Maintenance over the lifetime of an accordion

[Morne]

Let's say you buy a new accordion (the acoustic kind). What is the typical maintenance that you would do (or have done) over the lifetime of that instrument? And, perhaps as a preface to that, what is the lifetime?

These answers will depend on the quality of the instrument, where you play, how often, how hard, etc. But what are your experiences as players and repairmen? Not just in recent times, but also going back decades to when the accordion was more popular and repairmen more common.

Doing spot tuning and fixes when small issues arise would seem obvious. In this way you keep everything running smoothly. But at some point (many years) the wax and valves will start acting up, or the reeds will get dirty/rusty from playing conditions. You could, again, spot fix those as they pop up, but what if this start happening more often, or many reeds get affected at once. Do you get the whole instrument overhauled? Do you allow for multiple such overhauls up until the cost reaches a certain value of the instrument? Or is the requirement for a full overhaul a sign that you need to move on?

At what point do you decide to part with, or at least retire, the instrument? Excluding sentimental reasons and wanting a new instrument to follow whatever sound is currently in vogue, what is the point where it is no longer worth maintaining?

 

[jozz]

Lets say you buy a new accordion (the acoustic kind). What is the typical maintenance that you would do (or have done) over the lifetime of that instrument? And, perhaps as a preface to that, what is the lifetime?

These answers will depend on the quality of the instrument, where you play, how often, how hard, etc. But what are your experiences as players and repairmen? Not just in recent times, but also going back decades to when the accordion was more popular and repairmen more common.

Doing spot tuning and fixes when small issues arise would seem obvious. In this way you keep everything running smoothly. But at some point (many years) the wax and valves will start acting up, or the reeds will get dirty/rusty from playing conditions. You could, again, spot fix those as they pop up, but what if this start happening more often, or many reeds get affected at once. Do you get the whole instrument overhauled? Do you allow for multiple such overhauls up until the cost reaches a certain value of the instrument? Or is the requirement for a full overhaul a sign that you need to move on?

At what point do you decide to part with, or at least retire, the instrument? Excluding sentimental reasons and wanting a new instrument to follow whatever sound is currently in vogue, what is the point where it is no longer worth maintaining?

The first accordion bought by my parents was a Parrot from the 1980s and was never serviced. The instrument was played everyday for an hour on average for three years, then it was stolen.

The next one (new) was a Weltmeister Achat, and was again never serviced. This was used first daily and then weekly over the span of 10-11 years up until 2004. One month ago I sold it, still in very good condition, only the (original) straps were a bit cracked etc.

The rest were second hand.

I can tell you I am careful with my stuff.

Reasons for moving on to different instruments were mainly size. As these two earlier accordion were 80 (as a child) and 120 bass as a orchestra member, the next ones were all 72 bass for stage use, playing standing.

 

[Sebastian Bravo]

As a repairman, in a country were the "new" accordions are less popular (so expensive) i work mostly with old hohners (Concertos, Ariettas, Verdis and Tangos).

The main problems are always with the wax. I can't say what is the wax's lifetime because i've been working for one year only with repairs. But it is very common to find boxes with old wax.

But... My box is also a Concerto, but the wax was in excelent condition (Original hohner wax, no signs of restoration), and i don't know how it survived +60 years... I think it depends on the use, the ambiental conditions and things like that.
(I was very lucky to find an old box in a very good state)

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

Hi Morne,

This debate requires us to consider whether or not to spend money on refurbishing an old accordion, or buying a new one with built in obsolescence. You touched on the "sentimental" element when making such decisions, asking us to put them aside for the purposes of this debate.

When you put it that way, the answer is patently obvious. If an instrument is beyond economic repair, that is to say that the costs of repair exceed the value of the instrument, we should get rid of it in a timely fashion.

I can easily see both sides of this argument, making my response appear to be "fence sitting." My own instruments perhaps reflect this dilemma. The "throw away" logic is appealing in many ways, but only if we purchase inexpensive instruments. Buying an expensive accordion tends to suggest that it should be a long term investment.

