Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
goo.gl
this link should take you to the actual "old" Paolo Soprani factory building
(now re-built as a home for pensioneers)
it lay fallow for several decades after paolo Soprani
(the original, the old and only, that Paolo built)
went entirely and completely out of business and dissapeared
not to be confused with the
"new old" paolo factory referenced a few posts above
which is not very old at all unless you are counting in Dog years
regarding the sadness and despair mentioned in other posts
regarding "sort of kind of italian but built who knows where"
please realise that the E Soprani name came about ENTIRELY
from the frenzy that always surrounded a famous factory death
when the sharks and unscrupulous swarm the water seeking to
rape the reputation in any way possible for financial gain
this is the Italian way, unfortunately
E Soprani pretty much came into existence because there were not enough
variations on the Soprani name to go around
btw... originally E. Soprani and Paolo Soprani had absolutely ZERO legal connection
while it took many decades to bleed Paolo Soprani of it's reputation, and
the rights to use/abuse the name passing through numerous hands
and usually brief Corporations in the process, the E. Soprani name
never had a reputation, and so it always was a joke
the first fake Italian accordions imported from Asia and secretly
re-branded as Italian AND made in Italy marks added as well was
under the name E. Soprani and believed done in the old Moreschi dungeon
up on the hill
the Italian Govt. famously stepped in and wrote new regulations and laws
to prevent such complete deception from continuing
(you now must be very vague, and also swap out the reeds for Italian made)
however, there being no actual high volume cheap accordion market in the
West (there actually is a big low-price market in Asia.. go figure)
one wonders why the deceptions and disingenuous legerdermain continue
more than ever, caveat aemptor... on the high boutique end, we continue
to see the depths that (now ancient) old brand names and reputations STILL
have in the West, with a still steady line of people willing to spend @ $10,000
on some shiny bauble f they are given a good story (and assured they
are getting Hand Made reeds) along with very nice photographs and
long winded histories that have no actual connection in any way, shape, or form
(or engineering or scale design or tooling) to the brand name being Boutiqued to you...
having repeated all that, we also have heard that there seems to be some effort
by possibly halfway respectable people to rejuvenate the Scandalli name and the Paolo name
to some extent (only time will tell) but let us not forget that less than 5
years ago you could buy a brand new (asian body) Paolo Soprani built to resemble
the "hubcap grille" models of the famous old days... looked very nice in the
pictures but the shiny chrome looking hub-caps actually were really cheap plastic
and actually didn't even open like the originals
as long as Accordion buyers put a premium on the "Sizzle" rather than the "Substance"
these business practices will continue
ciao
Ventura
. Great to be able to walk into a shop full of accordions though, like a little bit of heaven!
