Opinion of Tempo Trend?

[RedEclipse]

Hello everyone I am new to the forums and the accordion.

Almost a year ago I started my journey playing the accordion and I was close by to Tempo trend in Victoria. They set me up with my first accordion and I've been playing ever since. They were very helpful and even set me up with lessons.

I am curious what others think of them compared to other accordion shops. I would love to drive down to Seattle and check out the Petosa store next.

 

[JerryPH]

That is the big mystery. Some basic conceptions are not likely to be wrong such as:

- each place will support their own brands over all others
- each place will offer what they have in stock first over looking outside their walls
- If one is going to to enjoy the location, thats awesome and go for it, and if you are going because you are searching for your next big purchase, know what you want and have a budget before you walk through the doors (as much as possible... in short, DO YOUR HOMEWORK).
- Always see what a minimum of 2 or more places have to offer, never buy on the spot unless you have found your next true love or are visiting from a far distance, even then, wait a day, review and really think about it.
- NEVER go in to debt for a hobby.

That said, I do not know about Tempo Trend in Victoria personally, but the accordion force is very strong on that island... so much that a few years ago they hosted the Mondials and have some VERY strong accordionists that are permanent residents there.

 

[debra]

That is the big mystery. Some basic conceptions are not likely to be wrong such as:

...
- each place will offer what they have in stock first over looking outside their walls
...

That is the most important point for any purchase you are thinking of making (not just accordions).
Every storekeeper will always try to sell you something right away, and in order to do so everything that is in stock is better than anything not in stock! So you really need to do your homework to narrow down your choices and ignore any sales talk.
When my wife and I wanted to buy a new accordion we visited the Frankfurter Musikmesse where we could try roughly the model we were looking for at the booths of every accordion manufacturer. Once we knew what we wanted we started looking for a supplier (in order to also get service should we need it). Sadly that Musikmesse is no more...

 

[Siegmund]

Petosa does have a modest used inventory, acquired mostly, as I understand it, from trade-ins when they successfully sell someone an upgrade. But don't think of them as an independent music store that happens to sell accordions. They are primarily in business to sell new Petosa-branded instruments. If you see a display from them at a festival, they will be showing new Petosas (and they will sound and feel amazing.)

Tempo Trend has an amazingly wide selection of used accordions, and their salesman will actually say words like "We can probably find you a $2,000 used instrument that can do everything a new $8,000 instrument can." Of course they have aspirations of selling you a series of upgrades if they can keep you playing.