Brand Preferences and Why

[dak]

Your first accordion will determine your brand preferences. Generally your second purchase will follow with the same brand. It happened to me and many others.

Now that isn't at all what I can undersign. More like the opposite: when I bought another accordion, then because what I already had was not what I wanted. Or at least not for a particular purpose: my first purchase was kind of for vaudeville purposes, then I got to "vaudeville but better", then CBA, then a progression of "better" that moved into classical while losing sight of vaudeville, and ultimately for rounding it off, an explicit small (but good) CBA for the explicit use as vaudeville. There is a bunch of leftovers seeing little use these days, but not much brand continuity.

One Hohner Morino, one that is more Morino than Hohner, an Excelsior with MIDI, a small Maugein, a Solton/Ketron arranger keyboard, a Roland FR-1b, a Hohner Morino Club N (I really need to sell that one), a few small useless boxes I got as "you'll know what to do with them" that might serve to start someone on accordion repairs. If there is any pattern, it is a nod to Venanzio Morino (the Club most likely wasn't made in Germany to original designs, but I didn't know that at the time of purchase).

 

[debra]

Your first accordion will determine your brand preferences. Generally your second purchase will follow with the same brand. It happened to me and many others.

That certainly isn't always true. My first accordion was a Crucianelli. My second one was also a Crucianelli (but bigger). Later I heard just one Crucianelli I would really have loved to own and play (but never did) and that was the Baton. It was LMMH with LM in cassotto (so it's not the same as a Pancordion Baton). Much much later I moved to Hohner, Bugari and even AKKO and haven't really looked back. (I still have two Crucianelli accordions: a 26/40 my older and my younger brother started out on, and the Super Video (LMMM, no cassotto) I inherited from my sister. They sit in their case and remain unplayed, mostly because 1) they are tuned too high and 2) they are PA and I now play CBA only.
I love the sound of the Hohner Morino line (M, N, S series) as well as the Gola (preferably older ones, like a Morino VI M I "inherited"), and of the Bugari cassotto instruments. For me sound is everything, which is why i have a Morino, Bugari Artist Cassotto and AKKO bayan. I like the sound of many other accordions in similar configuration, but some more than others. The differences are often not so noticeable if you don't hear them side by side. I can recognize the sound of a VIctoria (which I like, but not for hours on end) and of a Pigini (which I find just a bit too nasal for my taste). I could not distinguish modern accordions by say Mengascini, Serenellini, Scandalli, (Fabio) Ballone Burini and others. Many accordion sound more or less the same because they are all constructed in more or less the same way, using at least 95% the same components.

 

[JerryPH]

Hmmm, maybe. My first was a Titano (Titan), second was Scandalli and then Hohner. Again, in this case choice was based needs. Titano and Scandalli did not make an MIII free bass model, but Hohner did, that made the dream come true for me.

But I can say that if this is what happens to some and brand loyalty happens, that’s definitely not a bad thing.

 

[tcabot]

Scandalli did not make an MIII free bass model

They did for Johnny.

 

[JerryPH]

Awesome! It's too bad their Canafa and USA reps never responded like Hohner, it was also in none of their catalogs that we received from them and others at the time. I could have maybe been a Scandalli fan boy!

 

[mtj]

I like discussing brands and favorites as much as the next person but I’m not sure it’s very helpful. I think it depends on the kind of music you’re playing and the particular switch.

Years before I started to play accordion I heard a guy on a cruise ship playing a Victoria and I thought that is so beautiful sounding someday I’ll own a Victoria.

I had a Giulietti transformer which I liked quite a bit, it was not a cassotto. It had a deep bass, which was fun, although not always the prettiest sound. I tried the cassotto version but I thought it had kind of eerie sound which I didn’t like. I also tried a Super Continental (the one with the extra three rows) which I thought was fantastic although too heavy.

I’ve tried several Hohners and didn’t like them. I thought they had a harsh sound that would go well with polkas, which is not my favorite kind of music. Until recently when I played a Tango V (something) which sounded great. I’ve never played a Morino or Gola so maybe I just haven’t been exposed to enough good Hohners.

I now have a Beltuna Leader 5 which has just an amazing violin and musette. The master and sax are great too. It’s the first cassotto I’ve owned so I’m still getting used to that for solo switches. Along with the generally great sound it has amazingly fast action.

I’ve heard an Excelsior Symphony a lot and I’m not generally crazy about the sound, except for jazz, especially chords, where it sounds great.

I played a Sonola SS20 and was quite impressed with the sound.

I’ve heard quite a bit and played briefly the USA made Bells (in particular 4518). These are generally the most beautiful sounding accordions I’ve heard.

