1946 Excelsior

[Sailorbob]

I recently picked up what is believed to be a 1946 Excelsior Excelsiola full size keyboard (4 rocker register) and 120 bass (2 register). It has the number 9694 stamped on the upper back side of the keyboard area.

It’s in amazing shape for its age. Originally purchased by accordionist randall Randazzo in 1946 who use it professionally until 1978 when it was sold to Mark Gerard. I purchased it from him this year.

Upon disassembly, I found a few reed boxes that had detached and some missing or detached leathers. There is some slight corrosion on some of the reads. All easy repairs. The Bellows are in good shape. It now sounds much better.

My question is what is the model of the accordion? There is the number 9694 stamped on the backside of the right hand. My Google searching on the Internet has come up blank.

 

[Sailorbob]

 

[nagant27]

These are excellent accordions in my opinion. I’ve grown to really like the 4 rocker switches. I learned from JimD on here how you can partially open and close them to get other interesting sound combinations. It’s fun to play with. Great reeds in these too. Yours is an excelsiola model 00 which has the 3 bass switches as opposed to the one on the regular 00 model. A great instrument and so undervalued today I think. That’s my 2 cents- I think you’ll enjoy it!

 

[nagant27]

Btw yours looks in great cosmetic shape too!

 

[craigd]

That's pretty modern looking for 1946, but Excelsior was a pacesetter I think. I had a model 40 from the early 60s I believe, and I very much liked the feel of the instrument. It was tone chambered and a little too mellow for my liking. I'm curious about the sound of your instrument. I'm going to keep my eye out for one.

 

[debra]

The keyboard looks too modern for a 1946 accordion. So I think the accordion may be younger. Maybe 1964 instead of 1946? It is a pretty nice accordion nonetheless. The rocker-switch register mechanism is simple (so not error-prone) but makes fast register switching a bit difficult.

 

[Dingo40]

The keyboard looks too modern for a 1946 accordion. So I think the accordion may be younger. Maybe 1964

I second that!
(Also, the font of the "Excelsior " badge, the size of the bellows corners, the look of the bass couplers and the bass button board, and the cladding behind the treble board all suggest mid to late 1960s.)

 

[JIM D.]

A great looking 1950's "00" Excelsior Excelsiola , I have one myself.

 

[NeverMind]

The keyboard looks too modern for a 1946 accordion. So I think the accordion may be younger. Maybe 1964 instead of 1946? It is a pretty nice accordion nonetheless. The rocker-switch register mechanism is simple (so not error-prone) but makes fast register switching a bit difficult.

You're right but it could be modified, Excelsior has moved to Italy in 1948. It was made in USA since 1924 till 1948, this one has USA written on it so I guess it must be pre-1948 model.