Vile Toxic Fumes-New Beltuna Bellows

[OuijaBoard]

During the pandemic lockdowns I self-medicated with a couple of accordion acquisitions including a small new Beltuna PA, one of the models with the beautiful wood staining done with a high-gloss finish. Aside from having the single loudest, most rackety-clattery keyboard I have ever encountered including stuff out of China and Eastern Europe, it's pretty delightful.

However, from the day I took it out of the packaging a couple of years ago to the present, the instrument exudes vile, toxic-smelling fumes I have never encountered in a new accordion. I actually haven't played as much as I'd like due to this. For a long time I thought it was whatever compound they used on the gloss finish. But this weekend I realized that the wood chassis is almost odorless. This effluvia is coming from the bellows. I have taken delivery of brand-new accordions ranging from Asian-made Hohner CBAs to primo Castagnari and Saltarelle bisonorics, and have never been exposed to anything even approaching this.

What could this be? Would it be, glue? Or something that was sprayed onto the new bellows? I'm worried about negative health effects. Since identifying the locus of the issue, I've left the instrument sitting out with the bellows spread, hoping that might air it out. But I'm worried about the chemical nature of whatever substance is involved.

 

[Ventura]

a new Beltuna would have had a very limited path of existence
and therefore it is only logical for you to pursue these issues first,
either with the dealer you purchased it from
or
Beltuna, if you purchased it directly
and Covid being much younger than the warranty,
it would be covered both for the clackety keys as well as the toxicity,

other that that, it would not be new, in which case who knows
what kind of travels and or care it had from people other than Beltuna,
which means it could be anything, or even a fake smuggled into the
country hidden in a used Strontium 90 nuclear waste steel barrel

 

[OuijaBoard]

Ha, I know you're kidding, but OMG! Actually, as I've belatedly realized, the issue is localized to the bellows--I think the nuclear waste barrel theory flies only if the whole instrument was permeated. It was brand-new with Beltuna case from a dealer, among a fresh batch they had gotten in and posted at once--they seem to get a batch in various sizes and configs from Beltuna every 2/3 years. At first I just assumed it was the high-gloss French-polish finish, never had that before on an accordion. I assumed it was right off the bench and would fade as with furniture, or even high-gloss mandolins or guitars. Well, it's lessened somewhat, but still discernible when I'm playing, and at last it dawned on me that it's coming from the bellows, not the finish on the chassis.

 

[Ventura]

trenched cardboard is somewhat resistant to sucking up fumes or smells,
and i would assume Beltuna does not skimp on bellows, and that they are
lined so even less square inches that would be porous

if you can have the dealer sniff and verify, then i would expect
Beltuna to send you a replacement bellows under warranty without argument

i would send an audio file of the clackety keys directly to Beltuna and
simply ask them if they would like to do something to improve this
or would they prefer you to post You Tube video's featuring the noise

 

[OuijaBoard]

Okay, I've brought it into very bright sunlight to investigate further. I dunno, maybe it is spray paint. The bellows a creme-colored. Not sure what the thin faux linen is called that goes over the cardboard. It's creme, like, unbleached-muslin colored, which goes nicely with the stain, which is a tobacco sunrise, like on a guitar-ish. I'm pretty sure that creme linen is not painted on there---how could they get it so even.

But on the black bellows tape, on the outer edge of every fold is a strip of creme, placed on each one so that when they are together and the bellows are closed, it makes a design, and looks like a spectrum when the bellows fan out. Perhaps that stripe on the bellow tape is spray paint. The fumes are on the whole bellows front and back and those stripes are not on the back. But the fumes are strongest on the front where the stripes are. Well . . . I think. Really, there's fumes around the whole bellows.

Unless it's not paint, but somebody sprayed the entire bellows with something clear. Maybe it's a pesticide. I wonder if accordion bellows get chewed on in transit and that's what it is. But, it smells more like turpentine, for God's sake. I can't believe I didn't investigate this more aggressively sooner. I'd just play it for 20 minutes or so and put it back in the case due to the fumes, but thinking the high-gloss finish was still too new and it would be okay after a while.