I visited the factory for Victoria and Beltuna a few years ago and thought Beltuna is just a much nicer sounding instrument so I’m not as enamored with Victoria as I originally was. The Spirit I played there was just amazing and probably the best bass I’ve ever experienced.

So for me I would say my favorite brand for overall sound would be Bell. Beltuna as a close second and preferable for anything even remotely wet. Excelsior for jazz and I have a certain fondness for Victoria, Sonola and Giulietti.

I’ve never played a Pigini or Bugari, but I very much enjoy the sound of Hanzi Wang and Vivianne Chassot’s playing so I assume I’d love those brands at least for classical.

 

[Thomas N]

It's funny how little one-offs can affect your purchases. My Dad was a Ford pickup guy his whole life because an early Dodge gave him so much trouble when he was a teen. He was a farmer so that's a lot of trucks purchased through the years based upon that one bad apple.

When I took my Cordovox in for some kind of repair probably 30 years ago in Los Angeles, the guy that worked on it was showing me a bunch of accordions. He told me the one accordion he hated working on was Hohner. He said the bass mechanism was a nightmare the way that they accomplished it. He said something along the lines of "any problem with the bass mechanism and you're pulling the whole thing apart and it's a major, expensive, time-consuming ordeal".

I have no idea if that's true, or what he's even talking about, but it affected me. Any time I see the word Hohner I think, oh, expensive to repair.

It could have been one particular type that he worked on one time, or maybe it was only for one decade they used that bass mechanism, or maybe it's completely false and he was incompetent! He fixed my Cordovox well, if that's worth anything.

Now that I have thought about that I'm sure that Jerry, Paul and Ventura can shed some light on this topic and perhaps I can again look at Hohner as a possible future brand.

 

[Frank Barocco]

I have two favorites, each for a different reason.

Excelsior (from the golden age) for its gorgeous tone/timbre.
Petosa (from any period) for its sturdiness and how it survives the test of time.

Each has its flaws, at least in the models I played. Excelsiors are less stable over time, they are temperamental and sensitive... The experienced luthier who works on my accordions came to that same conclusion independently of me, over the years. He has had more trouble with Excelsiors than with most other good brands, even considering Excelsiors from the golden age. But the tone is fantastic...
Petosa on the other hand seems built like a tank, is all balanced and calibrated, and is low maintenance over time, however I feel that the reeds have a somewhat harsher tone. Even though Petosa's Guidobaldi reeds are often said to sound like a flute, I feel that the Excelsior reed are the ones that sound like a flute.

I can't comment on Hohner and Scandalli accordions from the golden age, I wish I had more (in person) experience with them. I have a feeling I'd love them

 

[kimric]

Excalibur was the Chinese brand often mis-interpreted as an excelcior,
and of course you can have al kinds of fake rip-off's sporting a brand name
but there has never been a Chinese legit Excelsior imported or sold through
CEMEX

and i cannot imagine, after Pigini paid a ton to acquire the brand and facory,
that they would have risked their investment by authorizing a Chinese Excelsior

I got a Excelsior that based on the construction was built by what is now Delicia. Not bad, but as all the Delicias of whatever era (80-90's) it needed a total rewax , but after that it was a spot tuning and it was ready to go. It was a 72 bass.

 

[Ventura]

I got a Excelsior that based on the construction was built by what is now Delicia. Not bad, but as all the Delicias of whatever era (80-90's) it needed a total rewax , but after that it was a spot tuning and it was ready to go. It was a 72 bass.

with all due respect you mean you got something marked as Excelsior
that obviously was not because you easily recognize a Delicia when you
see one

the slight difference in wording gets legs in the retelling on the internet

 

[cat]

...Hohner and Scandalli accordions from the golden age...

Vntg Hohner and Scandalli is what I play. Not by brand loyalty but purely by chance: they were bought used for a few hundred dollars - when I knew next to nothing about accordions - from a stringed instrument shop

 

[dak]

Vntg Hohner and Scandalli is what I play. Not by brand loyalty but purely by chance: they were bought used for a few hundred dollars - when I knew next to nothing about accordions - from a stringed instrument shop

My first impulse buy also was quite a better choice than what I picked next after thoroughly educating me concerning what instrument I really should be getting. Sometimes you just need to trust the instruments to pick their players rather than the other way round.

 

[JerryPH]

I like discussing brands and favorites as much as the next person but I’m not sure it’s very helpful. I think it depends on the kind of music you’re playing and the particular switch.

I'll agree and take it one step closer... the accordion that you really like will "sing" to you, make you smile everytime you put it on.

