Best New Accoustic Piano Accordion

[Walker]

Even King Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of Camelot would've dismissed the quest for the mythical "best" accordion if they'd heard of such an object. It's a folly... there simply is no best accordion; only preferences and biases, smooth marketing and the inevitable imperfection of manmade musical instruments.

Yes, I've owned an original Gola 414 and an original Super VI, and I sold them after realising that as good as they were, they were not without their blemishes.

The lesson I learned was to step back from the tiresome mindset of seeking the "best" that can be found, and just play an accordion you enjoy, that suits your music. More importantly, if you have a gift for music, share it with others!

I play a Scandalli Conservatorio BJP442, and I'm happy with it, even though it's not the King Kong of accordions. In time I'll get one more accordion, but traditional style with a rich musette tuning, maybe a Cooperfisa in an interesting finish (maybe a pearloid red or toffee colour celluloid ).

Just sayin'.

 

[JerryPH]

I suppose that I am a bit different from the average user in that I always have a clear idea of what I like. My issue is that I have champagne tastiest but a beer budget and I am also not so grounded to the acoustic world that I cannot enjoy electronic and digital accordions.

Like Paul, I’ve seen that the current trend of the industry is to favour cost savings and increased profit margins over ultimate quality and so when it came time to find my ultimate accordion, I went older rather than brand new. Last year I flew from Montreal to Amsterdam and found my dream accordion, a Hohner Gola 459.

Though I still like other accordions because of what makes them special, there won’t be a more special accordion in my life than that.

 

[JerryPH]

Even King Arthur, Merlin and the Knights of Camelot would've dismissed the quest for the mythical "best" accordion if they'd heard of such an object. It's a folly... there simply is no best accordion; only preferences and biases, smooth marketing and the inevitable imperfection of manmade musical instruments.

But they did seek their Holy Grail, the thing is that every one has a different Grail.

In time I'll get one more accordion, but traditional style with a rich musette tuning, maybe a Cooperfisa in an interesting finish (maybe a pearloid red or toffee colour celluloid ).

Not everyone wants to date supermodels, there are people that enjoy their ladies with a more voluptuous shape!

 

[mtj]

So far we have the top of the lines from Bugari, Beltuna, Pigini, and Petosa.

I see some of the top of the line models are LMMMH in treble side. Wwhat advantages does LMMMH have compared to LMMH? For example, does LMMMH accordion produce a bigger volume in Master switch?

Yes I think your list of four would generally be regarded as the best brands for new accordions. And as JerryPH noted you would also include the Gola model (but not Hohner in general). Until recently I think Victoria would be in that list however people seemed to have issues lately so I don't know about them. At one time Victoria was my dream accordion but when I visited the store in Castelfidardo I wasn't super impressed. I haven't played all the brands above but Beltuna is the best accordion I've ever played. By the way Petosa is mostly in the USA although their accordions are generally made by Zero Sette in Italy.

Of course it does depend on your criteria. I gather from his comments that Paul thinks Bugari has the best build quality. Pigini and Bugari are larger companies than Beltuna and Victoria. Based on my unscientific perception: (and mixing chromatic button with piano accordions) Pigini is the mostly widely used among classical performers, with Bugari also widely used. Victoria and Beltuna seem to more common in jazz.

Many people regard "golden era" used accordions to be the best ever made, like the already mentioned Scandalli Super VI.

 

[xingfan1227]

Yes I think your list of four would generally be regarded as the best brands for new accordions. And as JerryPH noted you would also include the Gola model (but not Hohner in general). Until recently I think Victoria would be in that list however people seemed to have issues lately so I don't know about them. At one time Victoria was my dream accordion but when I visited the store in Castelfidardo I wasn't super impressed. I haven't played all the brands above but Beltuna is the best accordion I've ever played. By the way Petosa is mostly in the USA although their accordions are generally made by Zero Sette in Italy.

Of course it does depend on your criteria. I gather from his comments that Paul thinks Bugari has the best build quality. Pigini and Bugari are larger companies than Beltuna and Victoria. Based on my unscientific perception: (and mixing chromatic button with piano accordions) Pigini is the mostly widely used among classical performers, with Bugari also widely used. Victoria and Beltuna seem to more common in jazz.

Many people regard "golden era" used accordions to be the best ever made, like the already mentioned Scandalli Super VI.

