Assistance with Accordion Identification

[mpmspyguy]

As best as I can tell this accordion was purchased in the mid 1950s. I haven't been able to match the logo to anything, and there is nothing printed on the bellows. It says that it was made in Italy, and it bears the serial number 45048. Any information about it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ColoRodney]

An inexpensive student model. The factories in Italy often shared orders depending on who had capacity, so the actual manufacturer may be unknowable, and also not really important. Enjoy it for playing tunes, don’t expect too much from the bass side, and you can have fun with these at folk jams. For more serious playing you’ll want a larger instrument.

 

[mpmspyguy]

An inexpensive student model. The factories in Italy often shared orders depending on who had capacity, so the actual manufacturer may be unknowable, and also not really important. Enjoy it for playing tunes, don’t expect too much from the bass side, and you can have fun with these at folk jams. For more serious playing you’ll want a larger instrument.

I figured it might be a situation like that. It seems to be in remarkably good shape considering it's age, so I think I'll just use it to learn the instrument before moving on to a larger model like you suggest. Thanks for your reply!

 

[ColoRodney]

"Learning the instrument" is exactly what it was for. Find some tunes you like, and play them on the right-hand side, practicing switching bellows direction when the bellows get pretty far open, and again before they close entirely. If you want to start with the left hand, you've got bass octaves and major chords in six keys, but since even pretty simple folk tunes require three different chords, you can play in three major keys. Get the "oom-pah-oom-pah" pattern going, worrying more about keeping the tempo straight than the actual chords. And then proceed from there. (I started on one of these accordions, and figured out how to play Andy Stewart's "The Valley of Strathmore" in the key of F, with a walk-down bass line D-C-Bb at the beginning of the chorus. Then I got a better accordion.)