 

[Dingo40]

Keep it out of the box in a warmish, well ventilated place for a while?
The open box tool!

 

[Dingo40]

the issue is localized to the bellows-

It sounds to me as if "Beltuna" were experimenting with a new bellows adhesive containing an unknown solvent .
Given sufficient time and ventilation the issue will probably resolve by itself

 

[jozz]

put some baking soda next to it?

 

[OuijaBoard]

Exposure to solvents has been correlated with some hideous fatal diseases. I put it outside on the porch in my fenced yard yesterday resting on some stuff with the bellows extended. When you step outside onto the porch you smell it imnediately. Like paint thinner or turpentine, or Killz primer, someing that is or should be illegal to blow into your face out of a musical instrument.

 

[SteveBox]

Have you tried sending an email to Beltuna to explain your problem? This doesn't sound normal, as any solvent residues should have evaporated long ago. If the bellows is the problem, Beltuna should provide you with a new bellows.

If you want to continue airing it out, I think you would get better results removing the bellows from the accordion. Stretch it out and put it in a well-ventilated place with a fan blowing on it. Leave it there for a few weeks.

This reminds me of some neoprene accordion straps I bought last year. They had a rubber odor that I could not stand, but I aired them out for a couple of months, and the odor went away.

 

[OuijaBoard]

It's been sitting out overnight and the smell is not as strong as last night, at least in the air if you're standing on the porch near where it is. But if your head is close to the open bellows it is still very present, and almost retch-inducing. After handling the bellows to extend it when I set it out, the smell was on my hands.

I'm now dithering over whether it makes more sense to simply try to have the bellows replaced on my own dime by someone on the US West Coast vaguely within reach of me, rather than ship it across the country to the dealer and from there overseas, and deal with possible back-and-forth gaslighting by the dealer or the builder.

An unpleasant memory has surfaced today of a cheapo unisonoric concertina I bought about 12 years ago--I already played bisonoric and wanted to try out unisonoric and got a cheap China-made one to learn the notes while deciding on whether to go vintage or new when investing in something better. And the thing arrived with terrifying solvent fumes emanating from guess where, the bellows. I left it out for ages and the fumes never vanished. I literally ended up throwing it in the trash because I did not want it on my conscience to give something that toxic away to a kid or or Goodwill.

I totally forgot about that experience when contending with this accordion. In this instance I was misled because of its high-gloss wood finish. I honestly assumed that was the problem and expected it to fade in time as with guitars or mandolins. Recalling the toxic Chinese concertina bellows makes me wonder about who the hell made and attached these Beltuna PA bellows. It is an expensive, high-end small PA with a signed and numbered label and serial, the whole shebang. Disgusting. Whatever it is, it's not visible. Everything looks normal. A glue, a finishing spray, I dunno. But it's vile. Like breathing shellaq.

 

[JerryPH]

Can you post a pic of it? While there, just pull out the pins (or some Beltunas have screws), and hang it up by itself that way you can tell if it is just the bellows or something inside the accordion or air out the inside and outside of the bellows at the same time?

I'll really reach out here, so don't beat me up too much... is it possible that you have an Asian copy? I know that it is always possible that even the most prestigious manufacturers make mistakes, but its not that often, especially nowadays.

 

[Dingo40]

Recalling the toxic Chinese concertina bellows makes me wonder about who the hell made and attached these Beltuna PA bellows.

Reminds me of a couple of incidents here in Oz where some paramedics and (separately) some firefighters were supplied with new uniforms from China.
In both cases, the recipients suffered from severe contact dermatitis due to something in the fabric

 

[Ventura]

yeah the clackety keyboard screamed "fake beltuna" to me,
but he doesn't want to invoke Warranty, partly because apparently
his dealer is far far away, so we will likely never know.

all we really can infer for certain is that be obviously bought it sight unseen..
he implicitly trusted the dealer for those many thousands of dollars, but
does not trust him not to gaslight him (?) over a warranty issue.

i can say for certain that if a legit Dealer for Beltuna, Serenellini, or
FisItalia contacted the Factory and said "hey, these bellows are defective
and need replaced" those 3 for sure will just up and send a fresh bellows
to the dealer for installation.. absolutely.. not a problem.. they have the specs and size

Probably Bugari and Vic and Pigini and the other majors would do the same, but
i can't personally vouch for them

 

[OuijaBoard]

Re Warranty: It's distance, plus it's been like 4 years, see below.

