Cheap Chinese accordion reeds

[Ben-jammin]

I was curious about how bad a new cheap Chinese accordion could be and I purchased a 37/96 3/4 LMM unit from Thomann. Total price after shipping to the US was around 650$.

I had reasonable expectations and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s basically ok, and for the price a bit better than I expected. With that said I have found some negatives about it. The mussette isn’t very even, the volume is less than most of my other accordions, notes are a bit slower to respond and the bass notes seem to use more air than I’m used to. But on the good side of things compression is pretty good and the mechanics are playable. It sounds ok and from some spot testing the dry reeds are dead on for tuning.

I am thinking of doing some work on it in an effort to make it more responsive. Some of the reed valves are plastic and some are leather. I guess my question is about whether the stock reeds can be reasonable improved by re-valving or should I just replace the reeds with better ones and be done with. I have a complete set of Reeds from an old Scandalli that I could use.

 

[debra]

I would suggest to buy a complete new set of reeds (or as you suggest, reeds "borrowed" from a good but older accordion). The way to make reeds cheap is to have more tolerance, meaning a wider gap between the reed and the hole in the reed plate it passes through. The extra room there prevents the reed from not fitting properly (touching the side walls) but it wastes air. The other way to make accordion production cheap is to not do proper voicing. The proper voicing makes reeds respond faster, but as the steel is also rubbish the reeds would likely choke when you play with a bit of "attack".
A combination of leather valves for larger reeds and plastic valves for smaller reeds (and no valves for even smaller reeds) is perfectly normal and nowadays done by most Italian manufacturers as well. (Experience has shown that leather valves for really small reeds are not so reliably consistent over a longer time, so plastic is better for about the highest octave that still has valves.)

 

[Ben-jammin]

Thanks Paul, that’s what I was suspecting, but wanted to verify before I threw out the baby with the bath water.

 

[debra]

Before you put in all this work you should check whether the mechanics are all fine. Chinese accordions can have an uneven keyboard, requiring considerably more force to press black versus white keys (or first versus third row on a CBA). Maybe you can also check whether you can move the springs from the old Scandalli to the Chinese accordion, because Chinese springs are made out of rubbish steel and tend to break early on in life (of the accordion)...

 

[Ben-jammin]

Wise thought Paul. While the keyboard isn’t as nice as on my SEM or Titano, it’s still playable for me. I’ll look at what swapping the springs entails, but for me this issue is secondary to reed response/efficiency.

 

[Dingo40]

Just thinking: wouldn't it be better to fix up your donor Scandalli instead?
From what I've heard here and there, the older Italian machines tend to stay "fixed" while the "consumer grade" Chinese models not so much?
Still, as Kramer said on one of the California episodes of Seinfeld, perhaps you weren't "looking for a long-term relationship "?

 

[Ben-jammin]

Unless I can magic up half of an accordion, fixing that Scandalli is a non starter. I purchased the reeds in a basket case with no bass mechanism (had it had the bass section it also has too narrow of a keyboard for me to play comfortably). the way I plan to use the instrument would be a risk for even a better made instrument. In this instance my goal is having the best functioning instrument that I’m also not worried about potentially writing off. The fact that it may need to be fixed more frequently is a minor concern for me, because it might just get killed before it would have died of natural causes.

 

[landro]

Having been in the repair business for some years now, I have come across a few of these made in China accordions. Most were earlier models from Baile and Parrot.
AS Paul DeBra mentioned , the keys can warp and the original workmanship can be shoddy., not to mention tuning deficiencies. I found them to be somewhat repairable but personally I never cared for them knowing the Italian instruments were generally the world standard , but in all fairness they were built to a price point. I `m sure the Chinese can build a high quality instrument but they sell inexpensive accordions because this is what the importers ask for . It adds another tier to their offerings and more profit.
Recently I acquired a new YingWU (Parrot) 37/96 3reeds treble side , 5 in the bass end that came from a well known USA accordion seller in Ca. I bought it out of curiosity. The first thing I did when I received it was to check the cosmetic condition play it. All seems fine. It was indeed new and undamaged . Next I pulled all the pins to see the inside .

