Brand new accordion...underwhelmed!

[Thomas N]

Last year I was in Castelfidardo. It was great opportunity to try another new accordions.
I visited Victoria’s store. My feelings were similar. New Poeta did not respond - specially left part.
Other new accordions form another manufacturers did not have this slow response.
My brand new Scandalli Intense plays quickly and without lag.
I hope they will improve this instrument for you, because the timbre is very pleasant.

Very interesting Piotr! About 5 years ago during the start of the pandemic I had several email conversations with Elke inquiring to purchase a new Poeta Marocco Jazz accordion from Victoria. I loved the timbre and there are a couple of folks I watched on YouTube that had one and their sound was always optimal. In the end, even though the price with the current exchange rate and pandemic panic, was quite reasonable, I had never played one and in fact had never played a Victoria accordion of any sort. I elected not to purchase it. Slow response would have been a deal breaker for my style of playing.

 

[Piotr]

Thomas, I think these may be incidental cases...
I have a good friend who is very satisfied, and his instrument responds beautifully and sounds even better
Here are some examples:

 

[McSqueeze]

Last year I was in Castelfidardo. It was great opportunity to try another new accordions.
I visited Victoria’s store. My feelings were similar. New Poeta did not respond - specially left part.
Other new accordions form another manufacturers did not have this slow response.
My brand new Scandalli Intense plays quickly and without lag.
I hope they will improve this instrument for you, because the timbre is very pleasant.

I have friend with a Scandalli Intense. He hates it and can't wait to offload it.
It's all a case of horses for courses.
EVERY accordion is different and the only way to be sure of what you're buying is to try before you buy.

 

[Ventura]

seems to me we have two endemic problems here..

the first one is, there are precious few final set-up people
of any worth working in the factories today..

think about it.. back when they made a million accordions a day
they all played and sounded pretty damn good and were reliably
consistent.. sluggish bass reeds ? g'wan !

the second thing is, and the sales departments have been taking
advantage of this for 80 years.. they can sell high end expensive
accordions more by hype than by actual stuff that really matters,
like specs, like how it sounds, like how it feels and plays..

do people buy $5000 diamond rings without seeing them first ?
would anyone really buy a car without at least sitting in it make
sure they fit in the damn thing and can reach the pedals comfortably ?

don't get me started about reeds and what people think they want

 

[Piotr]

Ventura - I agree with you...

McSqueeze - yes, every accordion is different and after trying VP, I wouldn't buy it, even though for many years I thought it was a dream instrument.
BTW - what bothers your friend at S Intense? My experience is very positive.

 

[FingersPhil]

Hello everyone, thanks again for the replies.
After a much closer look and several second opinions, it turns out there is quite a bit wrong with the instrument that Victoria sent me. I had a zoom meeting with Elke and Riccardo yesterday and the upshot is that I will be going over to Castelfidardo within the next month or so, where they have promised to sort out all issues.
So it turns out this wasn't just a case of getting used to a new accordion. I will report back once things have been sorted (hopefully!)
@McSqueeze - I'll be interested to hear how you get on with yours!

 

[saundersbp]

I hope they are paying for your flight and accommodation as this is a brand new instrument!

 

[FingersPhil]

I hope they are paying for your flight and accommodation as this is a brand new instrument!

Yes, they are!

 

[saundersbp]

Yes, they are!

That speaks very well of them. They accept there is a problem and are behaving professionally to rectify it. Excellent!

 

[McSqueeze]

Ventura - I agree with you...

McSqueeze - yes, every accordion is different and after trying VP, I wouldn't buy it, even though for many years I thought it was a dream instrument.
BTW - what bothers your friend at S Intense? My experience is very positive.

When I said every accordion is different I should have added that every player is also different.

 

[McSqueeze]

Hello everyone, thanks again for the replies.
After a much closer look and several second opinions, it turns out there is quite a bit wrong with the instrument that Victoria sent me. I had a zoom meeting with Elke and Riccardo yesterday and the upshot is that I will be going over to Castelfidardo within the next month or so, where they have promised to sort out all issues.
So it turns out this wasn't just a case of getting used to a new accordion. I will report back once things have been sorted (hopefully!)
@McSqueeze - I'll be interested to hear how you get on with yours!

G'day Phil.
Well my Poeta arrived about 10 days ago. As you can see from the attached photo it's in top condition considering I'm the 3rd owner and it's about 8/9 year old. It's tuned LMMH with L & M in cassotto, a regular 96 Stradella bass (no converter) and only 11 treble couplers. But when I say only 11 treble couplers that is a big enough variety for me. I've been playing it quite a lot and must say it sounds great, mellow, rich and loud as required. Both keyboards have very nice action and the bellows are responsive. Fitted with A Mano Salpa reeds and it weighs only 10.9k.