]]]Can you post a pic of it? While there, just pull out the pins (or some Beltunas have screws), and hang it up by itself that way you can tell if it is just the bellows or something inside the accordion or air out the inside and outside of the bellows at the same time?[[[

I can link the sale posting showing a photo of this literal very box. I could also take a pic of it now, would have to do that tomorrow as I won't be home today until very late. But again, there is nothing "off" looking about the box or the bellows. I don't think I want to disassemble it myself. But you make a good point questioning whether the fumes just seem linked to the bellows but are actually coming from the inside. I think I want a tech to undo it rather than me "trying this at home."

Perusing my email files, I see I did not purchase it during the pandemic--it was spring of 2019. So that's 4-ish years and the fumes are still on the thing. I haven't played it much because after 20 minutes or so I'd get a headache and feel nauseous, and put it away. I had decided I'd like to acquire a couple of small, nice Italian PAs in MM and LMM, and this Beltuna was the 2-voice. I later added a small 3-voice Ottavianelli. It was brand-new and from the start, completely devoid of creepy fumes, and almost odorless, period.

This is it. I paid around $3K through Reverb after some offer back-and-forth. The video demo with the post shows a date 7 years ago so that must have been a earlier twin of this one. These really small ones they only get in every 3 years or so.

NEW Sunburst Beltuna Studio II Piano Accordion MM 26 60 | Reverb

Type: Piano Accordion Reeds: 2/4 MM Treble: 26 Keys, 12"(30.5cm) Key to Key, 3 Registers Bass: 60 Bass Buttons, 0 Registers Weight: 14lbs / 6.5kg Features: Lightweight, Italian Musette, switch between M and MM

reverb.com

 

[Ventura]

i didn't even realise people sell new stuff through Reverb,
i only knew it as an online version of a music-go-round when it began and
have never really paid much attention to it since

 

[OuijaBoard]

]]]I'll really reach out here, so don't beat me up too much... is it possible that you have an Asian copy? I know that it is always possible that even the most prestigious manufacturers make mistakes, but its not that often, especially nowadays.[[[

I can barely stand to contemplate that because I've purchased from this dealer before with no problem. They overcharge to a degree but so does everybody in the accordion world these days it seems, and I've never had a problem otherwise. And they get their Beltuna stock in influxes of batches of lovely accordion porn, every few/couple years.

However. It's odd that you bring up the China-ringer theory. Because I have a shaggy dog story about my first attempt at acquiring a nice Italian 2-voice 26 key PA. It was a year and a half or so before this Beltuna. That instrument was stolen in a car break-in where I stupidly left it after a rehearsal, in my car at an indoor pay security garage, while going to a play in someone else's car.

But it was ill-starred in other ways. It was a Bugari, or represented as such. I purchased it from a totally different dealer, a small outfit in the midwest that deals mostly pricey, high-end Italian-made diatonics marketed to Tex-Mex players. Reverb had a Bugari "Junior" PA listed with them, and I bought it. It arrived with the Bugari maker plaque and case, and the Castelfidardo stamp and all that.

When the instrument arrived, multiple keys were sticking. I mean, literally sticking. Like, gummy. My tech sent me photos--somebody had smeared a lubricant on the mechanism for every key. The dealer did the gaslight thing. First they gaslighted me. Then when I sent the photos, they literally wrote, "Oh, that is how Bugari does it at the factory." So I wrote it off and paid my tech $250.00 to clean the damn thing. It was on the bass mechanism too.

