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Anything else I should look for?

ColoRodney

ColoRodney

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So, let's say I decide to fly to Philadelphia and check out some new piano accordions and maybe bring one home. I'm obviously going to think about size and weight vs. keyboard length, whether I like the tone, the punchiness of the bass, size of keys on the treble keyboard, LH button spacing, and keyboard responsiveness.

I'll check to make sure it's A440 (a failing of one of my current instruments), and play several musette tunings to figure out what I really want for what I play the most. I've seen occasional complaints about the failings of new instruments... badly placed bellows gaskets, "shoddy construction," that sort of thing.

I know some people worry about what the lowest bass note is before the scale starts again, but I don't really know how I'd apply that to my work... and I don't know if that's important enough to worry about really.

Is there anything in particular that I might not think of that I should be sure to check before I fly home with my new buddy?
 
I think the biggest challenge of flying to PA to pick up an accordion …. Would be flying back with it

What’re you going to do if it won’t fit in the overhead bin
 
The ones I’m looking at are pretty small. I’m quite happy with my big accordion, but would like to upgrade the little guy. And I have even fit my 37/96 in the overhead before.
 
You say Philadelphia. Is it Liberty Bellows? Consider having it shipped. They do an excellent packaging job. I bought 3 accordions from them -- all arrived in excellent shape. A big plus is, if they ship it to you, there is no tax. If you go to Liberty Bellows in Pa., and buy it, you will pay their State tax. I believe shipping is the way to go. It's best if you know the accordion you want. Mike, at Liberty Bellows is very easy to work with. Have them ship you an accordion you think you would like. There is a trial period and if you don't like it, return it, for a full refund. Then try another.
 
John M said:
You say Philadelphia. Is it Liberty Bellows? Consider having it shipped. They do an excellent packaging job. I bought 3 accordions from them -- all arrived in excellent shape. A big plus is, if they ship it to you, there is no tax. If you go to Liberty Bellows in Pa., and buy it, you will pay their State tax. I believe shipping is the way to go. It's best if you know the accordion you want. Mike, at Liberty Bellows is very easy to work with. Have them ship you an accordion you think you would like. There is a trial period and if you don't like it, return it, for a full refund. Then try another.
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That's an excellent idea. I know that you used to be able to avoid state and local taxes if you bought out of state, but a lot of online stores calculate the local taxes automatically these days. But I'll make a discreet inquiry about whether it makes sense to return to Colorado and buy it from here and have it shipped. If there's no tax advantage, then carrying it myself saves $49 in shipping and I can play it as soon as I walk in my door.

But the visit is really to get my hands on a variety of accordions and listen to what is the difference between swing and demi-swing when I'm actually playing the instrument, and whether I notice a significant difference between a Serenellini, a Saltarelle, and a Brandoni. And also, to see and play the exact instrument I'll be buying.
 
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Follow up report: I made a one-day round-trip to Philadelphia and tried three accordions at Liberty Bellows. They let me spend as much time as I wanted messing with the likely candidates, and I chose a Serenellini Jet with a swing musette. They were able to install the microphones before I flew home that afternoon. And yes, probably not surprising given the model name of the accordion, there was no trouble at all carrying it on the plane. I opted for the gig bag instead of a hard case, and that of course helped a lot.
 

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I do like stained wood... my piano teacher's house was designed by Bernard Maybeck, and I've always associated stained wood with good music. Hanging around a lot of string players just reinforces that. As I heard it, the Seattle contra-dance accordionist Laurie Andres commissioned a wood-finished accordion from Petosa in the early 1980s, and that prompted them to make a small run of "Antico" models in wood. I bought mine in 1986, and it's still my main squeeze. Recently of course, there's been a big surge in woodies from a variety of brands. I tried both the Serenellini and the Brandoni, and both seemed excellent. The Serenellini felt a little closer to what I was used to in terms of keyboard size and button spacing.
 
This one does not have a gloss... As far as I can tell, the wood is just stained and rubbed down for a matte look. It still smells a bit like a refinished piece of furniture, since it's so new. (The serial number starts 2404, which may mean it was just finished in April.) Pretty as heck. My Petosa has a laquer-like glossy coat, more like a guitar; but (after forty some years) has some dings in the varnish. I'll be doing my best to keep this one from being bumped badly, but it will be a hard-working instrument so I imagine it'll pick up "character" over time.
 
My accordion tech has quite a few button-boxes from the 1930s and earlier with exposed wood finish (many with nice decorative inlay). And fiddles last for hundreds of years, and they’re a lot more delicate than this chunky box. The main thing will be not letting anyone step on the grill.
 
ColoRodney said:
The main thing will be not letting anyone step on the grill.
Click to expand...
On the other hand, I've seen male pre-teen accordion students playing "Hoppo Bumpo " wearing their (vintage Galanti) accordions with no evident damage to the accordions.😄
 
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Is this the 30/78 LMM "Jet"? I've been admiring that model in the cherry, looks like yours is the 'hog? It's lovely, what a wonderful adventure. Hope it's a heavenly match-up for you.
 
Yes, that's the one. The cherry Jet is very nice looking too, recalling the look of the Castagnari and Saltarelle Irish button accordions. The Cherry one had a slightly wider musette (demi-swing instead of swing). I would have been happy with either, but the swing gives me a bit more variety across my three main accordions. I'm very happy with how it plays, with one minor exception--I'm thinking I'll write a bit of a review with pictures and video for the "Makes and models" subgroup.
 
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