Can anyone tell me about this accordion? Lenorita, 120 keys, 843, Italy

[Doobie878]

Hi all! I am new to the group and a first time accordion performer as of last night. . I am primarily a piano/keyboard player. A friend who asked me to play on an EP release is letting me use this fun accordion. I haven't been able to find anything online about and am hoping that maybe some of you know.

This is labeled as a "Lenorita", has 120 keys, has a stamp on the back saying "843 Made in Italy", and is in a "Geib" case.

Can anyone tell me more or lead me in the direction to find out more?

Thank you!

-Rob ("Robbie-Doobie")

 

[Dingo40]

Hi Rob, and welcome!
We can't see the treble key tips, so can't tell if it's a "waterfall" keyboard or not.
The straps do look original to the accordion.
Does it have any coupler switches (we can't see)?
I'd hazard a guess that it's from the late 1930s to early 1940s.
It's a full 41/120, possibly 2treble/2bass voices , basic, no frills beginner/ amateur model.
There are some issues with the bellows: corners, tape and pleats.
I'd say the name is "Senorita" not "Lenorita"
I imagine there's quite a bit needs doing "under the bonnet " to put everything right?
The accordions of this era can all be "fixed", if you're very "handy " or able to find a good technician (and are sufficiently well heeled).
Although it's quite appealing ( and I do like elderly accordions), it's probably not worth more than $100, as is, tops.
You'll probably have many more replies to come!
Give us a hint regarding roughly.where in the US you're located

 

[Ben-jammin]

Looks like an old Hi/Lo box where it has 3 or 4 treble reeds and the palm switch toggles the lowest set of treble reeds on and off. My guess is 4 or 5 bass reeds. With the obvious issues on the bellows I wouldn’t be hopeful the rest has been maintained. Instruments of this vintage usually have dried out reed wax which can allow reeds to fall out of their mounting. Another concern is that the leather valves dry out to cause air flow issues that make the reeds respond slowly and go out of pitch.

The vintage of this instrument is not a very desirable one as instruments made since the 1950s will perform much better and have more options to select different tones. These older accordions do have a unique sound but usually need a lot of work to made usable as instruments again.

Another thing to consider when recording is many accordions (older ones especially) aren’t all tuned to a 440 Hz standard. And depending on the health of the reeds it could be all over the place these days.

Good luck on the EP, though a better more recently maintained instrument will likely produce a better recording.

 

[Doobie878]

Hi Rob, and welcome!
I'd hazard a guess that it's from the late 1930s to early 1940s.
It's a full 41/120, possibly 2treble/2bass voices , basic, no frills beginner/ amateur model.
There are some issues with the bellows corners and pleats.
I'd say the name is "Senorita" not "Lenorita"
I imagine there's quite a bit needs doing "under the bonnet " to put everything right?
The accordions of this era can all be "fixed", if you're very "handy " or able to find a good technician (and are sufficiently well heeled).
Although it's quite appealing ( and I like elderly accordions), it's probably not worth more than $100 tops.
You'll probably have many more replies to come!
Give us a hint regarding roughly.where in the US you're located

Hi Dingo40!

Thank you for your reply! Even in my novice experience I notice difficulties. There are a few keys on the right hand that when pressed trigger the adjacent note. When pressing other keys with the same pressure they only trigger the desired note.

I am located in the Charlotte, North Carolina area of the South East United States.

 

[Doobie878]

Looks like an old Hi/Lo box where it has 3 or 4 treble reeds and the palm switch toggles the lowest set of treble reeds on and off. My guess is 4 or 5 bass reeds. With the obvious issues on the bellows I wouldn’t be hopeful the rest has been maintained. Instruments of this vintage usually have dried out reed wax which can allow reeds to fall out of their mounting. Another concern is that the leather valves dry out to cause air flow issues that make the reeds respond slowly and go out of pitch.

The vintage of this instrument is not a very desirable one as instruments made since the 1950s will perform much better and have more options to select different tones. These older accordions do have a unique sound but usually need a lot of work to made usable as instruments again.

Another thing to consider when recording is many accordions (older ones especially) aren’t all tuned to a 440 Hz standard. And depending on the health of the reeds it could be all over the place these days.

Good luck on the EP, though a better more recently maintained instrument will likely produce a better recording.

Hi Ben (jammin'!), I am certainly learning with your reply and with Dingo40's just before. I did notice that the "palm switch" routed air to some lower tuned reeds. I do suspect some maintenance downfalls that have affected playability and pitch.

Thank you for your input!

 

[debra]

Never seen or heard of this one, but I do believe the reads as "Senorita", not "Lenorita".

 

[Doobie878]

That certainly makes more sense. The script threw me. Thanks!

 

[JerryPH]

While I agree that this accordion is in the $50-$100 rage only if for a conversation piece, to make this one playable by a good accordion repair person, you would be lucky to get away with a $1000 bill. If the insides are in as bad a condition as the bellows are (and there is no reason to assume otherwise), there is a LOT of work needed to get this one in proper playable condition.