Well, my tech expressed skepticism as to whether this box was really Italian-made. In addition to the mechanism, he said the wood pieces lining the celluloid inside were broken patchwork rather than nice fitted single pieces. He said to him that kind of work looked like what he saw in Chinese instruments. I'll never know. At the time I wondered if it was a return that somebody had smeared the lubricant in, and the dealer passed it off to me as new. I paid to have the mechanism cleaned, played it at a few dances and festivals, and then the thing got stolen.

However, I do see in interior photos for Bugaris currently being psted at yet a completely different dealer I've never interacted with in any way, that the interior wood liner pieces are very nicely fitted. With one exception. In the photos for the only 26-key, one listed a few months ago, the wood pieces were kind of smashed/broken, and put in patchwork, kind of skeezy and rough looking. And there was a gauge in one internal corner of the celluloid.

So, whether this suggests Asian involvement in the production of the smallest boxes, or just less care given by Italian makers to craftsmanship on their smallest boxes I couldn't say. It was listed with TAM reeds and certainly wasn't cheap. But the internal craftwork shown in the photos wasn't nice at all. And that is what my tech said about the work inside the ill-fated putative Bugari that I purchased.

 

[OuijaBoard]

Here is the alleged Bugari from my story above. I think I paid a couple hundred below the list price after an offer thing. This is the instrument that arrived with grease all over the mechanism, and my tech thought was Chinese made:

Bugari Junior model 2018 | Reverb

Brand new Bugari accordion26/48 bass Hard case straps

reverb.com

 

[John Doe]

This is it. I paid around $3K through Reverb after some offer back-and-forth. The video demo with the post shows a date 7 years ago so that must have been a earlier twin of this one. These really small ones they only get in every 3 years or so.

To clarify; is your accordion- the one with the bellows you find objectionable- from this dealer ? Or did you merely link to a demo of a similar model there?

 

[OuijaBoard]

]]]To clarify; is your accordion- the one with the bellows you find objectionable- from this dealer <Liberty Bellows>? Or did you merely link to a demo of a similar model there?[[[

The Reverb listing I linked to is literally the instrument I purchased in 2019. In my original post here I thought it was during the pandemic but it was the previous year. Yes, that is the very box. The youtube demo video with that listing says that video was posted on youtube 7 years ago, so perhaps the box in the video demo was a prior twin of mine. But yes, I purchased the actual box that is in the Reverb listing I posted.

I have purchased more than one instrument from them and have never had any issue. Including a purchase after this one, a purchase I'm fine with. I'm not saying I think this dealer created the problem with the instrument. I'd find it hard to believe that if even if the instrument was a Chinese "ringer," that this particular dealer would have been aware of it--that would be hard for me to believe of this particular business. (I can't say that of the dealer involved in the incident I described above with a supposed Bugari.)

I will say that helpful discussion here, along with my recollection of issues with other purchases (that were not from this dealer), does now have me wondering about what goes on with production of Italian accordions. Particularly the smaller ones. Or, their components. I have no clue what Eurozone or Italian law requires in order for an instrument to be represented as made in Italy. I know they tightened the parameters, but I'm in the dark beyond that. This all has me wondering if perhaps bellows can be subbed out and produced elsewhere, and it's still legally an accordion made in Italy. The noxious bellows on the cheap Asian concertina I described above, smelled like a solvent that should not be legal in Europe or the US for use in this context. The fumes coming from the bellows on this little PA are reminiscent of that.

I didn't originally start this thread as a "strategy." I first wondered if anyone would pop up saying they experienced something similar with bellows, or that bellows are treated with this or that. I feel inhibited about trying to pursue the issue at this geographic distance, and after four years. The problem has existed since I took delivery and opened the case. But I misdiagnosed the problem and thought it was the high-gloss finish on the stained wood chassis, and the fumes would fade as that does with new guitars or mandolins. It only occurred to me this last weekend to wonder why the hell the problem was still there, and take a good whiff of the wood chassis only to realize for the first time that the fumes were not from the gloss finish on the wood body.