Farewell Maugein 🥲

[Nico.nico]

Hello to you all.
Yesterday I was sad to find this publication in the Maugein accordions social media.



I believe they were on the brink of closing a couple of years ago, but got saved by some football player fan of the accordions apparently.
I don’t know if this time they will make a come back.

I was thrilled after getting my first acoustic , a used 1970’s Maugein.
Crossing fingers so I don’t ever need any spare parts to do any service now.

What do you think of this guys ?

 

[Dingo40]

What do you think of this guys ?

Very sad.
Google Translation of the above text:
"It is with great emotion that we announce the end of the adventure of the MAUGEIN Accordion and Harmonica Factory.

We would like to express our deep gratitude to all our shareholders, partners, employees, customers and supporters for the wonderful moments shared around the accordion.

A page is turning, but the Maison MAUGEIN will forever remain the largest and oldest 100% French accordion factory, thanks to the thousands of companions who have worked there and the thousands of accordionist customers who have resounded their MAUGEIN around the world and

Who do it again and again.

The story continues with the arrival of the Cité de l'Accordéon and the heritages of Tulle, where MAUGEIN occupies a place of honor.

MAUGEIN must now recharge his batteries.

And who knows? Perhaps MAUGEIN will be reborn in another form, to offer you new accordions, interviews and services as it has always done with passion and excellence.

Let us be patient, attentive and benevolent.

Do not look for the culprits, and please respect those who have worked to keep this house alive for more than 105 years.

Long live MAUGEIN!"

 

[godgi]

I have a Maugein Export a pocket rocket for response of reeds etc

 

[OuijaBoard]

Here comes the new Asian "partnership."

 

[stickista]

Hello to you all.
Yesterday I was sad to find this publication in the Maugein accordions social media.



I believe they were on the brink of closing a couple of years ago, but got saved by some football player fan of the accordions apparently.
I don’t know if this time they will make a come back.

I was thrilled after getting my first acoustic , a used 1970’s Maugein.
Crossing fingers so I don’t ever need any spare parts to do any service now.

What do you think of this guys ?

A few years back I was in discussion with them about digging out their old designs and building one of their unique free bass CBAs for me. For better or worse, I decided against it. Would have been a fun instrument tho’.
French walnut with cassotto.
Maugein told me they only made about 20 of them, in the late ‘80s
I actually came across one recently on a French auction site for an absurdly low price, but it seems the sale got tied up in some estate politics. Broke my heart when it fell thru. The instrument was mint.

 

[losthobos]

A sorry day for sure...

 

[saundersbp]

Squeezed out: last accordion maker in France to close shop after 105 years | France | The Guardian

Maugein owner blames competition from China and Covid pandemic for firm’s demise, but former French president says there is hope

amp.theguardian.com

 

[Squeezebox Of Delights]

It's terribly sad, they had some really interesting models. They're definitely not the last accordion maker in France though! They're survived by Cavagnolo, Marc Serafini, Bertrand Galliard... the list goes on.

 

[dunlustin]

A sad loss.
An important aspect of Maugein:
" the only accordion maker in France (still) to produce instruments from scratch"

I disagree with the Chinese competition argument - French players are even more unlikely to buy Chinese than the rest of us.
Cava tried with an 80 Bass (made in Indonesia) but nobody was interested in a cheapo Cava - about as likely as a downmarket Ferrari.
(I believe Cava tried to support Maugein in recent times - sharing reedless tech?)
It's not really fair to cite Serafini and Gaillard - both are an innovating part of the diatonic renaissance in France but not a replacement for Maugein.

I wonder if Maugein was just too reliant on its traditional market. It did try to innovate in the end and even returned to offering Diatonics - but about thirty years too late.

Let's hope a 'buy-out' can come up with a more nimble version of itself.

 

[vivdunstan]

As I posted in another thread I’m so sad about this. I adore the compact chromatic button accordion they built new for me last year. I found the people at the company a delight to deal with during the buying process. And my accordion was built to a very high standard. So glad I got it, but so sad.

 

[oldbayan]

For some time I had a little Maugein Export CBA, nice no-frills accordion. I tried to contact them a few times for spare parts in the last few years, and never got replies... However Cavagnolo has always been very supportive. Just saying.