I’ve tried several Hohners and didn’t like them. I thought they had a harsh sound that would go well with polkas, which is not my favorite kind of music. Until recently when I played a Tango V (something) which sounded great. I’ve never played a Morino or Gola so maybe I just haven’t been exposed to enough good Hohners.

There is indeed a harshness in some Hohners (Imperator with Sordino opened and others that have the "Metalbause" design), there is no comparsion to a Morino or Gola.

I now have a Beltuna Leader 5 which has just an amazing violin and musette. The master and sax are great too. It’s the first cassotto I’ve owned so I’m still getting used to that for solo switches. Along with the generally great sound it has amazingly fast action.

I also own a Leader V, let's compare notes. Agreed with the violin and musette registers. The master and sax are pretty good. The action of the right hand is faster than average, but definitely slower than a Morino, Gola, Dallapè Super Maestro, Brandoni 66W, Siwa-Figli Super Cobra, Scandalli Super VI, etc... all of which I can speak about from personal experience (and there are also likely others with faster keyboards), so I would place it at the high end, just not near the top.

What is weaker about the Leader V? I find the bass weak and a bit slow, but thats probably personal opinion and likely because all Hohners have a bit louder bass and not many people play fast on the left hand anyway.

I wish the bellows were wider (an extra fold or 3 would be great). For a 5/5, I find it remarkably lighter than my other 5/5's. It is a FUN accordion to play. It is NOT a Gola, nor anything close to it, as I had thought before I could play them back to back. It's a bright instrument with a very "Beltuna" sound.

I’ve heard an Excelsior Symphony a lot and I’m not generally crazy about the sound, except for jazz, especially chords, where it sounds great.
I played a Sonola SS20 and was quite impressed with the sound.
I’ve heard quite a bit and played briefly the USA made Bells (in particular 4518). These are generally the most beautiful sounding accordions I’ve heard.

See, thats very interesting... in terms of clarinet and bassoon reeds, I find the Symphony Grand, Sonola SS20 and the best Bell accordions very close. For "Art Van Damme" style, you cannot go wrong with any of these. The Symphony Grand (depending on year/config) has a clarity that the others don't have, BUT that also takes away slightly from that ultimate Jazz sound, but again, its close.

I visited the factory for Victoria and Beltuna a few years ago and thought Beltuna is just a much nicer sounding instrument so I’m not as enamored with Victoria as I originally was. The Spirit I played there was just amazing and probably the best bass I’ve ever experienced.

Per what Beltuna told me, the only differences between the Leader V and Spirit models with the 5/5 option, are identical except that the Spirit line has superior cosmetics... they look way more beautiful, greater choice of colors and nicer feeling right hand keys. The sound is supposed to be identical as inside they are the same.

Did you ever hear anyone else say otherwise or did you play the Leader V and equivalent Spirit back to back by chance?

So for me I would say my favorite brand for overall sound would be Bell. Beltuna as a close second and preferable for anything even remotely wet. Excelsior for jazz and I have a certain fondness for Victoria, Sonola and Giulietti.

I’ve never played a Pigini or Bugari, but I very much enjoy the sound of Hanzi Wang and Vivianne Chassot’s playing so I assume I’d love those brands at least for classical.

Lovely, I am not far off being of the same opinion.

For my ultimate musette sound... its very challenging for me to get in to the heavier tremelo tunings, but when playing Oberkrainer, German and some Czech pieces its hard to come close to "that sound" that a Beltuna Tyrolean V in LMMMH tuning has and if that accordion comes in the black and gold trim... becomes just as beautiful looking as it sounds... at least to me.

 

[mtj]

I'll agree and take it one step closer... the accordion that you really like will "sing" to you, make you smile everytime you put it on.

In my case I would say it does with the Violin and Musette switches.

I also own a Leader V, let's compare notes. Agreed with the violin and musette registers. The master and sax are pretty good. The action of the right hand is faster than average, but definitely slower than a Morino, Gola, Dallapè Super Maestro, Brandoni 66W, Siwa-Figli Super Cobra, Scandalli Super VI, etc... all of which I can speak about from personal experience (and there are also likely others with faster keyboards), so I would place it at the high end, just not near the top.

What is weaker about the Leader V? I find the bass weak and a bit slow, but thats probably personal opinion and likely because all Hohners have a bit louder bass and not many people play fast on the left hand anyway.

I wish the bellows were wider (an extra fold or 3 would be great). For a 5/5, I find it remarkably lighter than my other 5/5's. It is a FUN accordion to play. It is NOT a Gola, nor anything close to it, as I had thought before I could play them back to back. It's a bright instrument with a very "Beltuna" sound.

