New to the accordion world - Need some advice for 1st instrument

[Paraselenio]

Dear accordionists,

This is with humility that I'm posting my 1st thread on your forum.

I'm very new to the accordion world and seek enlightenment.

Indeed, while I'm trying to get this damn solfege into my head, I'm caressing the idea of making the acquisition of my very first instrument.

Between those four subjects, which one would you choose and why ?

Note that I'm looking for a CBA, as it is more dextrous than an PA / offers more options for some crazy moves :

Bayan Jupiter Double Cassotto
(I wish )

Curtini Popolare Rare 5 Row Button

Vintage HOHNER Sirena IVB, 5 Rows Button

Startone Accordion B system

Thank you my elders for your precious wisdom & time on this sensitive matter that we all must face !

(apologies for the broken english, as it isn't my mother tongue)

 

[Tom]

Welcome Paraselenio! I am sorry I can’t answer your question but wish you luck with your purchase. Hopefully someone here can help….

 

[SteveBox]

Welcome Paraselenio! I can only give you some general suggestions. There are so many considerations involved in choosing a first accordion. Probably, someone starting out should buy a good, used student-grade instrument from a reputable accordion store that has checked it over and done any necessary repairs. One thing I noticed about your four suggested instruments is that the second choice (Curtini Popolare) is a C-system, and the others are B-system. Do you know which of the two CBA systems you want, and why?

 

[murathan]

Welcome. I think you can start with cheap Russian models. Thisway you will understand if you will be able to play an accordion or you will like it cheaply.

 

[debra]

The best advice is to ask other accordion players where they bought their accordion(s). It is imperative to find a reputable, trustworthy accordion dealer or player who will give you honest good advice about what you need and is also willing to help you out when you later need a newer/better accordion as well. There are good accordions to be found in on-line auctions, but that's maybe (being optimistic here) 10% of the listings, and perhaps half of them are scams... so buyer beware!

 

[tcabot]

Welcome.

CBAs come with different layouts. C system is popular in Switzerland, or so I've been told, however, a lot of swiss accordions seem to have "flat" rather than stepped keyboards. For a CBA that is generally considered to be a disadvantage.
Eastern Europe, Belgium, Netherland seem to favour the B system.

My advice would be:
- First of all, avoid ridiculously overpriced etsy/reverb/ebay shops - while they try to present themselves like professional vendors, I've seen half of them knowingly misadvertising their stock and selling absolute lemons for ridiculous amount of cash.
- Find a local accordion tuner/repairer. He might have a cheap & very playable beginner model.
- Find experienced local players (they might even let you squeeze their box if you ask nicely) and ask for advice.
- At some point you might start looking at fixer-uppers, but for your first box that's not a good option.
- I'd avoid old soviet accordions like plague. While on a very rare occasion a very good old professional model comes up for very little cash, you really need to know what you're buying. A lot of them were never designed to be musical instruments - they were made to meet the government production targets. Also, a lot of "shops" trying to sell old soviet stock on etsy, etc are asking about 5-10 times (!!!) more than that rubbish is worth.

As Paul said, finding a trusted seller is very important.

 

[Tom]

Welcome.

CBAs come with different layouts. C system is popular in Switzerland, or so I've been told, however, a lot of swiss accordions seem to have "flat" rather than stepped keyboards. For a CBA that is generally considered to be a disadvantage.
Eastern Europe, Belgium, Netherland seem to favour the B system.

My advice would be:
- First of all, avoid ridiculously overpriced etsy/reverb/ebay shops - while they try to present themselves like professional vendors, I've seen half of them knowingly misadvertising their stock and selling absolute lemons for ridiculous amount of cash.
- Find a local accordion tuner/repairer. He might have a cheap & very playable beginner model.
- Find experienced local players (they might even let you squeeze their box if you ask nicely) and ask for advice.
- At some point you might start looking at fixer-uppers, but for your first box that's not a good option.
- I'd avoid old soviet accordions like plague. While on a very rare occasion a very good old professional model comes up for very little cash, you really need to know what you're buying. A lot of them were never designed to be musical instruments - they were made to meet the government production targets. Also, a lot of "shops" trying to sell old soviet stock on etsy, etc are asking about 5-10 times (!!!) more than that rubbish is worth.

As Paul said, finding a trusted seller is very important.

Good advice! “Find a LOCAL tuner/repairer/player.” Good luck with that one if you live in 95% of the US. Dam good thing we have the internet.

 

[Walker]

Dear accordionists,

This is with humility that I'm posting my 1st thread on your forum.

I'm very new to the accordion world and seek enlightenment.

Indeed, while I'm trying to get this damn solfege into my head, I'm caressing the idea of making the acquisition of my very first instrument.

Between those four subjects, which one would you choose and why ?

Note that I'm looking for a CBA, as it is more dextrous than an PA / offers more options for some crazy moves :

Bayan Jupiter Double Cassotto
(I wish )

Curtini Popolare Rare 5 Row Button

Vintage HOHNER Sirena IVB, 5 Rows Button

Startone Accordion B system

Thank you my elders for your precious wisdom & time on this sensitive matter that we all must face !

(apologies for the broken english, as it isn't my mother tongue)

Hi Para,

When considering an accordion purchase I would ask myself, what kind of music do I realistically plan to learn?

Which brings me to my question...

Para, what kind of music do you want to learn?