Unique tone chamber

[Frank Barocco]

Hi all. Sharing the following with the intention of showing a bit of what the Sonola SS-4 (Ernie Felice model) looks like and how some unique tone chambers have been created Not better, not worse, just different from usual. Often said this model is ideal for jazz because of the resonant and deep tone - a matter of personal opinion.

Usually when talking about the Sonola SS-4, we see pictures of the accordion all assembled and closed off, and sometimes pictures of the reeds, such as these, where you can see it looks different from usual inside.



However, as far as I could tell, here in the forum nobody ever posted photos of the tone chamber itself (what we see in the image above is the back of it).

Here are some original Sonola SS-4 Ernie Felice images, as you can see they all do not look the same (the two images are from two separate accordions):





As one can see, it has a tone chamber (cassotto) with metal base and wooden top, with 11 holes on that wooden top. The holes lead to a second chamber, a triangular prism made of wood on all sides. And that prism itself has holes that lead out, into the grille.
So part of the sound that comes from the reeds vibrates inside the typical small cassotto, and part goes into the second, larger chamber.

When I found a Sonola SS-4 for me some time ago, I got a big discount because it looked like this (one of the previous owners had intentionally removed the wood that separates the two chambers, and I bit the bullet and accepted it because of the price and because all the rest was intact and the reeds were original and pristine):



Obviously the tone was more open, in between a cassotto accordion and a non-cassotto accordion.

On the internet I have also seen a Sonola SS-4 where only part of the woods were removed - only the top of the cassotto was removed, leaving in the other piece of the wood that faces the grille:



I had to reconstruct mine, with the help of a luthier who works with woods often. Here is mine now, with the whole system reconstructed, based on other original/intact models:





The wood is not the same type, so that might have a slight effect (though I think the shape matters more than the wood type here), but I can say it sounds much much different from when it was stripped of all this woods system.

I had a lot of fun with this process, kind of wish there was more to do and experiment with!
That's all!

 

[Ventura]

some may recall my mention in the past of the fine engineering
Sonola did on the shift transmission mech. and how unique
it is from typical pro accordions from other factories..
so smooth, reliable, quiet..

it is nicely visible in some of the images, which are high
res enough that if you right click/open in a new tab
you can then blow it up for close viewing

i commend this to your attention

 

[Frank Barocco]

some may recall my mention in the past of the fine engineering
Sonola did on the shift transmission mech. and how unique
it is from typical pro accordions from other factories..
so smooth, reliable, quiet..

it is nicely visible in some of the images, which are high
res enough that if you right click/open in a new tab
you can then blow it up for close viewing

i commend this to your attention

Indeed, thank you for pointing that out.

Here is a close up of the shift transmission mech on mine:

 

[Ventura]

and now that folks here have this clue, the next time there is a
Sonola for sale somewhere that seems too new too good to be true
just pop the grill off and have a look..

Sonola shaped objects will not have them

 

[pitzelberger]

I also own a SS4 and indeed the tone chamber construction gives it a special loud, deep and sonore sound.

Maybe a bit of topic, but what I am sometimes wondering about. Even though it is the “Ernie Felice Model“, Ernie Felice himself played a 3 reed model (probably SS6), which didn’t have that special tone chamber construction and thus maybe also a different sound? Isn’t that a bit strange? So even today it is often called the holy grail of jazz accordions, there was actually never a famous jazz accordionist that played a SS4. It was only Ernie Felice lending his name for the product in what feels today like a successful marketing campaign of that time, right?

 

[Ventura]

Wrong

perhaps mostly because you are applying modern thought
rather than considering the times

while it is true, one has to play a lot of stock accordions for a lot of
years before they let you "design" one, all that really means is your
"Signature" model is partly the result of your wishful thinking
and dreams and wild ideas

did Art Van Damme keep all 6 Bass reedblocks in his signature model
when he toured ?

secondly, here in the USA, an overwhelming number of professionals
performed for decades night after night on these Sonola's, not just
the "ernie", and they all contributed to an EARNED reputation .. this may not
have been obvious or visible from a Central Europe perspective where Slavko
and Morino's and Atlantic's dominated the imagery of big boxes

the proof of this is simply that it is so difficult to find a classic sonola
over here that is still playable.. most of them were worn the hell out !

how many accordions have you even seen in your life that actually got
played to death ? rather than died from neglect and improper storage

ANY professional, real and true original factory Sonola is a gift to have
and play and enjoy and anyone who owns one is a lucky dog !

 

[Frank Barocco]

Maybe a bit of topic, but what I am sometimes wondering about. Even though it is the “Ernie Felice Model“, Ernie Felice himself played a 3 reed model (probably SS6), which didn’t have that special tone chamber construction and thus maybe also a different sound? Isn’t that a bit strange? So even today it is often called the holy grail of jazz accordions, there was actually never a famous jazz accordionist that played a SS4. It was only Ernie Felice lending his name for the product in what feels today like a successful marketing campaign of that time, right?

Some years ago I noticed that too, that in early videos of Ernie playing he had more switches, and also his keyboard went up to B instead of up to A in some appearances. However he did not use all those switches, just as most jazz players with a 3 or 4 reed model only play bassoon. For Ernie the most frequent switch was clarinet. Art Van Damme used to remove the reeds he did not play, as did many jazz players on gigs, if they would play standing. So it would make sense that guys like Art and Ernie would want special accordions, optimized for what they really used.

I don't know that the SS4 was commissioned BY Ernie, as in Ernie having the idea and asking for it, but surely at least the idea was offered to him and made to his specifications and preferences.

Footages of Ernie are very limited and hard to find, and the accordions he owned/played are not documented. So we can't say that the SS4 itself would not have been played by him.

 

[pitzelberger]

perhaps mostly because you are applying modern thought
rather than considering the times

Right, I wasn’t even born at that time and can only interpret it with my modern mindset. But nevertheless, to me it feels like the accordion industry was quite good in marketing back then, not just Sonola.

Footages of Ernie are very limited and hard to find, and the accordions he owned/played are not documented. So we can't say that the SS4 itself would not have been played by him.

Right, it would be interesting to know whether he ever played a SS4. At least there is no footage I know.

Also it would be interesting to know how different the sound between an SS4 and SS6 is. Actually, if I play block cords on the M register on my SS4, it sounds quite like the accordion in his recordings.

the proof of this is simply that it is so difficult to find a classic sonola
over here that is still playable.. most of them were worn the hell out !

how many accordions have you even seen in your life that actually got
played to death ? rather than died from neglect and improper storage

So I guess I can call myself lucky, that the one I own was more of of the latter case when I got it: not played to death, but a musty smell and a bit of rust on the reeds.