It's been discussed before, but any newer input from people switching to 37 96 bass accordions?

[OuijaBoard]

A vintage beautiful-condition Hohner 37/96 4-voice was my first "nice" accordion, 20-something years ago. It did/does everything I could ever want or need. However, though I love listening to certain classical music, I do not have any interest in playing classical music on the accordion. Well, the folk-flavored Hungarian or Spanish gypsy stuff, sure, but otherwise, no.

A long detour into seriously playing bisonoric button accordions and concertinas for folk music, including toting them to Ireland and such on airplanes, revolutionized the way I think about unisonoric accordions. It dawned on me that the limits that frustrated me on bisonoric instruments were not there with unisonorics--and also dawned on me that there is absolutely zero need to play giant, heavy PAs or CBAs for world roots/folk/trad genres. An LMM 26/60 or 26/72 PA weighs about the same as an MM 30/72 or 34/72 PA, and an MM 26-key weighs even a little less. And those three configs are what I'm sticking with for PA. On CBA . . . I'm doing two-voice MM 60 or 72-bass and waiting for somebody to make an LMM no bigger or heavier than a 30/72 PA . . . at a halfway affordable price. Saltarelle and Castagnari do make compact LMM CBAs, but the prices are gasp-inducing.

 

[Tom]

I actually went smaller, with a 34/72. For the size/weight. For the trad/Americana that I play it is plenty adequate. Yes, more bellowing required. Only thing I would do differently would be to get upgraded reeds for better responsiveness. I still have my 41/120 for gigs that don’t require standing for hours, or if I ever get into jazz.

 

[Ventura]

when ordering factory direct, almost always you can
order a few extra folds on the Bellows.
and if you just feel like the investment on an older smaller box,
order a new bellows and spec a few extra folds.. all you
have to do to adjust is new or remounted bellows straps

 

[Tom]

when ordering factory direct, almost always you can
order a few extra folds on the Bellows.
and if you just feel like the investment on an older smaller box,
order a new bellows and spec a few extra folds.. all you
have to do to adjust is new or remounted bellows straps

Good advice, but really, once you get used to it, it’s not a problem at all. Like switching between different key sizes I suppose.

 

[Scuromondo]

when ordering factory direct, almost always you can
order a few extra folds on the Bellows.
and if you just feel like the investment on an older smaller box,
order a new bellows and spec a few extra folds.. all you
have to do to adjust is new or remounted bellows straps

Yes, my 37/96 has plenty of extra folds. Unfortunately I would need an arm the length of an orangutan’s to be able to take advantage of them!

 

[dak]

Yes, my 37/96 has plenty of extra folds. Unfortunately I would need an arm the length of an orangutan’s to be able to take advantage of them!

Not just the length but also the strength. Holding the weight of an accordion's bass part at arm's length gets old pretty fast, and fine-grained control is not exactly a thing then. With a clown-size concertina or small melodeons, that may be a performance option. But a large instrument?

 

[Ventura]

pretty much every pro accordion i have ever seen has more bellows folds, and often
deeper corners, than student similar sized models.. likely for good reason..

i have shoes on my feet at the moment, but i am not walking right now,
illustrating that just because something is there does not mean you are forced
to use it, but they are nice to have if you happen to want to stretch something out
a bit extra.. or take a walk in the rain..