 

[landro]

A couple more images on this Chinese accordion , the site allows no more than 10 per post. Bellows are very tight . It plays effortlessly. I`m impressed actually how closely it copies a typical Italian instrument , fully acknowledging the possiblities of reed inferiority, tuning inaccuracies, and key warpage . On the surface it looks to be as good as the current low end Hohners for 1/3 the cost and better made than the Current low end Weltmeisters . It`s hard to believe the Chinese can make a 4/5reed 120 full sized accordion for Thoman to sell at under $800.00USD ! (Exc shipping and tax). That`s roughly 15-20% of what an Italian made one would cost.

 

[landro]

I pretty much doubt that this master Yang , (featured on Utube) plays his Parrot fitted with cheap export reeds?

 

[JerryPH]

Yang is their communist national treasure. He likely has HUNDREDS if not thousands of hours of work by the finest people available and has A MANO reeds in that accordion. What he has, *maybe* no one else in all of China has. No one can buy that accordion off a shelf, no matter what the price... its simply not made and is a complete one-off irrespective of the name on the accordion.

 

[Tom]

Yang is their communist national treasure. He likely has HUNDREDS if not thousands of hours of work by the finest people available and has A MANO reeds in that accordion. What he has, *maybe* no one else in all of China has. No one can buy that accordion off a shelf, no matter what the price... its simply not made and is a complete one-off irrespective of the name on the accordion.

Yeah, plenty of notes, good on the chromatic and bellows shake. Zero eye contact or other identifiable emotion. Maybe his audience loves this style of playing. Give me some life on a piece of crap accordion any day. I (and other people who bother to post videos on this forum) at least try to smile and look at the camera, even if we have less "talent" or "a mano." Geesh.....

 

[landro]

Tom,
You would have to like Nick Ariondo here for sure,

 

[Tom]

Well, he is obviously very skilled and talented, and I can appreciate that. And it's hard to be light hearted when you are playing hard music... But even the tarantella couldn't get him to smile?

 

[landro]

He is one of my favorites!

 

[landro]

Getting back to that Ying Wu , The bass reed valves are leather, trebles are clear plastic with colored boosters. The jury is out on wether they outlast leather or not. I was pleased that the keyboard and bass action is very quiet. The underside of the button board is insulated as I tried to show in the final image. The bass action unclips and slides out as one piece, a couple of screws do hold it secure. This feature of course is not anything new or proprietory as I have run across it in others and not particularly fond of it myself but it simply has to reduce costly assembly time.

 

[landro]

Yang is their communist national treasure. He likely has HUNDREDS if not thousands of hours of work by the finest people available and has A MANO reeds in that accordion. What he has, *maybe* no one else in all of China has. No one can buy that accordion off a shelf, no matter what the price... its simply not made and is a complete one-off irrespective of the name on the accordion.

Hi Jerry,
What you write above may well be true , but he could have bought a prestigious Italian brand instrument instead. Maybe at the risk of a speedy execution though?

 

[Dingo40]

Could it be that maestro Yang's Parrott is made in Italy and simply rebranded ?

 

[JerryPH]

Tom,
You would have to like Nick Ariondo here for sure,

OMG, he literally scares me. I have NEVER EVER EVER EVER seen anyone as technically amazing on the left hand as this man. He's amazing... lol

"Flight of the bumble bees at double speed? SURE no prob! what hand do you want me to play it on, left or right?" LOL

 

[McSqueeze]

Back in the 1980s I spent some time with a professional Chinese accordionist who was visiting Australia. His Chinese made accordion was of a high quality and he assured me good players in China had access to quality Chinese made instruments and that the inferior mass produced accordions were for the Chinese masses or for export.

That concept is confirmed by an Australian friend of mine who is a buyer of small tools for a big wholesale/retail company. He assures me that the Chinese are more than capable of producing quality product and that the manufacture of poor quality is very much driven by wholesalers/retailers in the west who want to maximise profits.

"You get what you pay for" rings very true.