Old Dallape sound compared to new 72 bass unit

[Tommyaz]

Hi I still have a problem. Can I get a smaller, lighter accordion with great sound 72 bass 34 keys.
I have no way to hear one if I get it shipped from somewhere. Are big 120 bass sound better because of their size?
I tried low end small models. They sound like toy accordion.

 

[micahcowan]

Hi I still have a problem. Can I get a smaller, lighter accordion with great sound 72 bass 34 keys.
I have no way to hear one if I get it shipped from somewhere. Are big 120 bass sound better because of their size?
I tried low end small models. They sound like toy accordion.

The size helps, bc I think perhaps there's more room for better-quality bass-end reeds? That's coming from someone with zero knowledge of accordion manufacture, so that could be BS. But I know that, regardless of instrument you need more mass vibrating to get lower notes, and you can get that either by bulking up or by lengthening, and in lengthening tends to produce much higher quality tones than bulking. (This is why 12-foot grand pianos exist.)

But the main factor that makes 120-bass accordions "superior" is more to do the fact that it guarantees that there are no keys in which you're forced to play by the edge, and potentially run out of room and have to perform a giant leap just to play (say) the dominant of the key. This being due to the fact that every musical key is represented by two separate rows (for instance, D♭ and C♯), at least one of which will be no fewer than 4 rows from the end. I have one 72-bass with a rather unfortunate arrangement (the Americana Nemo II, which at least has a pretty sweet sound for being a compact), where the top-most row is the "E" row. This makes it very hard to play even fairly simple pieces in A, E, or B (minor or major), which aren't exactly rare keys. (But the vast majority of accordions arrange to have the extreme ends be D♭ and F♯, which are way less common keys.)

 

[kimric]

I carry Delicia. these are available with four grades of reeds from "special to E-mano" good sound and feel for the price. They feel more like an Italian accordion than a Weltmeister but cost less than something from Italy.