Ah I was not aware that Petosa accordions are made by Zero Sette.

If I were to shop for one now, along with these brands I would definitely consider the Scandalli Super VI M/N, if I can ever find one.. I don't see one for sale anywhere in the US right now..

 

[danp76]

Ah I was not aware that Petosa accordions are made by Zero Sette.

If I were to shop for one now, along with these brands I would definitely consider the Scandalli Super VI M/N, if I can ever find one.. I don't see one for sale anywhere in the US right now..

It’s very difficult to find a gently used VI, many have been beat up, poorly tuned, stolen reeds, etc. That is often the problem with Golden Age accordions, hard to often find good ones. I suppose that is one advantage of buying new, but typically lower quality.

 

[mtj]

It’s very difficult to find a gently used VI, many have been beat up, poorly tuned, stolen reeds, etc. That is often the problem with Golden Age accordions, hard to often find good ones. I suppose that is one advantage of buying new, but typically lower quality.

So true. It makes buying, especially an expensive, used accordion a risk. There are other really great golden era accordions. The USA made Bell accordions come time mind, especially the 4518 which is as good as anything available (even the Super VI) in my opinion. It came with Binci reeds. But to pay eight or ten grand for a 40 or 50 year old accordion one had better make sure those reeds weren't swapped for something less.

 

[danp76]

I never played a vintage VI, I often wonder how much "better" they are than other classics or the best top accordions today. I'm sure better, but extremely hard to find in great condition.

 

[Walker]

I never played a vintage VI, I often wonder how much "better" they are than other classics or the best top accordions today. I'm sure better, but extremely hard to find in great condition.

Well I've played a few Scandalli Super VI Extreme's (latest version) and I know you own one too dan76! I would say they look almost identical to the M or N series Super VI. Also, the new Super VI's that I've played "handle" very well and feels excellent to play. It has the same features as the vintage version, including 11 bass switches and bass separator. However, the late 1950s and 1960s Super VI had a tonal projection and warmth that comes from another era. It just radiates in a way that is unknown in modern accordions.

I would make the same statement that the Bugari G1, Beltuna Spirit, Pigini Caruso and Brandoni Infinity (all very nice boxes) do not deliver the projection and warmth of the original Super VI. They are just different instruments from a different time. I've heard it said by some folk that Siwa & Figli's Super Quattro Artist gets close, but it's all a matter of opinion and I guess some individual instruments might just be one-offs with that something extra...

Regarding the 1960s Hohner Gola 414, it doesn't quite have the rich tone and projection that the vintage Super VI had either. To be fair though, the Gola 414 was buttery soft in cassotto "clarinet" (interestingly both the Super VI and Gola 414 named this voice "oboe") and had a superb shimmery violin tone, and these are quite special. The Gola reeds were unbelievably responsive too and were very air efficient. Some of the early 414s had a low bass of C2 (which isn't particularly low but they sounded beautifully sweet) and had a 6 voice bass - nice! Others had different specifications. Overall it's hard to separate the old Gola and Super VI...

However, as has been mentioned above, these vintage accordions tend to have been worked hard for the last 60+ years, been scraped-up, have often not received the right care from "technicians" over the years, and even with excellent restoration never quite seem to regain 100% of their original je ne sais quoi. Shame really.​

 

[breezybellows]

If price is not a factor, I'll definitely pick Petosa AM-1100. I've owned a few other modern models from other popular makes. This included a Beltuna spirit V Beltuna prestige and a Victoria Poeta. I liked the AM1100 better. I sold the other ones after a few months.

I only kept the Beltuna prestige for about a month and returned it to the dealer. I had very high expectations for the Beltuna spirit V but I was a little underwhelmed. I sold it for a significant loss after a year. Both the Beltuna accordions were purchased pre owned.

I'm sure there are other good ones out there. I have a friend that has a Serenellini that he says is as good as other accordions that cost more than twice as much.

When choosing a new accordion, it is not just about the brand and the factory. The quality of the product also depends on the dealer's set up and quality control. That's one of the main reasons I've had a great experience with Petosa so far.

I should also mention the Siwa Yavor (all wood) with bici reeds I had. It responded and sounded as good as my Petosa. I sold after a year because I didn't need as many stradella only accordions.

 

[Siegmund]

I have only been shopping for CBAs, not PAs, but one would at least hope the sound is similar!

