1st Accordion: La Tosca Venezia

[James_J]

Hi all,

Having hankered after an accordion for a while, I bid at our local auction house on a La Tosca Venezia (120 Base), never imagining I would get it for the £30 I had in my pocket. Well of course I did and for the the last month have slowly been getting to grips with her, following the Liberty Bellows lessons online and now supplementing that with a couple of books.

Few questions which I am hoping someone will be able to answer:

1) Does anyone know anything about this accordion? I am guess 50s? It has a label with 23C and 03 6501 on it. It's white/creem - if that's any help! It has a cross hatched grill with a square gold area and a medallion in it. Looks slightly nicer than I am describing it.

2) Is it any good?

3) I opened her up today, but as it was rattling and so I assumed the leathers had curled - which they have. Again looking an youtube videos this seems a perfectly doable DIY fix. Taking the time to build a tuning table it also seems possible to do the tuning yourself - is that true or am I being lured by the magic of YouTube? Over all the condition inside seemed very good, I was surprised.

All and any thoughts welcome and appreciated.

James

 

[yc360]

30 pounds sounds like a steal. Had a La Tosca 120 Bass PA before. I fixed it as much as I can. It was OK made. Just didn't like the light bass sound much. And I prefer CBA. Got it from charity auction at a much higher price than yours. Now I donated back. Saw some rather expensive La Tosca on the web before. For 30£ you are already ahead. Enjoy :ch

 

[JerryPH]

Rarely is something as easy t do as it looks on Youtube. Just think... if everyone could fix an accordion, I'd not needed to pay a competant professional many hundreds of dollars to address the "fairly simple" issues I have had in the past. When beginners start something like this, they fall in to 2 categories, the brave and the foolish. Some try and succeed but most try and then end up paying more to not only address their original issues but the additional damage they added themselves.

The hardest thing to do is be honest about your DIY skills, and even then, if that accordion has any real monetary or personal value, don't DIY on your first or only instrument. I practice on an old junker that was given to me, and I still won't work on my Morino, that I leave to an experienced professional.

 

[JIM D.]

Hi Jim;
Is this the model you have ??

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Gretsch-La-...791306?hash=item1ed653220a:g:lCkAAOSwk1haDkQp

or --
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Vintage-40-...hash=item3cfe48215e:m:meFkCLR56kPcUnaNkXjxu5g

 

[Dingo40]

James,
Some thoughts from an old geezer<EMOJI seq="1f642">?</EMOJI>

For most of us, it is very easy to turn a $5 repair into a $50 disaster!

When I was tempted into buying a $20 accordion at a garage sale (many years ago), it ended up costing me some $400+ and a lot of time over several years, as much in fact, as several accordions (each) that were, and still are, good from the start, and have given little or no trouble ever!

Although a thing looks easy, it is rarely as easy as it looks! Myron Floren makes playing the accordion look dead easy, but I’m sure you’ve already discovered different ! So, tuning an accordion, even replacing valves, is full of traps for beginners.
You’re probably much handier than I am, but I wouldn’t try it myself<EMOJI seq="1f642">?</EMOJI>

The bits you need for the job (valves, reeds, wax, specialised tools) are not available at your local hardware store, if anywhere.

Anyway, good luck and go prove me wrong <EMOJI seq="1f642">?</EMOJI><EMOJI seq="1f44d">?</EMOJI>

 

[Dingo40]

Speaking of things looking easy on YouTube, last January I was diagnosed with a blocked gall bladder and recommended gall bladder removal.
I looked this up on YouTube, and there it was: in full colour, a ten minute job from go to whoa!
So I agreed. What could be simpler?
However, in my personal case, the “simple matter” took over two hours and stretched my surgeon (an excellent practitioner) to the utmost, for a successful outcome, I hasten to add.
So, things are rarely as simple (or as cheap) as they first appear!<EMOJI seq="1f604">?</EMOJI>

 

[James_J]

Hi all,

Thanks so much for your replies and apologies for the delay in coming back, I was awaiting an email to say my post had been approved.

I think I will try and get another one either to practice repairs on or to use whilst working on this one. I am chuffed to have got it for so little and to have got a good one as my first, but it isnt much use in it's current state - even if the majority of problems just come from curled valves. Not sure where my handyness rating lies, but I know a claw hammer isn't the perfect tool for every job...

It doesn't quite look like those ebay ones, but I guess the difference could be only in the case. It's two voice. I'll put up a pic. I guess they made lots of models, as I cannot find anything on Google about the Venezia.

James

 

[Geronimo]

Having hankered after an accordion for a while, I bid at our local auction house on a La Tosca Venezia (120 Base), never imagining I would get it for the £30 I had in my pocket.

Well, its like bidding for a puppy. You may get them severely below market value at an auction because nobody else there wants to risk it worming itself into your heart and from there into your wallet before managing to resell it.

It sounds like warnings may be too late, so may I offer congratulations instead? Heres to you not having been too fond of your neighbors anyway!