My Hohner Arietta IV M 120/41 is a good quality instrument, but it is now over sixty years old. (still not as old as me) My Galotta is at least forty years old, but still works like a new one. I also own a Chinese built Chanson, which I suppose would fall into the category of a "throw away" instrument due to its cheapness. The Chanson is certainly more than twenty years old, and has no discernible problems to date.

The truth is that I like them all, and would not hesitate to have them fixed if the need arose. They are old and tired but, then again, so am I.

Kind Regards,

Stephen.

 

[maugein96]

Hi Morne,

You'll often read that accordions require part or total refurbishment at intervals recommended by various accordion cognoscenti.

In my own case I would say that all four accordions I own currently require some sort of attention, but I wouldn't trust a UK repairer with any of them. Reason being that they are all made to French spec, and only repairers in that country know what they are doing with them. I have had two instruments badly damaged by UK repairers who were unsure of what they were doing.

Only one of my accordions would possibly justify taking it to a French repairer, and I would have to be prepared to take a holiday in France of maybe 6 weeks duration to facilitate any necessary attention. Either that or it would be two return flights with a seat booked beside me for the accordion on two out of the four flights. Even although France isn't all that far, getting cheap flights from Scotland isn't easy. Also, on return to the UK I would have to prove to customs that I never bought the accordion in France, or pay the necessary import duty and what we call Value Added Tax, and the receipt for it disappeared long ago.

Shipping it to and from France would be more expensive than taking a 10lb hammer to it, in my opinion. There are so many things that can go wrong with an accordion in international transit that I would probably never undertake to make use of that facility at all. New instruments are carefully packed before shipping in an effort to minimise damage, but I wouldn't have the first idea how to do that. Here in the UK the word "Fragile" on a parcel or package is an indication to the courier that the person receiving it will expect the contents to be damaged in some way, and most of them tend to be only too willing to oblige.

I appreciate you will be in a somewhat similar situation in South Africa, and will probably be further disadvantaged by the fact that there will perhaps be even fewer repairers in your home country.

I could do with getting a total refurb done on my Maugein Mini Sonora. However, the round trip to France, plus accommodation to facilitate such a refurb would probably cost me far more than trying to find a similar reconditioned instrument in a store situated in the north of France. In my own case I could take my instrument with me in the hope that I could negotiate some sort of trade in, but obviously that would probably not be practical in your circumstances.

At my age I would have no chance of acquiring the skills necessary to carry out any necessary refurbishment myself, so would you like me to try and find a link to suppliers of 10lb hammers?

Three out of the four of my accordions are well over 30 years old and have never had any work done on them at all. They are all basically in tune, but some of the valves and reeds are a bit ropey. At my level of playing they'll never need any work done on them at all, although an extended trip to France would be very nice.

When I bought my first brand new accordion I was told that, with care, most accordions should last a lifetime. However, a lifetime in central Glasgow is typically about 54 for a male, whereas in the more affluent parts of south east England it can easily reach 80 plus years!

Sorry if I've been of little help, and maybe somebody else could give you a brighter outlook on accordion repairs. I suppose I could have bought an Italian instrument which would have been more UK repairer friendly. The last repair I had done involved a 300 mile round trip to the only UK repairer who was willing to have a go at fixing the box concerned. I sent it away with one bass button stuck down and it came back with two! Ended up taking about 8 hours to strip the whole bass side down and repairing it myself.

I did consider buying a digital accordion, as I reckon a 5lb hammer would suffice if it went wrong!

