Hohner Verdi III bass registers

[JKJ]

My one and only accordion is a Hohner Verdi III and apparently LMM on the treble side.

How is the bass side described? I’m a beginner with who has only touched this one accordion. I have not yet disassembled the bass side enough to examine the bass reeds.



The three bass register switches:



What does this tell those with experience?

JKJ

 

[debra]

What the bass registers suggest is that the bass has 5 voices. The highest voice plays in all registers. The two white registers give you two middle-octave voices with that and the other one two lower-octave voices and the black register plays all five voices.
Some people don't like that you cannot disable the highest voice and just tape that shut...
That wouldn't work well on this accordion: the lowest two octaves normally only play in the base notes. The higher octaves play in base notes and chords. Taping off the high voice should then mean you get no chords at all...
But of course I could be mistaken. You have to check inside what the registers do exactly.

 

[boxplayer4000]

JKJ: It looks like you have a good, solid, basic accordion there.
The black bass coupler seems to indicate it is a 5 voice bass. The treble end of the accordion is 3 voice; two sets of reeds are in the 8' range and one is in the 16' range.
On the bass end the reed ranges are probably 4', 8', 16', 32, and 64'. The two white bass couplers appear to give a choice between a set of lower reeds and the other higher reeds.

 

[Tom]

…that, as long as it is in good playable shape, you’re good to go! The Verdi’s are great, like the Coronas. I should have kept one but I didn’t. Just find the bass register you like and rock in!

 

[JKJ]

Thanks. A repair person went through it and made some minor adjustments - said it was in good condition. I may clear off my workbench and take the bass end apart and see if I can map out the details. And while I’m waiting for my shoulder to heal I should prob hire someone to play it occasionally to keep it limber!!

 

[dak]

What the bass registers suggest is that the bass has 5 voices. The highest voice plays in all registers. The two white registers give you two middle-octave voices with that and the other one two lower-octave voices and the black register plays all five voices.

Not quite.

It does have 5 voices. The two lowest voices are bass voices; of those, the higher one is always on, and the lower is also on in the first two registers. The lowest chord reed voice is on in the first two registers (so whenever the lowest bass voice is on), the two highest chord reeds are off in the first register and on in the other two registers. This gives an overall low register, a Master register, and an overall high register in the bass.

Pretty common setup for five-reeds basses with 3 registers.