Hi all, New member here hoping you can help me with identifying this accordion. Been wanting to learn to play accordion and have the opportunity to buy it and not really sure if it's a good one/worth getting?Thanks,
J
Help identifying accordion please
- Thread starter jahawi
- Start date
Hi all, New member here hoping you can help me with identifying this accordion. Been wanting to learn to play accordion and have the opportunity to buy it and not really sure if it's a good one/worth getting?Thanks,
J
Most accordions this old are not worth getting unless you either want to put them on display (museum style) or you are a skilled accordion repairer who can bring it back to life to the level that it's going to be a joy to play. Even then it is a rather limited instrument which appears to not have registers, do you cannot change the way it sounds as the music demands. (A musette waltz should have a different sound than a tango for instance.)
Dingo40
Been here for ages!
Well, it is quite vintage, made in Germany before world war 2. So, could have serious age related problems.
Assuming it's in playable condition it could be suitable for playing folk music or busking.
Even so, I'd be passing on it unless it was at a quite low price and I was playing in a pub with folkies.
As Paul Debra said, it is rather limiting.
Thank you both for the replies and info. I did try playing it and it works. It's at a little local auction so I might be able to get it quite cheap. But I've no idea what it's worth - any suggestions on a max price I should stick to?
Squeezebox Of Delights
Active member
Personally I don't think that was worth £30. That's a Klingenthal-built cheapo box from the 1930s, and they are almost all very low quality and in very poor condition. They suffer from all the standard old accordion problems such as crumbling reed wax, curled leather valves, out-of-tune reeds etc., but as they are lower quality than West German and Italian instruments they also seem to be more prone to other problems, such as sticky/warped keys, rusty bellows corners, peeling celluloid and so on. Essentially, you could pay several hundred pounds to get one repaired, and still end up with a low-value, inadequate accordion. I've had a few and none of them have been satisfactory instruments, and I wouldn't recommend anyone gets one as their first box, particularly without actually having a go on it first.
Where in the UK are you based? There are a few shops here and there that will sell good quality instruments in working order, and there are bound to be people prepared to lend you an instrument if you want to try getting to grips with the accordion before you commit to buying one!
Where in the UK are you based? There are a few shops here and there that will sell good quality instruments in working order, and there are bound to be people prepared to lend you an instrument if you want to try getting to grips with the accordion before you commit to buying one!