Caps
Active member
Has anybody ever actually bought an accordion from Temu? I see cheap ones advertised frequently on the web. Rather annoying really
Temu accordion
- Thread starter Caps
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I have not. But may I ask why it is more annoying than other cheap(ly built) items advertised frequently on the web?
Caps
Active member
Well all the ads are annoying but the ones from temu are extra annoying because there are so many of them every single day and I have yet to see anything in any of them that I might want.
There are regular public warnings about Temu in the media here. Unreliable, low quality stuff that violates many safety rules (like containing poisonous chemicals in coatings)... You get what you pay for (which isn't a lot) and I'm sure that also applies to accordions. Temu does not build them so they most likely come from low quality factories in China and North Korea that only produce anything decent for their local market and only sell rubbish in their export products.
JeffJetton
Prolific poster
I set up a Pi-hole on our home network, and it's wonderful.
When I go other places, hop on their wi-fi, and see ads, it's a bit jarring. I'm not used to it anymore!
Caps
Active member
I just looked at their site. Interesting. They don't support windows so I would have to create an Ubuntu partition and install to it. I may play around with it when I get time. Looks to be a pretty powerful application.
SteveBox
Well-known member
There are ad blocker extensions such as 'uBlock Origin' available for popular web browsers. I use this and rarely see any ads.
As for those cheap Chinese accordions advertised on Temu, Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, and others, I feel sorry for those beginners who know little about accordions and buy one of these because they are cheap. The marketing description of these alleged accordions is often quite funny/weird/exaggerated, obviously written by those who are English challenged. e.g. 8-bass accordions described as "professional" and buttons are "piano keys". If one is lucky, you might get an okay beginner's instrument, but how long will it last?
As for those cheap Chinese accordions advertised on Temu, Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, and others, I feel sorry for those beginners who know little about accordions and buy one of these because they are cheap. The marketing description of these alleged accordions is often quite funny/weird/exaggerated, obviously written by those who are English challenged. e.g. 8-bass accordions described as "professional" and buttons are "piano keys". If one is lucky, you might get an okay beginner's instrument, but how long will it last?
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JeffJetton
Prolific poster
I run it on a dedicated Raspberry Pi 3.
As SteveBox mentioned, you can also block ads and malware sites with browser extensions. The nice thing about Pi-hole though is that it works on your entire network, on any app that might pull down ads from ad servers, including games. Smart TVs. Tablets. Cell phones (if you're connecting them to the wi-fi when you're home), etc.
Squeezeplay
Active member
I don’t think the Chinese built accordions are really all that bad for a couple of reasons. One being that it allows you to get your feet wet inexpensively if you are considering trying accordion……Timex vs Bulova…… a used accordion from eBay, or some guy across town that you don’t know, is a crap shoot. As a rank beginner you likely have no idea what to look for, or how to make sure the reeds are not rusty. AND you can bet, if someone is trying to sell you a box, he is NOT going to let a rank beginner spilt it to “ inspect “ reeds and valves. I have a Chinese box in my studio for beginners to try, and I have on occasion used it on a job, as it has a decent musette. I have some good quality boxes too, and the beginners always seem to want to start off with the less expensive .
Caps
Active member
Did you buy the Chinese box off temu? I'm curious if anyone actually has done so and what they really got. Lots of horror stories about buying stuff from them. Only thing I ever bought from them was 100 germanium diodes and when they arrived they were silicon diodes that had been re-labelled. I did eventually get my money back after several months.
SteveBox
Well-known member
kimric
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There are different grades of accordions out of china, but even the top end ones are only so so. I had a Asian customer bring in a instrument supposedly made using italian technology. The reeds were engraved with a Voci logo and the gapping was way better than standard chinese reeds but the tolerances were really bad with a lot of side clearance issues, I have never seen anything this bad in any vintage italian accordion I have worked on, more like Soviet student grade reeds but a bit better set up. It had a tone chamber , but it had all chinese leather valves and a over zealous use of stiffeners, I had to replace a bunch of valves that were way to stiff to let the reed play. reeds had marks from tuning, but the tuning was worse than a 80 year old italian flea market find.
Anything from Temu is likely to be worse than even Fever brand instruments.
Anything from Temu is likely to be worse than even Fever brand instruments.
Accordion-shaped objects...
Someone here bought a diatonic, it is in Spanish, the guy says at the end something like: "it is worth what it is sold for".