 

[Dingo40]

Hi all,
My first ‘new’ accordion was an Italian made Sonola LMMH instrument purchased in 1972 (46 years). I still have and play it!<EMOJI seq="1f642">?</EMOJI>
Apart from a stuck wrist coupler (due to furniture movers transporting the case upside down and easily fixed), there’s been no issues other than a stuck reed ( the highest note in the H set). Another easy fix.
My second new instrument, a Bugari Champion Casotto (with optional musette), purchased c. 1989 (29 years), developed issues with the treble couplers breaking down in the first two months following purchase (fixed under warranty), but they broke down again in c. 2016. On the second occasion, it required the considerable “pull” and skill of our local serviceman/ dealer/accordion agent Ron Pearce ( now, unfortunately retired due to health, and sadly missed) in order to obtain replacement parts (from Italy) and put things in order again (a relatively expensive repair)<EMOJI seq="1f642">?</EMOJI><EMOJI seq="1f44d">?</EMOJI>. Thanks Ron! Its still working well<EMOJI seq="1f642">?</EMOJI>.
I have several used instruments dating from the late forties to the late sixties. None have had problems due to the wax. The most commonly found on problem has been with F sharp and B flat clarinet reed in the middle octave detuning. This has usually been a “spot fix”.
In an average year, the whole bunch require less attention than my two-stroke lawnmower and are more durable!
I’ve never retired an instrument yet, but then I’ve never worn one out!
Here I must say, the durability of ‘paper’ bellows is phenomenal. Even those on my oldest instrument, though scarred, work like new. Simply amazing.
Apart from the odd reed going off (as noted above), the only thing to give trouble was the plastic bits in the Bugari coupling mechanism, reinforcing the old rule : “avoid all plastic!!!”<EMOJI seq="1f615">?</EMOJI>
Unfortunately, I neither imagined nor noticed there could be such a thing as plastic structural components in an “Italian” instrument. As someone said, “ God created Adam and Eve, and then it was downhill all the way!”<EMOJI seq="1f604">?</EMOJI>

 

[Morne]

Thanks for everyones replies so far.

This debate requires us to consider whether or not to spend money on refurbishing an old accordion, or buying a new one with built in obsolescence. You touched on the sentimental element when making such decisions, asking us to put them aside for the purposes of this debate.

When you put it that way, the answer is patently obvious. If an instrument is beyond economic repair, that is to say that the costs of repair exceed the value of the instrument, we should get rid of it in a timely fashion.

I can easily see both sides of this argument, making my response appear to be fence sitting. My own instruments perhaps reflect this dilemma. The throw away logic is appealing in many ways, but only if we purchase inexpensive instruments. Buying an expensive accordion tends to suggest that it should be a long term investment.

My intention was not so much for this to be a debate about getting a new versus a refurbished instrument, but rather more to hear some experiences from those whove lived through retiring an accordion. Or have actively planned around obsolescence, or were given some maintenance schedule by the manufacturer itself (does that even happen?).

What prompted this was while cleaning the reeds of an 80 year old Hohner Tango (for practice), I was wondering about when a new, properly maintained instrument would reach a similar point where theres a lot of work to be done and it just wouldnt make financial sense. As an example, would being beyond economic repair entail a heuristic like comparing the cost of repairs to the current second hand market? Or would the downsides to a new instrument, like, say, getting used to the new feel and the materials/tuning not having fully settled, be enough to forgo the the purely accounting argument?

However, on the topic of refurbishing versus new, I lean towards the former. More so now that I am learning how to do it myself. I would only (theoretically) buy new in order to get a Russian instrument since that sound does not exist in any second hand instrument floating around locally, nor in those of European manufacture.

My Hohner Arietta IV M 120/41 is a good quality instrument, but it is now over sixty years old. (still not as old as me) My Galotta is at least forty years old, but still works like a new one. I also own a Chinese built Chanson, which I suppose would fall into the category of a throw away instrument due to its cheapness. The Chanson is certainly more than twenty years old, and has no discernible problems to date.

The truth is that I like them all, and would not hesitate to have them fixed if the need arose. They are old and tired but, then again, so am I.

