oranges, perhaps, but that's what you're up against.