Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I would hope to negotiate the price down. I’m so curious about what it will sound like. If I don’t like the sound, I’ll pass on it, even though I’m driving an hour each way to go try it out. I wish there was a better way!!
Well, I went to see it and it was terrible! Just goes to show that you cannot judge by pictures alone. It smelled dreadful, the straps were nearly disintegrated, and there was gunk on the bellows that was kind of sticking them together. Not only that, it had a stuck treble key, at least one treble note that played on the push but not the pull, and there was at least one bass button that played a hideous combination of notes, and it wasn’t even supposed to play a chord of any sort. I didn’t thoroughly check every button/key/register combo because there was no point. I mean, there was no point in playing ANY notes, to be honest, but I had driven an hour and I figured I’d at least hear what it sounded like. Wow, just wow. The good news is that it was very, very clear that this instrument was a no-go. The seller said she had had it appraised online, and I said, well, online appraisers can’t hear or see (or smell!!) any of these problems. She was very nice and I tried to at least educate her on what I was finding so she would know why I passed on it and why she won’t get $400 for it. Tagging @Gonk so he can see how it turned out, too …
It is amazing how many people post two pictures, say it’s perfect, like new, everything’s great, and then it turns out they don’t know how to play and don’t know anything about anything. She said it had been her grandfather’s. As soon as I saw her (she was in the 40-50 range) I thought, oh … if that’s true, grandfather must be dead at this point and this instrument no doubt hasn’t been played in a longgggg time. I asked her where it had been stored (we had opened the case and I already knew what it smelled like), and she said it was stored in a closet. (Uh. In a closet in a very wet BASEMENT, you mean.) I undid the bellows buckles so I could at least hear it, and she must have been dying a little inside because she said, ”Oh, you really know what you’re doing.” (Yes, I do. Sort of. But not like my friends on the forum.)
Indeed you are right, strap condition is the least of the worries, although yesterday I was seriously worried that the straps on the Salanti would fail when I was testing it. Ack! And thanks for the pep talk. I will just have to be patient (not my strong suit) and continue to appreciate my little Giulietti, even if it doesn’t have enough keyboard range to get me through Palmer-Hughes Book 2Keep looking and soon enough you'll find that accordion that you're looking for. Bad straps are perhaps the least expensive fault that can be found on a used accordion of a certain vintage. The inner workings of these instruments are the potential largest pitfalls in your quest for a good buy. A number of sellers of older accordions known little about musical instruments of any kind and assume that they can trick a potential purchaser into believing in their expertise. Follow your own instincts because you're an intelligent and experienced musician with a little less experience with our favorite instrument. You appear to be doing a fantastic job so far and you will no doubt find a great accordion for a fair price!
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I think you may just need some patience and time to wait for the correct one for you. I used to buy the used accordion, I rent a car and drive around my city to check them, after several days, I found buying the accordion is not the my primary goal, at least not my only purpose, finding those guy and talk with them is interesting as you may hear some interesting story from them (not about the accordion condition they are selling, but just how they feel about accordion and how they miss their family member and those time, when they take the accordion from the cabin, seems they are opening their memory book for me). Well, true it is not about buying the accordion, but just talking with people, lolIndeed you are right, strap condition is the least of the worries, although yesterday I was seriously worried that the straps on the Salanti would fail when I was testing it. Ack! And thanks for the pep talk. I will just have to be patient (not my strong suit) and continue to appreciate my little Giulietti, even if it doesn’t have enough keyboard range to get me through Palmer-Hughes Book 2
You are right about being patient. Just 2 days ago I went to check out a small (17”) LMM 41/120 Larenti that had belonged to the seller’s mother. The seller, a local Baptist minister, told me about his mother (her name was Jane) and how she loved to play. The minister ended up GIVING me the instrument because it had a bunch of stuck bass buttons and it was impossible to know how hard or expensive it would be to fix, so I had said I could not pay what he was asking. He said he just wants someone to be able to enjoy it like his mother did, and I feel honored to have received such a gift. It will be quite a project (needs a good tuning, among other things), but at least I was able to get the bass buttons unstuck. I’m not sure if giving one’s accordion a name is a thing people do, but in honor of its original owner, I’ve named this sweet thing “Candy Apple Jane”.
That's really great, i am thinking you my try to learn how to fiz it and take this one as the model, lolYou are right about being patient. Just 2 days ago I went to check out a small (17”) LMM 41/120 Larenti that had belonged to the seller’s mother. The seller, a local Baptist minister, told me about his mother (her name was Jane) and how she loved to play. The minister ended up GIVING me the instrument because it had a bunch of stuck bass buttons and it was impossible to know how hard or expensive it would be to fix, so I had said I could not pay what he was asking. He said he just wants someone to be able to enjoy it like his mother did, and I feel honored to have received such a gift. It will be quite a project (needs a good tuning, among other things), but at least I was able to get the bass buttons unstuck. I’m not sure if giving one’s accordion a name is a thing people do, but in honor of its original owner, I’ve named this sweet thing “Candy Apple Jane”.
Alice,
I agree, the markings make it appear as if it could be LMH, except you can see the way the lines are drawn, there’s actually an extra space where a dot might go to indicate H. When I went to see it I wasn’t sure if it would be LMH or LMM with the two M dots on different spaces. What I found was that it sounded like musette to me when I engaged the M + ? (M or H) register. I’ve just taken the treble side apart and can confirm, the mystery third register is another set of M reeds for musette tuning. Strange, right?Alice,
Judging by the marks on your coupler switches, you may find your new accordion
is an LMH rather than an LMM
Congratulations, looking like a great bargain for a very friendly price. Hopefully you can free up those bass buttons and enjoy your find. Those 17 inch models are much sought after and are sometimes referred to as stroller or ladies models. You might also fix it up and sell it when you're ready to upgrade.You are right about being patient. Just 2 days ago I went to check out a small (17”) LMM 41/120 Larenti that had belonged to the seller’s mother. The seller, a local Baptist minister, told me about his mother (her name was Jane) and how she loved to play. The minister ended up GIVING me the instrument because it had a bunch of stuck bass buttons and it was impossible to know how hard or expensive it would be to fix, so I had said I could not pay what he was asking. He said he just wants someone to be able to enjoy it like his mother did, and I feel honored to have received such a gift. It will be quite a project (needs a good tuning, among other things), but at least I was able to get the bass buttons unstuck. I’m not sure if giving one’s accordion a name is a thing people do, but in honor of its original owner, I’ve named this sweet thing “Candy Apple Jane”.
Wow, great find Alice! Yeah, I've got a number of those. In fact I've posted about the guy around here that loves to do this conversion, even if he has to add a third reed block!
