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Help choosing new accordion...

Rosie C

Rosie C

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Would anyone care to comment on these accordions. This is a relatively local seller to me and someone I've bought from before and had a good experience. I will be part-ex'ing my Weltmeister 48.

My requirements:
  • At least 72 bass buttons
  • Musette tuning
  • Not crazy heavy, though I have started going to the gym 2-3 times a week since I last bought an accordion
  • Built-in mics would be an advantage
  • Decent Italian brand
These are in my price range:

Elka 96 bass LMM. It looks pretty good, but only 3 treble voices is no better than my current Hohner.

Italian 96 bass accordion £999

Italian 96 bass accordion £999
www.fairdealaccordions.com

Marinucci 120 bass, musette tuned LMMM. This seems to tick all the boxes:

Marinucci 120 bass accordion musette tuned £1250

Marinucci 120 bass accordion musette tuned £1250
www.fairdealaccordions.com

Excelsior 1320em. I'm thinking all the electronics may make it heavy, and I'm a bit wary of older electronics. But I need mics, and if the MIDI works that opens up a whole new world.

Excelsior 1320em 120 bass accordion musette tuned with midi and mics £1250

Excelsior 1320em 120 bass accordion musette tuned with midi and mics £1250
www.fairdealaccordions.com

Finally a wild-card. The Geurrini Ramona IV. It's only 72 bass, but 4 voice and lightweight. At this point I think this one is my favourite - much like my Concerto III just better quality and an extra voice.

SOLD

SOLD
www.fairdealaccordions.com
 
The Guerrini should be good but is of course the smallest.
The Elka you should try to decide whether ir really is no better than your current Hohner, because it should be better.
The Marinucci is likely to not tick the "not crazy heavy" box. I'm not a fan of Marinucci in general.
The Excelsior may indeed have obsolete electronics, including the mics.
So I would suggest to go try both the Elka and the Guerrini.
 
The “accordion lounge” have a second hand Sonola Sorbonne 3 @ £1545.
37/96 LMMM with dural reeds.
 
I have three "Sonola" made PA accordions (LMM, LMH and LMMH, all 41/120) which have been durable and reliable for decades.
My accordion teacher had a top shelf full-size model (PA) which sounded great.
Of course, her husband was the Australian Sonola agent for many years.😄
 
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Maybe not as good as Piatanesi 🤣 but I’ve run across a Sonola or two and found them very nice. I don’t think you would go wrong if it is in fine condition.
 
Rosie C said:
Excelsior 1320em. I'm thinking all the electronics may make it heavy, and I'm a bit wary of older electronics. But I need mics, and if the MIDI works that opens up a whole new world.
Click to expand...
Excelsior has a reputation where you can rip out all of the electronics and what remains is still heavy.
 
Well those 72-bass are beautiful. I've been seeking one (in my price range ;) ) for years. I just have to have a lighter weight instrument.

Just today I took a chance on ebay for a 60-b velty... If I'm anywhere with a box, it's my hohner club. THEN a piano accrdn as well, so i have to keep it light.
 
The more recent Sonolas where actually made by Guerrini. I own a 72 Bass 3 voice Sonola Stella (as in the link above) and think it is exactly the same model as a Guerrini Ramona with same specs.

I would recommend them to anyone looking for a small and lightweight model, as they have a beautiful sound and good build quality.
 
accordion.co.uk have a Ranco Supervox @ £795. Probably about 60yrs old but very good instruments with handmade reeds.
 
Sorry, I've been tardy in replying to this topic. I wanted to make a video of my new accordion but life got in the way.

Anyway, thanks for all the replies. I decided I didn't need the extra weight of a 120 accordion, so discounted the Marinucci. Similar for the Excelsior if I get electrics I'd likely go for a Roland FR-3xb and that would be a whole different adventure.

I tried a 3-voice Elka 72, and a 4-voice Elka 96. Both good accordions. The 96 in particular was very nice and I'd have been happy to walk away with it. Finally I tried the Guerrini and knew instantly it was the one to go for. I became aware that it didn't have the harshness of tone that my Hohner has - not that I'd been aware of this in my Hohner before playing the Guerrini. The motion of the bellows is different too, smooth and easy to play. I also like the extra treble voice, particularly as I play 'musette' a lot, the option to have the 'middle' reed bank in or out gives useful change in sound - not sure of the correct naming, but the difference between these two registers:
Screenshot 2025-01-06 at 08.23.55.png
Icing on the cake was the case, the deal was done before I got my paws on the hard case which is lovely - snake skin pattern two-tone tolex, it's like expensive luggage!

Anyway, I'll get some photos and video later, and thanks again for the advice!
 
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Dingo40 said:
The two M reeds playing together is often designed as "violin ", the three as "musette ". 🙂
Click to expand...
As a violin player, I find "two-reed" and "three-reed tremolo" less misleading (and I guess that players of the name-lending bagpipe called "musette" will be even more puzzled). On the other hand, calling the two-reed tremolo a technologically more similar "Unda Maris" stop might be considered preposterous by organ players and might get you railroaded out of town on a pair of 16' pipes.
 
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dak said:
As a violin player, I find "two-reed" and "three-reed tremolo" less misleading (and I guess that players of a the name-lending bagpipe called "musette" will be even more puzzled).
Click to expand...

This time next week I'll be having my first violin lesson! Well, the first since about age 11. I've played viola the last 4-5 years but lately I've mostly played folk music and it's nearly always in G or D. I've had my viola strung as a violin for a while, but have succumbed to [an] actual violin - collecting a loan instrument this evening. It will be some time before I can call myself a violin player though!
 
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Rosie C said:
but have succumbed to actual violin - collecting a loan instrument this evening. It will be some time before I can call myself a violin player though!
Click to expand...
It's the other way round for me: probably little point in pretending I am anything but a violin player. The groundwork I put in in my youth is just not something I can catch up with with other instruments. But that doesn't keep my fingers off them.

I guess I should be restringing my violin as a violin instead of a decent practice instrument. It is becoming readily apparent that my wound synthetic strings don't really keep up with the timbre of the E string.
 
dak said:
I guess I should be restringing my violin as a violin instead of a decent practice instrument. It is becoming readily apparent that my wound synthetic strings don't really keep up with the timbre of the E string.
Click to expand...

I've used Thomastik Dominant strings for a while. I liked the warm sound that I assume is from the synthetic core. But lately I've been playing with steel-cored D'Addario Helicores - simply because they're one of the few brands that offer a viola 'E' string.
I know I'll never be good, but with a bit of work I might be able to knock out a few folk session tunes.
 
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Rosie C said:
I've used Thomastik Dominant strings for a while. I liked the warm sound that I assume is from the synthetic core. But lately I've been playing with steel-cored D'Addario Helicores - simply because they're one of the few brands that include a viola 'E' string.
I know I'll never be good, but with a bit of work I might be able to knock out a few folk session tunes.
Click to expand...
Well, the kind of shuffle on "Orange Blossom Special" is not all that different from what you do in the Prelude from the Partita 3 for solo violin from J. S. Bach. It all comes round in the end…
 
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