The Accordion in Fiddle Camp

[Mike t.]

My son and I just got back from a week long fiddle camp in Cashmere Washington State, about a 4 1/2 hour drive from home. Had a great time, great people, new friends, great jamming in the evenings. I took a backup bass and backup piano classes all week. My goal was to see how I would fit in with the fiddlers. I think their first reaction was “you aren’t as loud as we expected” the piano instructor was very helpful as she played a little accordion in the past. After watching one little girl play her two octave speed scales or chord inversions, I’ve a lot to learn! I did shine at adding a harmony or discant? high part. There were about 11 students playing key boards in the piano class. The bass instructor had me play tunes like “Angeline The Baker”, Five Foot Two” and then dissect the options for the bass, we worked running bass patterns, changing keys, music theory in both classes, (not my favorite!) I was invited to a bunch of jams in the evening. Our neighbors camped next to us were the greatest! My son and I both thought we would do it again next year! I saw only one other accordion a diatonic. I probably only played full volume on one song in a evening jam, “Get Along Home Cindy” and then heard someone in the distance clap!
The takeaway for me is you can’t hide the sound of an accordion, it’s distinct, be careful of it’s volume, I add too many bass runs at times, it has to blend with the guitars and basses, a bass pattern that works playing solo doesn’t work always in a group, some songs fit better on a keyboard than on a fiddle, when you get the “eye” for playing chords the lead doesn’t like, don’t take it personal. Timing is more important than the right chord! It was so much fun jamming!

 

[JerryPH]

Sounds like you had a good time!
I noticed that you also have a Petosa Antico, does yours also have the tuba bass option? I picked up mine a couple weeks ago and really enjoy it.

 

[Mike t.]

Sounds like you had a good time!
I noticed that you also have a Petosa Antico, does yours also have the tuba bass option? I picked up mine a couple weeks ago and really enjoy it.

I don’t know, my kids got it for me when I retired about three years ago and one of my daughters did ask for me what it was, but I can’t find the info. They purchased it (on the sly) and had originally been looking for a tuba bass when this one came in. Petosa had told her this is what your Dad wants and he’ll love it. I would say they were right! It has a very deep bass sound but I would have to play it next to one for me to tell.
I do use a 1/2” thick 12”x12” square foam sleeping pad to cushion it against my left leg for comfort. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have. Sort of silly, but people love the bling, bling sparkles, it gives them something to look at!
A different question, I’m going to play at a big nursing home at the end of September (October Fest) it sounds like by myself, there is a amp plug on the bottom that seems to work. If I had too, can it just plug into a guitar amp, if it needs more volume or just use a microphone that they have there? I probably wouldn’t need too i hope. I

 

[Tom]

I don’t know, my kids got it for me when I retired about three years ago and one of my daughters did ask for me what it was, but I can’t find the info. They purchased it (on the sly) and had originally been looking for a tuba bass when this one came in. Petosa had told her this is what your Dad wants and he’ll love it. I would say they were right! It has a very deep bass sound but I would have to play it next to one for me to tell.
I do use a 1/2” thick 12”x12” square foam sleeping pad to cushion it against my left leg for comfort. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have. Sort of silly, but people love the bling, bling sparkles, it gives them something to look at!
A different question, I’m going to play at a big nursing home at the end of September (October Fest) it sounds like by myself, there is a amp plug on the bottom that seems to work. If I had too, can it just plug into a guitar amp, if it needs more volume or just use a microphone that they have there? I probably wouldn’t need too i hope. I

Congrats on this accordion and your upcoming gig at the nursing home Mike! I would recommend some experimentation before the gig if you can. I think it will really depend on the size of the venue and number of people involved whether you will need amplification. If so, do you have an opportunity to test out the amp and microphone in the actual space? You may find feedback or other issues you don’t anticipate. Plus you may need to experiment with settings on your amp or the house system. Best of luck to you, Prost!

 

[Ventura]

Tom is right.. run up there for the monthly group birthday party
as an excuse, then mess with the equipment after so there will be
zero surprises on Gig day

 

[Tom]

Oh, and yes, you can play a miked (sic) accordion through a guitar amp, just don’t let the “accordion amp police” catch you. They can be worse than the “digital accordion police.” Just sayin’

 

[JerryPH]

I don’t know, my kids got it for me when I retired about three years ago and one of my daughters did ask for me what it was, but I can’t find the info. They purchased it (on the sly) and had originally been looking for a tuba bass when this one came in. Petosa had told her this is what your Dad wants and he’ll love it. I would say they were right! It has a very deep bass sound but I would have to play it next to one for me to tell.
I do use a 1/2” thick 12”x12” square foam sleeping pad to cushion it against my left leg for comfort. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have. Sort of silly, but people love the bling, bling sparkles, it gives them something to look at!
A different question, I’m going to play at a big nursing home at the end of September (October Fest) it sounds like by myself, there is a amp plug on the bottom that seems to work. If I had too, can it just plug into a guitar amp, if it needs more volume or just use a microphone that they have there? I probably wouldn’t need too i hope. I

Haha! This accordion seems to be a great gift. Mine was a birthday gift from my sister (and mom and my niece), as well.