There isn't just one sound. You have to choose what tone quality you like in an accordion, and then find who delivers that sound best.

In my mind there are at least three flavors out there.

There's a very mellow, almost buzzing, tone quality, which is maybe best exemplified by Victoria. (The one small Petosa I tried last year also sounded like this; I don't know if the big ones do too.)

Then there's a somewhat cold and hard-edged sound, which I think of as the Pigini sound. They do this sound very well but a bunch of other manufacturers like Serenellini and Fisitalia do it almost as well much cheaper.

And there's a rounder and bolder sound which I have so far only heard from Brandoni and Mengascini. I don't know if this is caused by the reeds being nailed to leather rather than waxed in, or if it's coincidence.

If those are the corners of a sound triangle, Bugari and Scandalli plot somewhere in the middle of it, and the Russian bayans somewhere different in the middle of it.

I personally avoid door #2 but can embrace either of #1 or #3 depending on my mood on a given day.

 

[Zevy]

If price is not a factor, I'll definitely pick Petosa AM-1100. I've owned a few other modern models from other popular makes. This included a Beltuna spirit V Beltuna prestige and a Victoria Poeta. I liked the AM1100 better. I sold the other ones after a few months.

You have my vote there!

 

[murathan]

Every accordion (actually every instrument) above a price range will be satisfactory. Brand doesnt mean much after a price range. But every brand has its beauty to buy. I'd buy a Scandalli Super VI or Hohner Gola, even a Hohner Morino V. Also worth to mention Serenellini, Bugari Armando, Mengaschini. All have different tastes to use in YOUR understanding of music and style.

 

[xingfan1227]

Well I've played a few Scandalli Super VI Extreme's (latest version) and I know you own one too dan76! I would say they look almost identical to the M or N series Super VI. Also, the new Super VI's that I've played "handle" very well and feels excellent to play. It has the same features as the vintage version, including 11 bass switches and bass separator. However, the late 1950s and 1960s Super VI had a tonal projection and warmth that comes from another era. It just radiates in a way that is unknown in modern accordions.

I would make the same statement that the Bugari G1, Beltuna Spirit, Pigini Caruso and Brandoni Infinity (all very nice boxes) do not deliver the projection and warmth of the original Super VI. They are just different instruments from a different time. I've heard it said by some folk that Siwa & Figli's Super Quattro Artist gets close, but it's all a matter of opinion and I guess some individual instruments might just be one-offs with that something extra...

Regarding the 1960s Hohner Gola 414, it doesn't quite have the rich tone and projection that the vintage Super VI had either. To be fair though, the Gola 414 was buttery soft in cassotto "clarinet" (interestingly both the Super VI and Gola 414 named this voice "oboe") and had a superb shimmery violin tone, and these are quite special. The Gola reeds were unbelievably responsive too and were very air efficient. Some of the early 414s had a low bass of C2 (which isn't particularly low but they sounded beautifully sweet) and had a 6 voice bass - nice! Others had different specifications. Overall it's hard to separate the old Gola and Super VI...

However, as has been mentioned above, these vintage accordions tend to have been worked hard for the last 60+ years, been scraped-up, have often not received the right care from "technicians" over the years, and even with excellent restoration never quite seem to regain 100% of their original je ne sais quoi. Shame really.​

Would you say it's mainly the reeds that were used in those golden era super VI's and Gola's that made them sound special? I always wonder why modern accordions don't go after them.

 

[Walker]

Would you say it's mainly the reeds that were used in those golden era super VI's and Gola's that made them sound special? I always wonder why modern accordions don't go after them.

The secrets of the Golden Era have been buried in the sands of time and so we may never know the exact recipe that made these Golas and Super VIs (and a few other special accordions) so marvellous. It seems at some point, maybe the 1970s, these accordion makers started to focus on other methods and technologies, and by the time they realised that their "progress" was making them go backwards, not forwards, it was too late. The old ways had not entirely been forgotten, but certain aspects of quality and craftsmanship could no longer be fully replicated. In the meantime, other manufacturers began to level up. Murathan has a point that many accordion brands now produce models that will be very good, and there is not that much to separate the brands.

Every accordion (actually every instrument) above a price range will be satisfactory. Brand doesnt mean much after a price range. But every brand has its beauty to buy.

