Looking for info on Morlacchi reeds.

[debra]

I have a Bugari 288/ARS in for repair/tuning. It has Morlacchi a mano reeds. I'm trying to find out how old or young this accordion can be. I cannot find any usable information on Morlacchi as a reed maker. Does anyone here know in what period Morlacchi was active as a reed maker?
Another tip about the possible age of the accordion is that it has a chin switch that is the "older" large design. Modern chin switches are smaller. This one is around 15mm in diameter and newer ones are around 13mm.

 

[Ventura]

just an idea for where to investigate,..

my general thought is that in earlier times, especially before the Iron Curtain fell,
and for some time after, the Eastern Euro market was the focus of a select few
Italian factories, and they always added the chin switches to those models destined for
the East

even some of the Giulietti's sold from the old Zero factory to the East sported chin switches
(i saw the photo's in one of the old picture books at Hotel Parco)

could it also be that some Eastern buyers might have asked for reeds from Tula
or Friedenthal or some other accordion werks or even ordered the accordion(s)
bare bones and installed their own local reeds ?

i am thinking the tone of eastern reeds may have been preferable to Italian reeds
for some musicians in that market area

and i noticed this:
Morlacchi is a family name of Italian origin. It might indicate an ultimate family origin connected with the Morlachs, a Balkan ethnic group which had considerable interaction with Italians

perhaps this beloved old Bugari found it's way into your hands after such a long and winding road ?

my (Walters) Scandalli had just such a dangerous and complex path into and out of the Eastern Bloc
before it came to my hands

 

[debra]

just an idea for where to investigate,..

...

Thanks for your elaborate reply.
Here is a picture of the chin switch:

I have seen these many times on older Italian instruments (including Bugari). It's quite common, not specific for accordions intended for the Eastern European market (I believe). At some point the Italians switched to a newer design with smaller chin switches.
If someone knows when this design was abandoned it would also put a "lower limit" on the age of this accordion.
I just thought that maybe someone knew when Morlacchi stopped making reeds.
Dating accordions based on features sometimes works well. A friend of mine for instance has a Gola with Salpa reeds and Pigini-style multi-position chin switches, so it must be from around the year 2000 because around that time Salpa merged with Antonelli to become Voci Armoniche and around that time Pigini "invented" the multi-position chin switches.
For this Bugari accordion the Morlacchi reeds, the large chin switch and the rotating clamp to hold the reed blocks in cassotto in place are the only features to go on. (The clamp was introduced longer ago and puts an upper limit on the age, the reeds and chin switch can help determin a lower limit on the age.)