I dont really have an issue with these older instrument. In fact, all three of my Hohners are older than my parents. If theyve remained mostly intact this long, then I have a feeling theyll be fine for a while still, once I sort out some tuning issues. Sure they have obsolete mechanics and will feel crude to someone used to a modern instrument, but I dont have that experience, so Im happy.

 

[Geronimo]

What prompted this was while cleaning the reeds of an 80 year old Hohner Tango (for practice), I was wondering about when a new, properly maintained instrument would reach a similar point where theres a lot of work to be done and it just wouldnt make financial sense.

Cheap instrument falling apart. The usual remedy is to resell.

As an example, would being beyond economic repair entail a heuristic like comparing the cost of repairs to the current second hand market? Or would the downsides to a new instrument, like, say, getting used to the new feel and the materials/tuning not having fully settled, be enough to forgo the the purely accounting argument?

I test-played some high-priced new instruments where I had two irritations rather often:
a) unbalanced response where the bass had more volume increase as a response to bellows pressure than the treble
b) unpliable tone quality where the instrument reacted to increased pressure by getting louder but nothing else
I want my instruments to sing, not to bleat. Apparently creating a coherent musical whole has become more elusive to instrument builders over time.

So there may sometimes be some economic sense in putting old somewhat cheap instruments back into working condition. New cheap ones tend to be not just cobbled together in too little time by experienced workers but by people and machines without a clue. So when they go bust, fixing them up just might not land you with anything you cant get new for cheaper.

I dont really have an issue with these older instrument. In fact, all three of my Hohners are older than my parents.

Hohners older than my parents would not really be all that interesting. A few Morinos (non-Hohner) of that age might be worthwhile. At least my main accordion is older than myself. And my violin beats a few more generations. Most stuff we acquire in our lifetimes is not intended to outlive generations of owners.

 

[Morne]

Youll often read that accordions require part or total refurbishment at intervals recommended by various accordion cognoscenti.

Do the manufacturers suggest this, or is it based on others experiences?

Shipping it to and from France would be more expensive than taking a 10lb hammer to it, in my opinion. There are so many things that can go wrong with an accordion in international transit that I would probably never undertake to make use of that facility at all. New instruments are carefully packed before shipping in an effort to minimise damage, but I wouldnt have the first idea how to do that. Here in the UK the word Fragile on a parcel or package is an indication to the courier that the person receiving it will expect the contents to be damaged in some way, and most of them tend to be only too willing to oblige.

I dont even have faith in my post offices ability to deliver paper undamaged. Any attempt at getting a local accordion repaired internationally would make absolutely zero sense over here. Unless it was an expensive, modern, top end model, but if I had the money for that then Id probably just find some really expensive shipping to go with it.

I appreciate you will be in a somewhat similar situation in South Africa, and will probably be further disadvantaged by the fact that there will perhaps be even fewer repairers in your home country.

Im fortunate that Im only a few minutes away from somebody who knows what hes doing. However, a lot of our local repairs involve shortcuts, since its simply not worth spending a lot of time on the mostly older stock floating around here. I also dont see it being very likely that full refurbishments get done here. There actually is a guy on the other side of the country whos been sending people over to Italy to learn some proper repairs.
But we have a saying around here: n boer maak n plan. And so Im learning how to do this stuff properly myself. At the very least I want to be able to maintain my Morinos.

Three out of the four of my accordions are well over 30 years old and have never had any work done on them at all. They are all basically in tune, but some of the valves and reeds are a bit ropey. At my level of playing theyll never need any work done on them at all, although an extended trip to France would be very nice.

That raises a good point as far as constant spot fixing goes. If youre very particular about being perfectly in tune and having no unnecessary noises, then thatll likely lead to different decision making than if you learn to live with some slightly off notes and a gurgle here and there.

