Need help Bell DuoVox III Accordion, amplifier and speaker nice condition made in Italy serial # 1776

[Brassmonkey]

I would like to request assistance with learning what I can about this Bell DuoVox accordion. I also have the amplifier that connects to the accordion as well as a powered speaker. All have the original covers and look to be in good to very good used condition. Would like any insight or advice on a fair price and how to go about selling it.

 

[Ben-jammin]

I Think these old Accorgans are pretty neat and you might be able to track down somebody that wants this particular version but as a general rule they aren’t in high demand. They generally were built on pretty good spec acoustic instruments but by these days those electronics are obsolete and on their last legs. The electronics increase the bulk and weight of what would otherwise be a fairly desirable acoustic instrument. It’s hard to give a value on something like this as it really depends on finding a buyer. The electronics can be removed but always leaves an instrument with pretty lousy aesthetics. My best guess is ask $500 or so for someone to get it out of your hair and save you from having to pack and ship it.

 

[JerryPH]

That is almost exactly what I was going to say... over and above the often repeated advice of checking out the acoustic side. That side, unless maintained, is almost certainly going to need a lot of work on valve replacement, possibly wax and then tuning... which would instantly cost more than the accordion is worth.

 

[Ventura]

regarding the electronics, Duovox never really had a significant organ/accordion
market share, partly because their wiring was notoriously poorly shielded and
as a result the units were noisy in use and got worse over time

One thing about most of these old monsters is that the speaker cabinets are
WOOD (not particle board) and so are lighter weight and far more rugged
than many other types of speaker cab's. I like to re-furb/re-purpose these for use as
simple speaker extension cabinets. It looks like this one has at least a 15" main driver,
and once you take the electronics out you can make a nice storage section for cables and such.
Some Italian amp units came with UTAH speakers (purple color steel frames)

regarding the accordion, SOME of his Duovox's were high end Galanti builds,
so it is worth looking at it closely (walnut keys, dual pivots, top shelf reedwork)

 

[Nachman]

I would like to request assistance with learning what I can about this Bell DuoVox accordion. I also have the amplifier that connects to the accordion as well as a powered speaker. All have the original covers and look to be in good to very good used condition. Would like any insight or advice on a fair price and how to go about selling it.

Still for sale?

 

[Giovanni]

They were quite good in their day .I did try one at a dealer's
. in the UK .It was Bell's answer to the early models of the Cordovox i think CG1 and 2.
Certainly not in the same league as later models of Cordovox .
Good luck trying to sell it ..............Remember all those models mentioned will be very old. And spares .....very difficult to find ..
To sell Try this forum , or Ebay..

 

[SteveBox]

I'm amazed by that electrical connector on the accordion in photo IMG_6405. Two 50-pin D connectors! There must be 100 individual wires in the "umbilical cable" running from the accordion to the sound generator. There must be an individual wire devoted to each key and switch. Old school, pre-digital technology for sure.

 

[Ventura]

oh you should see a duovox inside.. point to point wire wrap

like a 1000 4 square metal posts sticking up out of the
circuit boards, must be a mile of wire in there all told
back and forth

all transistors and tons of colorful discreet components except for
the top octave generator.. i believe they switched to a
main chip for that in the second go-round.. between normal vibration
and natural oxidation, i can't imagine one still working
without having to do major troubleshooting and a ton of retrofitting

 

[SteveBox]

oh you should see a duovox inside.. point to point wire wrap

I presume you are talking about the sound generator unit. Really? No PC boards? I thought wire wrap was mainly used for prototyping back in the day (I did it myself), but not for production. Maybe they had some kind of automation, otherwise all that wire wrapping would be expensive labor and prone to errors. I have heard it said that wire wrapped connections are more reliable than soldering.

Liberty Bellows is selling the front panel guts from a DuoVox. Their photo shows the other side of that connector with 100 pins. Mostly all hand wiring.

 

[Zevy]

I'm amazed by that electrical connector on the accordion in photo IMG_6405. Two 50-pin D connectors! There must be 100 individual wires in the "umbilical cable" running from the accordion to the sound generator. There must be an individual wire devoted to each key and switch. Old school, pre-digital technology for sure.

100? You must be kidding. Probably more like 200+. I remember my old Cordovox. What a pain!!