You say that there are several issues with your Poeta but Victoria have agreed to sort it out. I hope to your satisfaction. It's not unusual for new instruments to have preliminary issues that need attention and that might have been the case with mine, and were sorted out by previous owners.

I see you're in Edinburgh so I expect you know Alex Ross. If so please give him regards if you meet him.
Cheers John.

 

[dak]

G'day Phil.
Well my Poeta arrived about 10 days ago. As you can see from the attached photo it's in top condition considering I'm the 3rd owner and it's about 8/9 year old. It's tuned LMMH with L & M in cassotto, a regular 96 Stradella bass (no converter) and only 11 treble couplers. But when I say only 11 treble couplers that is a big enough variety for me. I've been playing it quite a lot and must say it sounds great, mellow, rich and loud as required. Both keyboards have very nice action and the bellows are responsive. Fitted with A Mano Salpa reeds and it weighs only 10.9k.

Certainly a pretty one and looks like it has seen very little use or very careful handling.

11 treble couplers is the full Monty for LMMH unless one of the M reeds happens to be in cassotto, making it worthwhile to distinguish between the two.

 

[debra]

G'day Phil.
Well my Poeta arrived about 10 days ago. As you can see from the attached photo it's in top condition considering I'm the 3rd owner and it's about 8/9 year old. It's tuned LMMH with L & M in cassotto, a regular 96 Stradella bass (no converter) and only 11 treble couplers. But when I say only 11 treble couplers that is a big enough variety for me. I've been playing it quite a lot and must say it sounds great, mellow, rich and loud as required. Both keyboards have very nice action and the bellows are responsive. Fitted with A Mano Salpa reeds and it weighs only 10.9k...

That accordion looks in very good cosmetic condition considering its age. Antonelli and Salpa merged in 2002 to become Voci Armoniche. That means that your accordion with Salpa reeds is likely over 20 years young. Any initial issues of course must have been resolved many years ago, so it should be a perfect instrument (only requiring regular tuning).
A new accordion (from any brand) almost invariably arrives from the factory with some issues that slipped through quality control. It can be frustrating for players who buy an accordion directly from the factory. Accordion dealers with good in-house repair facilities can really be worth the premium you pay to avoid the hassle to get issues ironed out. (It depends on how high that premium is.) Buying relatively young used instruments is also a good start to get an accordion without unresolved factory design flaws or manufacturing defects.

 

[Piotr]

G'day Phil.
Well my Poeta arrived about 10 days ago. As you can see from the attached photo it's in top condition considering I'm the 3rd owner and it's about 8/9 year old. It's tuned LMMH with L & M in cassotto, a regular 96 Stradella bass (no converter) and only 11 treble couplers. But when I say only 11 treble couplers that is a big enough variety for me. I've been playing it quite a lot and must say it sounds great, mellow, rich and loud as required. Both keyboards have very nice action and the bellows are responsive. Fitted with A Mano Salpa reeds and it weighs only 10.9k.

You say that there are several issues with your Poeta but Victoria have agreed to sort it out. I hope to your satisfaction. It's not unusual for new instruments to have preliminary issues that need attention and that might have been the case with mine, and were sorted out by previous owners.

I see you're in Edinburgh so I expect you know Alex Ross. If so please give him regards if you meet him.
Cheers John.

Congratulations - nice one

 

[FingersPhil]

G'day Phil.
Well my Poeta arrived about 10 days ago. As you can see from the attached photo it's in top condition considering I'm the 3rd owner and it's about 8/9 year old. It's tuned LMMH with L & M in cassotto, a regular 96 Stradella bass (no converter) and only 11 treble couplers. But when I say only 11 treble couplers that is a big enough variety for me. I've been playing it quite a lot and must say it sounds great, mellow, rich and loud as required. Both keyboards have very nice action and the bellows are responsive. Fitted with A Mano Salpa reeds and it weighs only 10.9k.

You say that there are several issues with your Poeta but Victoria have agreed to sort it out. I hope to your satisfaction. It's not unusual for new instruments to have preliminary issues that need attention and that might have been the case with mine, and were sorted out by previous owners.

I see you're in Edinburgh so I expect you know Alex Ross. If so please give him regards if you meet him.
Cheers John.

Hi John, congratulations, that looks lovely! And good to know that the issues I've been having are not standard for a Poeta. I am very happy with the tone on mine - the main problem is that the bass reeds are extremely unresponsive and also not very loud, plus quite a lot of other quality control issues. The plan is to get it back to Victoria early September so fingers crossed everything can be sorted. Enjoy your new instrument! Phil

 

[Piotr]

I found used Poeta too. Very nice accordion in great condition