Sorry if Ive been of little help, and maybe somebody else could give you a brighter outlook on accordion repairs. I suppose I could have bought an Italian instrument which would have been more UK repairer friendly. The last repair I had done involved a 300 mile round trip to the only UK repairer who was willing to have a go at fixing the box concerned. I sent it away with one bass button stuck down and it came back with two! Ended up taking about 8 hours to strip the whole bass side down and repairing it myself.

Is getting a French box fixed in the UK really that bad? When you bought yours, were you offered offered some guidance as to how maintenance would occur, or is it a matter of fine, well import your box, but then youre on your own?

 

[Stephen Hawkins]

Hi Morne,

Apart from a bit of cleaning, my oldest instrument has required no maintenance at all. I confess that I am useless at DIY projects anyway, so would always chose to have someone else undertake any necessary repairs.

Though generally a sensible man, I admit that I am sentimentally attached to my instruments to the point that I would rather spend some money on keeping them viable.

Just a thought: Perhaps responses to this thread may differ between generations, with older members preferring to stick with what they have. It is only a theory, but I think it may be a credible one.

Kind Regards,

Stephen.

 

[maugein96]

Hi Morne,

I bought my first French Cavagnolo Bal Musette CBA accordion from a shop here in the Scottish Borders, which used to stock a handful of brand new French models. Some UK stores also carried one or two French models at that time (1980s), but in most cases you were obliged to obtain them by special order only. This was because UK dealers would specify 4x2 basses, rather than the usual French 3x3, so they tended to be custom built rather than bought from stock. Mine was part of a batch which Jimmy Clinkscale, the shop owner, had bought in. It was a 4x2 bass.

There was no paperwork from Cavagnolo, and the shop gave the usual one year guarantee which pertained to all their new accordions. I was simply told to bring it back in two or three years when they would check it over. The real deal was by that time I'd have paid off any finance on it and they'd be looking to sell me another new one. That seemed to be the way it worked, with customers being effectively sold another instrument at the time when their current one was due an overhaul. As far as I can ascertain French players will expect a box to last a maximum of 50 years before they are deemed clapped out and unworthy of repair. Considering they are much easier to come by in France that is probably correct, although Geoff de Limousin has boxes from the 30s.

When I hit the problem with the bass button I lived a long way from Jimmy's shop, and I was recommended to go to a more local dealer who would be able to fix it. When the shop owner saw the instrument he immediately told me that he'd need to send it to another repairer in England, as because it was French built he wasn't prepared to work on it. After about a month I got a phone call to go and collect it. I duly paid the hefty repair bill (about two week's wages at the time). When I got it home it looked perfect until I started playing it when two buttons got stuck down after a minute or two. The shop owner gave the explanation that I must have damaged it in transit on the way home. I had to repair it myself as I've indicated. Problem was bent push rods which Cavagnolo had to make by hand to suit the non-standard 4x2 bass layout that JImmy had specified.

A few years later the pallets started sticking and I declined to repeat my previous experience. Once again I was advised by another player that the man for the job lived about 80 miles away, and it was recommended that I use him. Another month and another fortnight's wages got me the box back with new pallets, but all of the treble buttons were now considerably higher than they were before, and worse the guy had sheared a treble button off the inner row. He obviously thought the box had buttons which were glued on rather than screwed, although he did a fantastic job of hiding the damage. I got at least 10 minutes of playing before the button fell off again.

That box is now effectively ruined. It is still playable, although I had to pull the entire 5th row mechanism out. I cannot even trade it in, and only the reeds are worth keeping. The bellows also collapsed but I managed to fix that myself. Suffice to say it wasn't the best box I ever bought.

Jimmy Clinkscale is now sadly deceased, and his successors ceased trading due to gradual decline in accordion sales. The two repairers concerned are both well respected in the UK, and I won't name them here.

If I had the patience and space I would possibly have set up a little workshop to carry out my own repairs. If I translate your Afrikaans correctly (my wife has family in Amsterdam), "a farmer will find a way", and here in the rural part of Scotland that's precisely what is required.