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petch
Well-known member
not forgetting that the temu app itself is literally spyware/malware
They know when you are sleeping,
They know when you're awake.
The Santa Clause family is well ahead of the Chinese & Russians when it comes to spyware. Supposedly they can even infiltrate your house, regardless of your security equipment. That's why I wear a tin foil hat when I go to sleep.
Overall, buying from China is fine if you know what you need and what you're doing - any ideas that the one of world's largest economies is incapable of manufacturing a squeezebox (or a toaster, or a PC, or a car) is bonkers. The problems come when western entrepreneurial wise-guys spec a £100 accordion made out of crap, so they can re-sell it at a 500% mark-up at home. That's when you get proper ripped off.
It's incredible how many domestic businesses just re-sell ridiculously marked-up drop-shipped Chinese stock, at least here in the UK. Usually this is accompanied by "support local" and "use it or lose it" slogans.
I've tried getting a Chinese wooden-bodied melodeon directly from the factory, just to satisfy my curiosity (supposedly, about £200 taxed & delivered at the time vs £500-700 for the same box bought from a domestic retailer
). The factory adverts were saying that they are very happy to send out a single-box "sample" and even customise it to your spec, but when the push came to shove, they could not be bothered even with standard models, and did not want my money. Things must be going really well for them.
I saw a student-level Chinese-made Tula once and it had keyboard mech linkages made out of plastic - I wouldn't be surprised if that's the common theme. Good luck getting years of service from that. But then...I had a high end luthier-built French diatonic that had 3d-printed bass mechs. Appalling.
PS I am intrigued with North Korean Jupiters - we should organise a group tourist trip to their factory, just like with Castelfidardo.
They know when you're awake.
The Santa Clause family is well ahead of the Chinese & Russians when it comes to spyware. Supposedly they can even infiltrate your house, regardless of your security equipment. That's why I wear a tin foil hat when I go to sleep.
Overall, buying from China is fine if you know what you need and what you're doing - any ideas that the one of world's largest economies is incapable of manufacturing a squeezebox (or a toaster, or a PC, or a car) is bonkers. The problems come when western entrepreneurial wise-guys spec a £100 accordion made out of crap, so they can re-sell it at a 500% mark-up at home. That's when you get proper ripped off.
It's incredible how many domestic businesses just re-sell ridiculously marked-up drop-shipped Chinese stock, at least here in the UK. Usually this is accompanied by "support local" and "use it or lose it" slogans.
I've tried getting a Chinese wooden-bodied melodeon directly from the factory, just to satisfy my curiosity (supposedly, about £200 taxed & delivered at the time vs £500-700 for the same box bought from a domestic retailer
). The factory adverts were saying that they are very happy to send out a single-box "sample" and even customise it to your spec, but when the push came to shove, they could not be bothered even with standard models, and did not want my money. Things must be going really well for them.I saw a student-level Chinese-made Tula once and it had keyboard mech linkages made out of plastic - I wouldn't be surprised if that's the common theme. Good luck getting years of service from that. But then...I had a high end luthier-built French diatonic that had 3d-printed bass mechs. Appalling.
PS I am intrigued with North Korean Jupiters - we should organise a group tourist trip to their factory, just like with Castelfidardo.
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SteveBox
Well-known member
Was this a Marc Serafini accordion? I know from his web page showing the internals and construction of his accordions that he uses some custom 3-D printed resin parts. Do you think this is bad? Marc has a high reputation for quality accordions. I wouldn't think he would use these if they were not durable.
All I'm going to say is that alloy mechs with brass bushings will very likely outlast me.
Plastic most likely won't.
When laser-cutting custom aluminium mechs costs a few pennies per lever, I don't see any good reasons to use plastic by custom builders. And 3d-printer PLA is not exactly known for its ability to last for decades.
Plastic most likely won't.
When laser-cutting custom aluminium mechs costs a few pennies per lever, I don't see any good reasons to use plastic by custom builders. And 3d-printer PLA is not exactly known for its ability to last for decades.
Squeezeplay
Active member
Actually , NO. I bought it privately as an in expensive box to put my self built midi into. The midi was an experimental project, just to prove I could do it…. Before I installed it into my Excelsior 940. …...that was a few years ago. Both the box and the midi system are still working.
Squeezeplay
Active member
“ because they are cheap” is exactly why people buy them. No they aren’t the best quality, but for the most part a reasonably useable starter instrument. Much better than a rank beginner buying a “ bargain” off EBay. I have repaired a couple of those. Yuk ! !
