Do you know anything about these 2...

[jerryspur]

I recently came across these two accordions and I wondered if anybody knew how old they are and what they might be reselling for? I tried looking them up on the internet but all I saw was to ask a professional and maybe somebody would recognize them...View attachment 10895

 

[Alan Polivka]

The Contello was probably made in the 1980s ... possibly a little earlier or later, but not much. The Scandalli is from the WWII era.

The Contello is a 3-reed, non-pro model, with a rather obscure brand name. If in very good playing condition, something like this typically sells for around $200-400, unless being sold by a dealer who offers a warranty, which can add a little more to the value. If it needs any repairs, the cost of those repairs subtracts from the value. Accordion repairs can be labor-intensive and therefore, they can be costly in some cases.

Scandalli is one of the top brand names. However, this is not one of their top-of-the line models, so it probably does not have professional (a mano) reeds. The labels on the shifts make it difficult to tell whether it's a 3-reed or 4-reed accordion. We'd have to see a photo of the inside to resolve this. Being so old, this accordion will need a complete reed skin/wax/tuning overhaul, new valve pads, new bellows gaskets, and possibly more, unless it has had these things done within the past couple of decades. If it has had all of this maintenance not long ago, it should be in good playing condition, worth up to $500 if 3-reed or $750 if 4-reed. However, a complete reed skin/wax/tuning overhaul costs about that much, so if it needs that, the value is very little as is.

 

[dak]

The Contello has a surprisingly ugly color, and the exterior is deteriorating. It appears to be a 3-reed without tremolo (never mind the nonsensical Master register buttons) and probably is lady-size, with leather valves throughout. If the instrument I had is presentative, reeds may be tipo a mano, the bass somewhat anemic and with comparatively noisy mechanics, and the treble sound very mellow, making single-reed registrations a strong point of the instrument. An instrument for younger players (or those wanting to play while standing) that still permits the full range of piano accordion literature. When in good shape, I'd consider it worth more than what Alan suggests, but of course you'd need someone to guarantee or at least verify the shape.

My own guess would be more like the 1960s to 1970s than 1980s but that's more of a hunch than any qualified knowledge.

 

[Alan Polivka]

These little triangle/teardrop ornaments at the ends of the shift row may be a clue to the age of the Contello. I've never seen them on an accordion from the 1960s, but that is no guarantee they didn't exist then, of course.

DAK, did your Contello have these triangular ornaments? If so, can you tell us in what year it was made?

I have always wondered exactly when these triangular ornaments started and stopped appearing on new accordions. I'd love to hear from others as to what vintage of accordions they've seen them on. I've only seen them on accordions from the 1980s and possibly 1990s, but that's just my limited experience.

I bet you can still buy these ornaments from Carini, but I don't recall seeing them on any recent major brand name accordions.

 

[dak]

These little triangle/teardrop ornaments at the ends of the shift row may be a clue to the age of the Contello. I've never seen them on an accordion from the 1960s, but that is no guarantee they didn't exist then, of course.

DAK, did your Contello have these triangular ornaments? If so, can you tell us in what year it was made?

Yes, but no. I had asked around one time and gotten the answer that this was likely an export brand for some major Italian product in the heydays of accordions, and that should have been before the 80s.

I have always wondered exactly when these triangular ornaments started and stopped appearing on new accordions. I'd love to hear from others as to what vintage of accordions they've seen them on. I've only seen them on accordions from the 1980s and possibly 1990s, but that's just my limited experience.

I've seen only few Contellos and apart from color and number of registers, they were surprisingly similar. I don't think that they will have been produced over a large range of years.