I haven't actually played any of my accordions for some time, and each and every one of them could now do with some remedial work. I clear any stuck reeds by blowing through them, and just tolerate the gurgles and very occasional notes which are out of tune. I'm retired now and cannot really justify the expense of either buying another instrument or having any of them repaired. It's not as though I don't have the money, it's just that I don't have the enthusiasm I had when I was younger.

Hopefully you'll now realise why I won't send a French box to a UK repairer.

EDIT:- Once saw a video clip of a guy playing PA in The Azores (nearest repairer was probably in Lisbon, 1000 miles away), and a bass button stuck down. A friend of his appeared from nearby, and fixed the button within a matter of minutes. Don't know whether he oiled it, filed it, or sanded it, or tinkered with the control rods, as unfortunately the video never showed that. The bass side came off though, so it wasn't an "instant" repair. A classic example of the farmer will need to fix it himself. I was all set to move to The Azores after that, but, despite the popularity of the CBA in Portugal, it seems they only play PAs there. Desgraçado!

 

[debra]

As a child we (siblings and I) started on new Cruccianelli accordions. That is over 50 years ago. I have my sister's "super video" here to work on. This instrument has not had any type of maintenance in over 50 years, not even tuning.
The wax has hardened but not yet to the extent that reeds are about to fall off. (I have witnessed reeds starting to fall off on a first generation Pigini Sirius bayan so different types of wax used by different manufacturers in different periods must not behave the same.) The instrument needs cleaning from years of accumulated dust. It needs tuning, but many notes are still good. The bellows need to have the outer ribbons replaced, especially in the back, from rubbing against the player's body. (This accordion does not have a bellow protector.) All in all, not too much work for an instrument that's 50 years old.
I'm pretty sure that with a repaired (and also resealed) bellows, a good clean, revalving and rewaxing the reeds, this instrument will be good for another 50 years.
Accordions that are 100 years old now are probably good for the scrap heap, but that's because of the technology of 100 years ago. A good instrument from 50 years ago should last another 50 years without any major issues and it is not unlikely that it can then be "fixed" to go another 50 years again.

 

[jozz]

These are the blocks of my Achat just before selling it on this year, it was bought new in 1994 and I have never opened it up, only for these pictures. It was my 'beater' accordion.

The wax has coloured (probably hardened), but it played like a champ still.

 

[Jiri]

Hello guys,
I have to confirm, that it is similar with my accordions.

My first (bought new) Delicia 96b PA from 1984 is still in good condition, never tuned, but wax is visible darker.
Here is picture of bass side:

The Paolo Soprani from 70s has still original wax, this wax is varnished for long time stability!, so it is still OK. But tuning was necessary over time:


Regards,
Jiri

 

[Geronimo]

Accordions that are 100 years old now are probably good for the scrap heap, but thats because of the technology of 100 years ago.

100 years ago, Venanzio Morino was building accordions with baritone basses and resonance chamber in Geneva in his own private accordion shop. Probably not first choice for a soloist these days but not scrap heap material either. Id not care for a genuine Hohner from that time. Some years later Hohner made Morino an offer he could not refuse...

I think there are a few Castelfidardo builders from that time cranking out some reasonably strong instruments as well. None of the names known these days, though.

 

[wout]

Mine was 43 years old before it got overhauled. But according to the man i bought it from (he got it from a friends father who was the first owner) the first owner messed it up pretty badly as all the scratches and bumps imply. It got a whole new keyboard built, new valves, new wax.,new bellows gasket, new felts on the basspallets, tuning and new hohner letters. Cant imagine the total cost on that.and new straps and bassstrap as well. So all in all i got a very good deal out of it and i think it will last me very long time. I just ordered a new bellows that work great, the old one was just dead, but i made a mistake in the measurements i send and on the width its about 0,5 cm to small. Looks stupid but it works fantastic again. When i can spare some money i would try to sell this bellows and get one with the proper measurements. But thats for later