Inherited a Giulietti accordion - help!

[Shelly S]

I recently inherited a Giulietti accordion from my mother, who taught accordion for many years. I know she purchased it new circa 1962 or 1963, and I belive it was quite expensive at that time. One of my monther's former students is interested in purchasing it (unfortunately, I never learned to play it), but I have no idea what model it is or how much it might be worth. It is a 120 bass, has 11 (I think?) treble registers, and has a master palm switch. The straps need to be replaced, but all of the keys, register switches and bass buttons work, and it sounds in tune. On the back of the bass, it says "Supermodel 13086." I've attached photos. - can anyone tell me what model it is and a ball-park range that it might be worth? Thanks!!

 

[Ventura]

a lot

that is the real deal... one owner... professional setup and quality

if he offers you many thousands, fine, if he plays dumb then
offer him maybe to let him match your best offer from
"what the market will bear" and put out some feelers in
Chicago on Craigslist

PS: please write up a document that will stay with the instrument
with your Moms musical history, dates, area, career highlights, etc.
and also put her name inside the accordion if it gets opened up
ad inspected

 

[debra]

I recently inherited a Giulietti accordion from my mother, who taught accordion for many years. I know she purchased it new circa 1962 or 1963, and I belive it was quite expensive at that time. One of my monther's former students is interested in purchasing it (unfortunately, I never learned to play it), but I have no idea what model it is or how much it might be worth. It is a 120 bass, has 11 (I think?) treble registers, and has a master palm switch. The straps need to be replaced, but all of the keys, register switches and bass buttons work, and it sounds in tune. On the back of the bass, it says "Supermodel 13086." I've attached photos. - can anyone tell me what model it is and a ball-park range that it might be worth? Thanks!!

To estimate the value of an old accordion you need to show larger pictures, pictures under the grille (so we can see whether it has cassotto or not) and pictures from the inside (detailed enough to see the type and state of the reeds and valves).
The fact that this accordion had only one owner is a plus (as Ventura already said) but more important is the history of its maintenance. If your mother got the accordion in 1962 and since then did nothing but play it then it is not worth as much as when it was serviced and tuned by the same good professional every 5 years or so... It's a bit like with other mechanical items like for instance a car. A car that's 5 years old may still be worth a lot if it was serviced regularly and is worth close to nothing if it never had any service (not even an oil change).

 

[JIM D.]

Your late 50's early 60's Guilietti was made by Serenellni ( G Cleff on grill.) Later models in the 60's were made by Zero Sette (badge on grill).
The Serenellini models tend to fetch less on the resale market.

In good shape should fetch $2000+ USD.

 

[debra]

Your late 50's early 60's Guilietti was made by Serenellni ( G Cleff on grill.) Later models in the 60's were made by Zero Sette (badge on grill).
The Serenellini models tend to fetch less on the resale market.

In good shape should fetch $2000+ USD.

I believe that should say Serenelli, not Serenellini which is a different accordion maker. I have made this name error before...

 

[Ventura]

i too made that error.. in the Serenellini Showroom !

he took it with good nature..

actually Serenelli was an importer and not a manufacturer.. there are
serenelli art case accordions from before the War so he had been around for awhile..
i know at least some of his imports came from the old Settimo factory before it burned,
but he likely sourced from more than one factory over the decades

legend is simply that he was a cool dude and allowed his friend Giulietti to shadow his
orders (as G could not afford the minimum quantities normal of the times.. ie: a container)
and that arrangement went on for quite awhile. I think Serenelli as an independent brand name exited
the market during the early 60's

i literally played my red one to death several times over.. it was my go-to outdoor
stroller on countless Wine festival gigs and such.. i even wore out the bass mechanism
springs and had to get Ike to re-tension the stradella for me
(i am NOT good enough to tackle a bass job... way too complex for my brain)

 

[debra]

i too made that error.. in the Serenellini Showroom !

he took it with good nature..

actually Serenelli was an importer and not a manufacturer.. there are
serenelli art case accordions from before the War so he had been around for awhile..
i know at least some of his imports came from the old Settimo factory before it burned,
but he likely sourced from more than one factory over the decades
...

Interesting, because this contradicts what the commonly used list (from accordionlinks.com) says:
- Bordiccia Serenelli from Castelfidardo, Italy (active 1919 - 1929)
- Francesco Serenelli from Castelfidardo, Italy (active 1903 - 1963)
I always read that the early Giulietti accordions were manufactured by Serenelli, not imported by Serenelli.
But maybe there are even more people or companies named Serenelli...

 

[Ventura]

but fortunately we had only elli's back then.. no ellini's
Ruatta Serenelli, Chicago illinois

my surviving red serenelli is quite interesting, as it has a traditional Stradella bass
mechanism, but on the treble has the Scandalli individual pivot-mount
treble key system on an aluminum base

which dates it after the factory fire and around the beginning of the
Scandalli-Settimo connection

the black one has the typical grille design seen on most of the serenelli's
you would find over here

 

[Big Squeezy Accordions]

It's utterly worthless, but I will take it off your hands for you...

 

[crescendo]

Guilietti Super accordion is hard to find.
It is extremely vaulable and i would buy it from you after checking it out
B ut it is valuable and a brilliant accordion
My first Super had poor compression. BUT
My latter two were incredible and I foolishly sold them because they were very heavy