I believe the ingenuity of humankind is such that it will, in time, find new ways to create great accordions. For example a number of commentators here have made it clear that instruments like the Petosa AM1100 are worth a look, and Petosa clearly believes it (and its collaborators) have taken up the baton of excellence... Will the "bluestar" reeds or solid mahogany casing make the difference? I don't know, but I wouldn't dismiss them without giving them a try....

Here's the spec sheet of the AM1100 Grand Concert:

https://petosa.com/pages/petosa-am-1100-grand-concert-catalogue

 

[Dingo40]

The secrets of the Golden Era have been buried in the sands of time

...along with those of the Stradivarius violins and like string instruments!

 

[Zevy]

Would you say it's mainly the reeds that were used in those golden era super VI's and Gola's that made them sound special? I always wonder why modern accordions don't go after them.

Let’s not forget the wood that was used and other fine aspects of the workmanship of those accordions.

 

[Ventura]

in my opinion, there are significant differences in:

the woods used now: many types are no longer available
commercially or affordably, and Asian sourcing, for example
the mahogany: far less dense as the western groves were slow growth.

the steel available: old style drawing mills are largely gone, spring
steel grading today from many Asian sources is a joke and the ability
of an accordion manufacturer to temper the steel to purpose is history

the reed process and knowledge base: after WW2 there were DECADES
when no apprentices were available or even interested in learning such
a skill or working in a small town for next to nothing.. the old method
of passing down skills was BROKEN and too much time passed before
anyone realized it. New methods and tooling were figured out and
became the new standard. Couple this with the simple fact that there
was always (and still is) more bullshit surrounding Reeds than any
other aspect of the accordion. The average buyer with excess disposable
income has always been an absolute sucker for hype and branding and
vague legend over actual fact or direct sensory evaluation when it comes
to reeds.. "those brand/model accordions made 70 years ago came with
Binci/Magic/Borsini/stardust reeds" yeah right

the reed TUNING was once unique to each brand, as the factory Master
in charge set up Provino's for the less skilled workmen and each Provino
reflected imperfections and his preferences in tuning that ear and skill
dictated. Hence the simple fact that Accordions from one brand simply
noticeably sounded better in certain keys, while another brand lived in
a slightly different range of sweet chords.. This nuance is almost entirely
lost today, except in the database of that computer at Fisitalia, and that
programming he wrote that can take advantage of and compensate for
damn near anything physical related to reeds and chambers, and output
a tuning template to suit.

Italians were largely empiric in their approach to accordion making..
and many other things.. the patience and long-view exhibited even with
harvesting your own tomato seeds every year to achieve improvements in
flavor, size, texture.. there is simply not enough volume produced today,
nor are there any true "Masters" left who are not only running an
actual factory, but can do ANYTHING in that factory better than anyone else,
and who, by nature and training, is of a type to always be looking to
IMPROVE EVERYTHING

a modern builder may be lucky to even have enough oomph to
focus on one pet area or aspect, while most CEO's are merely
wrapped up in just doing the best they can to meet modern standards
and control consistency and quality in their accordion factory

are the new "innovations" truly because of research and design
improvements ? or are they actually mostly dictated by market
needs, and material availability into the Future ? how many of these new
features actually would benefit the average musician ? how many of
them are really targeted for the wealthy end of the marketplace ?

 

[Frank Barocco]

Especially for accordions with a tone chamber I feel that a very big (if not the biggest) factor is/was in the woods (density, thickness, etc.) and also in the cassotto design/materials.
For several big brands the woods and the designs/forms were changed or lost over time.

 

[breezybellows]

I visited the Scandalli Booth at the ATG festival today. They were visiting from Italy. The lady at the booth was kind enough to let me try their Super VI extreme model for a significant amount of time. I've previously owned an N series super VI from the golden age. I want to share my thoughts on how the new one compared to the old one.

1) Keyboard - this is what impressed me the most about the new super VI extreme. It was as good as the golden era keyboard. It was fast and had great action.
2) Tone - The treble reeds are very sweet. It has a good dynamic range. The older N series has more resonance in the time chamber. The bass reeds were alright. I prefer more power on the bass reeds but that is a personal preference. I wasn't a big fan of the N series bass reeds either. The bass decoupler switch was a good addition just like the older model. It cuts out the higher banks from the bass rows.

Overall it felt like a solid accordion.

My teacher also had a very similar opinion. He also got to try the wooden terra accordion and he liked that one too.