Flying on Italian Airways with full size accordion

[Thomas N]

That sounds like a rather extreme amount of money for a tuning job, unless the "other small repairs" are substantial.
Taking accordion repair courses is a very good idea, but don't expect that you can do an expert tuning job after Tier 1 and 2. There is still more to learn about tuning, especially dealing with the very high notes (although your 960 does not have the highest notes). And setting up a repair workshop is also a significant undertaking. You need to stock up on tools and parts because most stuff is not readily available at hardware stores.

I agree with you Paul. I was told it's $1000 because it's a 5/5 configuration and it takes a massive amount of time to perform the tuning. I have no idea if that's fair or not, but with 22 years passing without a tune I thought it might have merit.

I'm not good with household projects. I can build a computer from scratch and love messing with all the software and settings but mechanical things and me do not get along well. I think if I meticulously follow class examples and learn I could become - mediocre at best.

But I'm at an age where undertaking something like this seems worthwhile, and dare I say it - fun. Being able to fix small annoying things on my accordion, or tuning an obviously out of tune reed block would be a bonus.

The price of the actual classes does not seem prohibitive, and I looked at hotels and AirBnB's in the area and they are, of course, nothing like Venice, Florence or Rome prices. And my wife really wants to enjoy a different, slower part of Italy.

The Excelsiola 930 I would bring is apparently very tricky to tune with two reeds that must be perfectly synced in order to not provide a tremolo effect. And it has a host of small niggling problems. I see the trip as a win, win, win.

 

[debra]

I agree with you Paul. I was told it's $1000 because it's a 5/5 configuration and it takes a massive amount of time to perform the tuning. I have no idea if that's fair or not, but with 22 years passing without a tune I thought it might have merit.
...

Any accordion that has gone over 20 years without being tuned is a lot of work to tune. Personally I don't mind tuning 5/5 accordions and don't find that it takes a massive amount of time, but I have had a lot of practice tuning accordions by now. And I am not really keeping track of how much time it takes because I'm retired and took the courses and perform repairs and tuning mostly for fun. (Of course I try do do a perfect job, but it helps that I don't have to earn a living doing accordion repairs.)

 

[Siegmund]

The class director said we'd be stopping at a supplier called Carini on one of the days, it's a place I've heard and read about on this site in the past but I don't know what it actually is. For someone who has absolutely no tools whatsoever, any suggestions on what to bring home? I'm thinking: wax, leathers, bellow gasket line, some kinda tools....?

Carini is like a big hardware store, but instead of general-purpose hardware, there are bins with every kind of screw and clamp and rod you use to build an accordion. Replacement register-switch tops and key tops and button tops in a dozen different sizes and shapes and colors. Pre-cut leathers and springs in all the standard sizes.

In your class you will be given a few basic tools, and given suggestions for a few more you should buy at first chance.

There are a few hazards:
There are no price tags. You have to take it to the counter and have it scanned.
There are no signs to help you find things, and the labels on the items are Italian only.
If you buy in-person you will pay the european VAT (22% sales tax); if you mail order from Carini you won't pay the VAT but you will pay very high shipping cost - so this might be close to a wash.
Everything at Carini is (very) expensive. For instance you might want a set of small rasps, for tuning and for shaping other small parts. These are $6.99 at Harbor Freight, $10 or $15 at your local Ace Hardware, $25 at a European hardware store, and over $50 at Carini. I suggest anything you can buy at home (wax, screwdrivers, torsion springs, sheets of felt), buy at home. If you see a book you like in their display case, write down its name and order it from a book dealer. At Carini concentrate on things you know you need but cannot get anywhere else, like bellows gaskets, sets of leathers and springs, or a particular spare part you need if you have something broken on an instrument you own.

Here's a peek inside the store from when I was there last year.
This is one half of the sales floor (and most of the people in the pic are my classmates from Tier I):



Here's a look at a few of the shelves:
Need to replace your grille? Here you go.




You really don't want to ever have to bend the shaft of a new key to make it fit your piano keyboard, but if you're a glutton for punishment, here is a bagful of tasti=keys:


New celluloid by the square meter (you only want tiny scraps for repairs, this is if you are buying enough to cover a brand new accordion, the factories have big tubs of acetone to soften the whole sheet so they can bend it around the case)


Serramantici = bellows clasps. Know whether you want leather or metal, what diameter the buttons on the clasp are, and how far apart the two sides are.

 

[Siegmund]

The price of the actual classes does not seem prohibitive, and I looked at hotels and AirBnB's in the area and they are, of course, nothing like Venice, Florence or Rome prices. And my wife really wants to enjoy a different, slower part of Italy.

Non-tourist-trap Italy is shockingly affordable. I spent about half as much per day visiting Italy as I would on a trip across the United States. The rental car was a price I hadn't seen since the 1990s. This has been a big factor in my deciding to go back for Tiers 3 and 4 next year, and staying longer before and after to sightsee.

She may be hard pressed to amuse herself for two weeks in and around Castelfidardo/Ancona, but there is certainly history and scenery everywhere.

 

[Thomas N]

Non-tourist-trap Italy is shockingly affordable. I spent about half as much per day visiting Italy as I would on a trip across the United States. The rental car was a price I hadn't seen since the 1990s. This has been a big factor in my deciding to go back for Tiers 3 and 4 next year, and staying longer before and after to sightsee.

She may be hard pressed to amuse herself for two weeks in and around Castelfidardo/Ancona, but there is certainly history and scenery everywhere.

Thank you for this information. My wife can spend two full days in any European grocery store! She loves seeing new things. Good to know about renting a car as well. I had no idea it was relatively cheap.

 

[PeterF]

Thanks for the input everyone. I've decided to not bring an accordion along to avoid potential airline hassle, checked baggage and lugging extra gear. I did find that a short scale (16") box would fit within the airline requirements, however my plan is to go light and have room in my bags to bring back accordion repair items. The class director said we'd be stopping at a supplier called Carini on one of the days, it's a place I've heard and read about on this site in the past but I don't know what it actually is. For someone who has absolutely no tools whatsoever, any suggestions on what to bring home? I'm thinking: wax, leathers, bellow gasket line, some kinda tools....?

Carini is an accordion parts/tools store. I was there with an accordion tour group earlier this month in their fairly new building. It's large (though not endless) and has a vast supply of parts and tools. Definitely worth a visit and a budding repair person could go pretty nuts in there. Certainly there's no place in the US I know of that you can walk into with the same selection. Prices are fair, if not cheap. I believe you can shop there in person and then have them ship everything home if you don't want to carry it all. They had enough English to conduct transactions.

The founder chatted with me in Italian for a good 10 minutes, blithely ignoring the fact that my Italian is non-existent and I was only getting about 1 word in 10. Still he was a charming character and we communicated on some level.