Excalibur and E.Soprani....same accordion under two names?

[debra]

... P.S. I received the E. Soprani yesterday. I cannot vouch yet for its durability, but it has a really beautiful full sound, everything works flawlessly, as far as I can judge the intonation is spot on, and most importantly, the accordion is super responsive, all bass buttons respond without hesitation (my diatonic Compadre, for example, is a bit slower with the response of reeds). I am no expert, but the instrument seems absolutely fine, at least for now.

Best of luck with your new accordion! It was clearly justified to pay the extra to get this accordion checked out first in Italy (by the E.Soprani company) and by Liberty Bellows. I hope it will last you several years. (I still have doubts about the quality of Chinese materials, especially springs, and sometimes reeds if they are Chinese as well) but certainly in the initial period of using the accordion there should be no issues when the accordion is fine now.)
Enjoy CBA! Despite your area being dominated by PA you made the right choice to go for CBA (in my opinion, having made the switch from PA to CBA 13 years ago).

 

[donn]

And...if you live in the States very very very few chromatic button accordions in the market...

Today, with only a handful for sale locally, I wasn't surprised to see no CBAs, but I have seen them for sale hereabouts back when there were more accordions for sale overall.

I of course must make it more difficult because the accordion must not only be C griff CBA, it must have the 3/3 bass layout popular in France, and even that I've seen locally, a very nice Cavagnolo. But I'd already taken the train down to southern California to get a used Cavagnolo I found on an online auction. That was my 2nd; the first, I bought used via ebay.fr and had it mailed to me from France - too risky to recommend, but it worked out OK.

I will actually go to some lengths to avoid buying Chinese goods - even if it's just a jar of fermented black beans, if you look, it's often possible to find something from Taiwan instead. Of course there's occasionally no way around it, but that doesn't stop me from looking for one. That my tools, instruments, clothes etc. are a little better quality as a result, is only part of it.

 

[bluesette]

Hi Gerardo,

Congrats for your new E.Soprani C system CBA !
I think the C system CBA was the right choice (most populart CBA system in western world).

Since you live in Michigan, you may contact 2 top shot CBA (C system) accordion & bandonion player in Michigan:

Peter Soave : former accordion world champion and music teacher at WSU (Wayne State University) MI.

Peter Soave - Accordion and Bandoneon Virtuoso

Julien Labro : originaly from France and former Peter Soave student at WSU.

Julien Labro

| Bandoneon-Accordion Virtuoso

julienlabro.com

Best regards from Switzerland,
Bluesette (CBA (C system) player since 1960 and Bandonion player since 2015)

 

[Longshore]

Here are some pics

Hi gerardo1000,
For what it's worth, it looks a fine first CBA - a damn sight better than the one I started with.
I hope you have many hours of fun with your new box. I'm sure you'll experience the great pleasures of playing the CBA. The start of a great journey.

 

[JeffJetton]

Do you think it "really" goes to Italy? Maybe a stopover at Fumincino? Maybe flies over the Alps. Buyer beware!!!!

Maybe the truck driver stops for lunch at The Olive Garden before delivering to the music store?

Well in any case, I echo those here who point out that at least Liberty Bellows is a bona fide accordion shop, with people who know how to check out and repair accordions. So even if both models went straight from China to the dealer, I'd still give a huge edge to buying from LB if only for that.

(And based on the online reviews I've read for Jim Laabs, I'd be skeptical buying a 9-volt battery from that place. Yikes!)

 

[John M]

. . . at least Liberty Bellows is a bona fide accordion shop . . .

I'll second that!

John M.

 

[Scuromondo]

(And based on the online reviews I've read for Jim Laabs, I'd be skeptical buying a 9-volt battery from that place. Yikes!)

I’m hesitant to admit it, but I bought my new Paolo Soprani from them! Like you, I read the customer feedback, and was struck by how overwhelmingly negative most of it was. Yet, after a couple months of ambivalence—and after exchanging a dozen emails and a few phone calls with them, I did it; I took the risk. My main motivation was price: I knew the exact accordion I wanted, and their price was about least $1500USD lower than the next lowest price I could find anywhere. While they did not have the model and tuning I wanted in stock, they were perfectly fine ordering one from Castelfidardo for me. I was thoroughly anxious during the six weeks it took for the shipment to arrive because I realized that, if anything unusual happened—if it was damaged in shipping or needed any sort of adjustment or repairs—I might well have to sort it out entirely on my own. Just based on my conversations with them, I knew they had very little accordion experience and zero maintenance experience. In the end, fortunately for me, everything turned out perfectly: I got a wonderful new instrument, at a remarkably low price, and I am perfectly satisfied.

I can’t say that I would recommend that anyone else take the same risk, but it all worked out well for me!

 

[Dingo40]

Phew! Lucky!??