Fascinated with small accordions

[Jmcgsd]

I started back into my accordion journey recently after many years away. Back in the days I started (late 50’s) I only heard of 2 sizes of boxes. If you were a beginner you played a 12 bass and after a bit you graduated to a 120 bass. Obviously other sizes were available but I was not aware of them.

As a returning player and very much a senior I wanted something smaller. I settled on a 48 bass and am quite satisfied, and it’s made me aware of how much wonderful music can be made on this smaller instrument. It has also piqued my interest in even smaller accordions. There are numerous videos of players performing great stuff on 12 bass boxes. It seems to me that it would be an exciting challenge to become proficient on such an instrument.

 

[Dingo40]

There are numerous videos of players performing great stuff on 12 bass boxes.

There's still another way one can go: the 41/120 accordions with 17 inch keyboards.
There's a still smaller size: the approximately 15" keyboard. But that's a bit small for comfort!

 

[Squeezebox Of Delights]

You're not alone! I love my little boxes, and my 25/32 LM Excelsior and 25/12 MM Hohner get played much more regularly than my four-voice 120 bass Frontalinis. And I've seen/heard people get some incredible sounds out of instruments with only a few bass buttons. As was discussed recently, folk accordionists tend to prioritise compact, lightweight instruments over large versatile ones, as opposed to classical/jazz/etc where bigger is usually seen as better, and 12 bass boxes are denounced as only being suitable for complete beginners or small children. Most diatonic players make do with the equivalent of 12 stradella basses, and they seem to survive!

 

[Dingo40]

It seems to me that it would be an exciting challenge to become proficient on such an instrument.

Check out the Cambridge Buskers on YouTube!
See here:

the cambridge buskers youtube - Google Search

 

[SteveBox]

Most diatonic players make do with the equivalent of 12 stradella basses, and they seem to survive!

By design, a diatonic box can only play in a limited number of keys, so they don't need so many bass buttons.

 

[OuijaBoard]

I too love small PAs and CBAs. The conventional wisdom in PA land that stigmatizes and disdains these sizes as only for kiddies or beginners is so off-base. A huge part of the appeal of bisonoric/diatonic button accordions for folk players is their portability . . . but why should bisonorics own that territory? My favorite bass config is 60 in order to get all scale tones, but I like 48 as well. 30 treble will work for almost any folk genre, but I'll grab a 26-key any time it'll work for the genre I'm playing.

For example, in Irish trad, 26 works fine, as the small percentage of tunes that dip below "middle B" don't linger down there--they just hit a low A or G and go back up, so one can arrange around that. But OTOH, in Scottish/Cape Breton/Shetland, there are tunes that spend time on the low notes down to "Fiddle G." Same with Klezmer and certain other Eastern European stuff that really works better with 30 treble.

I do avoid vintage PAs that only have 25 treble keys and nothing below Middle C, as that "Middle B" under Middle C is much-used in so many folk tunes.

I love a small MM accordion. But, I must say that a 3-voice LMM 26-key is a wonderful thing. I have an Italian-made LMM in 26/48 and another Italian made LMM in 26/60, both acquired used in lovely shape. The 26/48 LMM was made by Zero Sette and even has a bass register switch. One can do a LOT with those little guys and their 5 treble registers!

 

[oldbayan]

Apart my diatonic boxes, I play mostly on a Roland FR-3xb CBA which is an "intermediate" size instrument, equivalent to a 37/120 PA. I also have a little Hohner Student IV M for extreme chromatic portability, but the 32 basses are a bit limited. However it's good enough to accompany folk musicians. For extended range I also have a 3-row 52-button 100-bass "Soviet era" chromatic which is very compact compared to a full-size accordion.

 

[hais1273]

My 26/72 'stozzi is absolutely fine for the traditional music I tend to play. It's loud enough, has a nice tone, being limited in the right hand is liberating rather than restricting IMO.