Yes you have a Petosa Antico, though it looks a touch different from mine, and I think I see only 3 registers on the front of yours? I made a little review of it just recently:



The looks? It's a bit over the top for me, but mine has the option for tuba bass. About that plug, it looks like you have a microphone system in there as well. An easy way to see it is to remove the 2 side screws and life the front grill off SLOWLY and CAREFULLY. Take a look, if you see something like this, you are ready to rock and roll... lol:

I actually started this response a while ago, then went upstairs for lunch and came back down to my basement (I am re-arranging things again). I was curious if my wireless stereo transmitter would work with it, and it does!

Talk about happy accidents, I had to have turned on the video camera as I was moving it, and completely by accident, as I was test recording the audio, it caught me just fooling around with the transmitter to see if it worked. I don't normally place those kinds of videos online, but it's hidden just for us here to show (I will erase this one when I put on the better version on YouTube). You can see the little transmitter on the bottom (and I've since made a small cable that moves the transmitter to my straps behind me).

Now, please don't judge, the video quality is crappy, the song is both shortened and has a ton of mistakes, but I was just testing to see if it worked and quite honestly, the sound from this accordion again surprised me (I think my expressions reflected this).



But to answer your question, if you find functional mics inside, yes you can get this accordion to work with a guitar amp, but honestly, how loud do you need t go? The Antico has some good volume, so I'd go dry unless you are playing long times or in bigger crows and need extra volume.

Before testing, make sure you have a nice fresh 9 volt battery plugged in there. If yours is setup the ame as mine, you will need to slap on a tiny bit of velcro to hold it in place.

 

[Mike t.]

Haha! This accordion seems to be a great gift. Mine was a birthday gift from my sister (and mom and my niece), as well.

Yes you have a Petosa Antico, though it looks a touch different from mine, and I think I see only 3 registers on the front of yours? I made a little review of it just recently:



The looks? It's a bit over the top for me, but mine has the option for tuba bass. About that plug, it looks like you have a microphone system in there as well. An easy way to see it is to remove the 2 side screws and life the front grill off SLOWLY and CAREFULLY. Take a look, if you see something like this, you are ready to rock and roll... lol:

I actually started this response a while ago, then went upstairs for lunch and came back down to my basement (I am re-arranging things again). I was curious if my wireless stereo transmitter would work with it, and it does!

Talk about happy accidents, I had to have turned on the video camera as I was moving it, and completely by accident, as I was test recording the audio, it caught me just fooling around with the transmitter to see if it worked. I don't normally place those kinds of videos online, but it's hidden just for us here to show (I will erase this one when I put on the better version on YouTube). You can see the little transmitter on the bottom (and I've since made a small cable that moves the transmitter to my straps behind me).

Now, please don't judge, the video quality is crappy, the song is both shortened and has a ton of mistakes, but I was just testing to see if it worked and quite honestly, the sound from this accordion again surprised me (I think my expressions reflected this).



But to answer your question, if you find functional mics inside, yes you can get this accordion to work with a guitar amp, but honestly, how loud do you need t go? The Antico has some good volume, so I'd go dry unless you are playing long times or in bigger crows and need extra volume.

Before testing, make sure you have a nice fresh 9 volt battery plugged in there. If yours is setup the ame as mine, you will need to slap on a tiny bit of velcro to hold it in place.

I wish my accordion had that tuba bass! But still it’s amazing! Mine has no switches on the bass side and only three switches on the right side. When I first started out, married, bills, didn’t have two nickels to rub together, the wife and I took a trip to the Petosa shop in the late 70s and I saw these accordions and they strapped one on me and let me play it. Pretty good salesmanship! Although a little delayed! I had always thought if I ever won the lottery, and must of mentioned it out loud for the wife and kids to hear! Retirement has been a blessing!

 

[JerryPH]

About retirement, I will let you know about it next year.
Woking full time is a huge hindrance to me being able to play regularly... if I get in a few minutes on the weekend, that's huge.

I always say family is everything, and at least for me it rings true. Seems you are blessed as well.

 

[Mike t.]

About retirement, I will let you know about it next year.
Woking full time is a huge hindrance to me being able to play regularly... if I get in a few minutes on the weekend, that's huge.

I always say family is everything, and at least for me it rings true. Seems you are blessed as well.

This week I’ve been going to the Centralia Camp Out, about a half hour drive from my house. I’m guessing there are over 250 people attending this week long old time music festival in Washington State, there’s groups from Alaska, Idaho, California, Canada, Arizona, camping for the week and jamming all over the 20 acres. This is the first one I’ve attended, (almost went last year but chicken out, it was 104!) my guess it’s about 80% fiddles and mandolins and the rest banjos, a few guitars and a half dozen upright basses, mountain dobros ukulele’s and just couple different accordion types including a really great player of an English concertina. His playing really made me fall in love with the concertina, he’d been playing it for about thirty years and it sounded so good, he could play chords for back up, but was lighting fast on melodies. He pointed out it’s short comings of only one sound, he started life playing a PA so knew the ins and outs of accordions.. (you are supposed to laugh here!) These jams have been the icing on the cake, although it’s a different genre than I learned or had been playing when i retired and started playing steady. Mostly what I’d call fiddle tunes. People still expect you to play the Beer Barrel and Chicken Dance!
Work, it turns out, is way overrated! You are going to love retirement!