It's probably self evident that I have far less exposure to accordions and far less accomplished player than you. So I have less notes to draw upon. I've never played any of the accordions you listed. I have heard recordings of people playing Gola and Super VI and they do sound fantastic. I can only say my Beltuna is faster than my Giulietti F.4.T Continental and a middle of the road Scandalli I owned and I've never tried anything that felt faster but I don't play well enough or tried enough accordions to have an expert opinion.

I'll be honest I don't find accordion bases to generally be that great sounding. Bayans tend to have better sounding basses from my limited exposure. Maybe I'd really like a Morino. Also my experience is that Scandalli has really weak bases so I think Beltuna bass is much nicer than Scandalli. I would have expected my Guilietti Transformer to have a better bass but I kind of thought the Beltuna just a good. So to me Beltuna bass is better than average, I wouldn't say anymore than that.

See, thats very interesting... in terms of clarinet and bassoon reeds, I find the Symphony Grand, Sonola SS20 and the best Bell accordions very close.

Just curious we are talking about a Bell 4518 (or something similar) with Binci reeds? I did not think the Excelsior Symphony was at the same level as the Bell. Especially the Master switch.

For "Art Van Damme" style, you cannot go wrong with any of these. The Symphony Grand (depending on year/config) has a clarity that the others don't have, BUT that also takes away slightly from that ultimate Jazz sound, but again, its close.

I think the bassoon switch on the Excelsior has a very nice jazz sound. I would regard the other accordions as more "general purpose" if that makes sense.

Per what Beltuna told me, the only differences between the Leader V and Spirit models with the 5/5 option, are identical except that the Spirit line has superior cosmetics... they look way more beautiful, greater choice of colors and nicer feeling right hand keys. The sound is supposed to be identical as inside they are the same.

Did you ever hear anyone else say otherwise or did you play the Leader V and equivalent Spirit back to back by chance?

No and no. Wow they get a lot more money for the cosmetics then. I just played the Spirit (solenoid bass by the way) at the factory. The difference I believe I noticed was only in the bass. I just felt it had a much stronger fuller sounding bass. But yes that could have been externalities (i.e. acoustics of the room) or my emotions. My Leader 5 does have a slide switch on the right side that I don't think the Spirit has. I don't know if that's a significant difference?

Lovely, I am not far off being of the same opinion.

Good to know I'm not totally off base.

For my ultimate musette sound... its very challenging for me to get in to the heavier tremelo tunings, but when playing Oberkrainer, German and some Czech pieces its hard to come close to "that sound" that a Beltuna Tyrolean V in LMMMH tuning has and if that accordion comes in the black and gold trim... becomes just as beautiful looking as it sounds... at least to me.

I don't know about all Leader 5s, but mine I assume is Italian/French around 15 cents. I don't believe I've ever heard a Tyrolean. I'm not into the ear bleeding 25 cents sound. That said there is a certain preciseness to the musette sound of my Leader 5 so I can believe that even if the Tyrolean is a lot wetter it could still sound very nice.

By the way my Leader 5 is black and gold trim and I do get nice compliments on it's appearance.

Thank you that was a very nice response with a lot of helpful information. I enjoyed reading it.

 

[jozz]

Since all brands of accordion have their own unique sound, everyone seems to have a brand preference. What is your preferred brand and why? I now have 6 accordions and most definitely prefer my Hlavacek's sound. I feel it is a little more musette than my other accordions and I love how the bass sounds.

interesting question
I haven't played nearly enough different brands or types to assess that
still I always thought of myself as a Hohner person, but having played some of the recent ones I think that isn't true anymore

 

[dak]

interesting question
I haven't played nearly enough different brands or types to assess that
still I always thought of myself as a Hohner person, but having played some of the recent ones I think that isn't true anymore

If you are only playing Hohners but like different models different, that does not make you a non-Hohner person. At worst it just makes you a disgruntled Hohner person (assuming that there is nothing you like anymore). Time to try playing some non-Hohners…

 

[Dingo40]

If you are only playing Hohners but like different models different, that does not make you a non-Hohner person.

To paraphrase, "What know they of Hohners who only Hohners know ?"

 

[murathan]

To paraphrase, "What know they of Hohners who only Hohners know ?"

Chinese or not, Hohner is special.

 

[dak]

Chinese or not, Hohner is special.

I am probably as much of a Hohner fanboi as they get, but there definitely is a correlation between how special a Hohner can get in an appreciable manner and how much of it is familiar with Eastasia (KHS is actually located in Taiwan).