Acoustic accordions and amps?

[Alan Polivka]

No, I never do just a 100% hard left/right setup, that may sound somewhat passable on a recording (though still sound odd) but we always want a spread, so that people on the dance floor if they are kind of centered, hear an image where most of my treble comes out on their left sides when looking at me, and inversed for the left hand. For me the magic number is about 35% panned left and right. I do hard pan of 100% L/R on the mixer, but in my accordion setup tweak the settings a little... not much really... over what nearly all the Noel sets or what all the Roland sets/UPG are set to. It's not so drastic that it affects me during times that I am just playing the 8X alone.

That's a good clarification, JerryPH. I didn't mean to imply hard-panning. I don't do that either when I can avoid it. I just wanted to remind folks that they don't need stereo amplification if their accordion only generates a mono signal.

 

[JerryPH]

I didn't mean to imply hard-panning. I don't do that either when I can avoid it. I just wanted to remind folks that they don't need stereo amplification if their accordion only generates a mono signal.

Agreed. My FR-8X and BK-7m both put out stereo signals, hence why I do that.
For gigs where I just may use an acoustic accordion, this setup would definitely be set to all mono... **unless* I had the 2 speakers set to different rooms with different volume needs, so there I would use the mono signal and control individual volumes easily enough via the pan settings, if no individual volume settings were available on the amp.

 

[Alan Polivka]

I've been to see Kimric a few times, when his shop was in Oakland. Fortunately I've only needed a couple of minor repairs.
I'm sure I'll have something better to do the weekend of the Cotati Accordion Festival.
They do have some good players but the majority of acts are garbage, using the accordion as a comical prop.





Dick Contino is a well regarded player but he has no right to have that haircut or wear that shirt.

Dick's hair was, of course, a wig. When I first met him outside of a concert setting, I was shocked to see how different he looked in his natural bald state. (-:

 

[Zevy]

I used to use a stereo output. It turned out to be more of a nuisance than anything. I switched to mono and I never looked back. I can of course still control the right and left volumes separately.

 

[oldbayan]

So...for the first time I'm playing in a band that plays Irish music--so not exactly rock and roll, but everyone is amplified. I'm getting a pickup installed for my accordion by my accordion guy.
But what kind of amp?
I just talked to a friend of mine who plays violin, and he told me it took him almost 40 years to find the right amp that actually made his violin sound like a violin; also that most amps are made for guitars, which generally doesn't work for an acoustic instrument.
Those of you who play in an amplified situation, what kind of amps do you suggest? Weight can be an issue--I already have an accordion to deal with!

I often use a 100-watt Yamaha powered monitor, if offers a plain sound and can be mounted on a stand which projects the sound better. I use also use two small clip-on mics for musical instruments through a small mixing board and can balance the bass and treble sounds.

 

[hummingbird]

Your comment (Dingo40) provides a great example of how much difference the type of reeds makes. In this video (linked below), I'm using no amplification but I'm using an accordion with some of the best reeds ever made ("a mano" "handmade" by Guidobaldi). The pianist said he was playing as loud as he could and there is also a guitar, violin and bass, yet you can clearly hear my accordion. If I had been using an accordion with standard grade (tipo a mano) reeds, I'd probably have been drowned out. I've also played this accordion (and others with similar top quality reeds) with the 70-piece Pueblo Symphony Orchestra on multiple occasions and not used or needed any amplification.

Wow you sound great. Sadly it's not my band and I have no say about amps; just going along with the program. My accordion is a Serenellini: handmade, double tone chamber, beautiful sound and can be plenty loud. But against electric guitars and old rock musicians I don't have much chance!