 

[Ventura]

deceptive shift markings are a product of the accordion wars
over the student mills in the heyday, which petered out in the 1960's

logically, there was no-need for trickery by the 1980's as there
were no more hurry-up-and-buy what looked like a better deal suckers
and no competing sellers in close or large markets pressing every
possible advantage they could create or invent

so accordions with deceptive shifts are much more likely, i feel,
to be from the earlier years

 

[Alan Polivka]

DAK is right. It looks like I was a bit low on my estimate of the Contello value. The ultimate determination of accordion value is the marketplace and the largest marketplace for accordions is E-Bay. I just spent (too much) time collecting data on the 50 Italian and German piano accordions most recently *SOLD* on E-Bay, not counting 12-bass models. I emphasize the word "SOLD" because asking price is not a true indication of value ... only actual selling price is valid. I then averaged the prices for 2-reed and for 3-reed accordions. Here is what the data shows:
The average selling price of 2-reed piano accordions amongst the recent sales was: $270.
The average selling price of 3-reed piano accordions amongst the recent sales was: $414.
For my fellow statisticians:
The standard deviation in selling price of 2-reed piano accordions amongst the recent sales was: $118.
The standard deviation in selling price of 3-reed piano accordions amongst the recent sales was: $331.
This means that the typical (1-sigma) range of selling price for these accordions was:
The 1-sigma selling price range of 2-reed piano accordions amongst the recent sales was: $152-$388.
The 1-sigma selling price range of 3-reed piano accordions amongst the recent sales was: $83-$745.

 

[Ventura]

keeping an eye on such statistics is a great way to know what
is real with sales and prices and trends..
I used to track eBay in the early years, but got disenchanted with
their seller and bidder protections that hide "flim-flam" from the buyers

just the re-listings alone that have been on for years and years is
enough to show ebay is largely a suckers game

but one thing i DID do was save the pics from a decade of ebay listings,
so Alan if you ever drop by the studio, bring a big thumb drive and you can
grab a copy (sorted mostly by brand and type) for your research needs

 

[Alan Polivka]

Cool. I do hope to return to your place one of these days. Now that I'm semi-retired, however, my trips back east are much fewer and far between.

 

[Tom]

DAK is right. It looks like I was a bit low on my estimate of the Contello value. The ultimate determination of accordion value is the marketplace and the largest marketplace for accordions is E-Bay. I just spent (too much) time collecting data on the 50 Italian and German piano accordions most recently *SOLD* on E-Bay, not counting 12-bass models. I emphasize the word "SOLD" because asking price is not a true indication of value ... only actual selling price is valid. I then averaged the prices for 2-reed and for 3-reed accordions. Here is what the data shows:
The average selling price of 2-reed piano accordions amongst the recent sales was: $270.
The average selling price of 3-reed piano accordions amongst the recent sales was: $414.
For my fellow statisticians:
The standard deviation in selling price of 2-reed piano accordions amongst the recent sales was: $118.
The standard deviation in selling price of 3-reed piano accordions amongst the recent sales was: $331.
This means that the typical (1-sigma) range of selling price for these accordions was:
The 1-sigma selling price range of 2-reed piano accordions amongst the recent sales was: $152-$388.
The 1-sigma selling price range of 3-reed piano accordions amongst the recent sales was: $83-$745.

Good analysis. This seems pretty consistent.

 

[jerryspur]

First and foremost I want to thank everybody for answering my questions and I'm not sure how to show you the inside of the accordion... does that mean that I'm opening it up from the bottom? And I did find the numbers "264/8" next to the "Made in Italy" on the bottom

 

[dak]

Opening up means removing the grille (typically two screws on the left and right side) for a peek, and pulling the bellows pins of the treble side without damaging the celluloid (typically 3–4 on top and bottom and 2 on each side, and you must keep them in order and replace them exactly where you pulled them as they are not necessarily the same diameter) and then showing the reed blocks inside and the state of the reeds and valves. Whether you dare doing this depends on your tools and your assessment of your own skills. Someone playing an accordion should at some point learn how to open it up in order to be able to deal with minor technical problems themselves.

It's important when putting the instrument back together to not get any valves creased in the bellows.

 

[Alan Polivka]

264/8 is the serial number, BTW.