Weltmeister 48 perle review

[J P Duffy]

Hi ive been playing piano accordion almost 9 years and do regular busking. Im not a musician that can play 600 or more tunes so im not an advanced player. I have an hours repertoire and play basic tunes by ear and compose.
I downsized from an expensive italian accordion to a weltmeister perle cause its very robust, not too valuable and lightweight.
However the reedblocks arent wooden but i think are plastic but overall a better box for busking.
Doesnt matter what level player you are as long as you find busking fun. How ever busking with an accordion is always marginal.

 

[Pipemajor]

er perle cause its very robust, not too valuable and lightweight.
However the reedblocks arent wooden but i think are plastic but overall a better box for busking.
Doesnt matter what level player you are as long as you find busking fun. How ever busking with an accordion is always marginal.

Hi JP, welcome to the club. You'll find many like minded folk here, all ready to give you advice, even if you don't want it

 

[Corinto]

¡Also like my Weltmeister!

 

[Tom]

Welcome J P! Glad you're liking the accordions and busking. Where are you? I'm interested to hear more about your busking. Are you in a city where busking is popular?

 

[cat]

"How ever busking with an accordion is always marginal."

Curious, what you mean here.

 

[jozz]

yes and the bonus question:

• does the Perle generate more coins than the Italiano?

 

[Sebastian Bravo]

"How ever busking with an accordion is always marginal."

Curious, what you mean here.

I got curious too with that sentence. Marginal in my country means poor, low life.

yes and the bonus question:

• does the Perle generate more coins than the Italiano?

In my case, I can compare my Hohner Concerto III that I used for busking in the subway, with a Hohner Gola from a client that I had once. Using the CIII generated me arround $5.000 CLP (playing La Foule and Por Una Cabeza, then asking for money and then taking the next train, repeating the show)
When i took the Gola back to it's owner, I played it in the subway, while traveling to his house. With it's powerful sound, generated $18.000 CLP in my first show (playing the songs mentioned before). It was amazing... and the loud sound of the accordion also helped getting more people getting disconnected from their phones and paying attention to my show.

I would always reccomend busking with a seat. Playing the accordion while standing kills your body, even with a smaller instrument. Good body position and instrument, can give you long hours of busking without getting as tired as you would be if standing. 37/96 is the best busking box.

I can only reccomend a Hohner Lucia IVP for busking. It's loud and lightweight despite being a 4 reed box.

 

[Tom]

Thanks for the interesting story and advice, Sebastian. I suspect that by marginal, he means you don't make much money at busking.

 

[J P Duffy]

I got curious too with that sentence. Marginal in my country means poor, low life.



In my case, I can compare my Hohner Concerto III that I used for busking in the subway, with a Hohner Gola from a client that I had once. Using the CIII generated me arround $5.000 CLP (playing La Foule and Por Una Cabeza, then asking for money and then taking the next train, repeating the show)
When i took the Gola back to it's owner, I played it in the subway, while traveling to his house. With it's powerful sound, generated $18.000 CLP in my first show (playing the songs mentioned before). It was amazing... and the loud sound of the accordion also helped getting more people getting disconnected from their phones and paying attention to my show.

I would always reccomend busking with a seat. Playing the accordion while standing kills your body, even with a smaller instrument. Good body position and instrument, can give you long hours of busking without getting as tired as you would be if standing. 37/96 is the best busking box.

I can only reccomend a Hohner Lucia IVP for busking. It's loud and lightweight despite being a 4 reed box.

Thanks for the advice regarding busking. I usually stand while busking, but may try sitting in future. Marginal means not too lucrative. Its good fun though. Few accordion players can survive busking. So you must be professional then. All the best.

 

[cat]

Gotcha. Busking is generally a "marginal" business. However I was curious as it sounded to me as if the distinction was - between accordion and other instruments. (In my experience, busing with an accordion is advantageous, compared with other instruments I play.)

 

[J P Duffy]

yes and the bonus question:

• does the Perle generate more coins than the Italiano?

Yes its better as its not worth busking with an expensive instrument as people begrudge giving otherwise. You need a quality but cheaper accordion which is why i play a perle.
I also play harmonica but accordion is slightly more lucrative. Xmas is the better time of year.

Best of luck

 

[J P Duffy]

Welcome J P! Glad you're liking the accordions and busking. Where are you? I'm interested to hear more about your busking. Are you in a city where busking is popular?

Hi im in herts, beds and bucks. England about an hour north of london. Good busking area. Busking when theres not too much competition. Cities like london and oxford are usually not good for busking so i usually busk in market towns.
How about yourself what do you play?
I could do with busking a new area as after so long people get board of me so it affects your earnings. Ive busked in the same area since i started almost 9 years ago.

 

[Tom]

Hi im in herts, beds and bucks. England about an hour north of london. Good busking area. Busking when theres not too much competition. Cities like london and oxford are usually not good for busking so i usually busk in market towns.
How about yourself what do you play?
I could do with busking a new area as after so long people get board of me so it affects your earnings. Ive busked in the same area since i started almost 9 years ago.

Hi JP, I play mostly folk and traditional music, polkas and Italian too. Where I am in the USA busking is not at all common. Shop owners would frown upon someone busking in the streets because it is considered barely above begging (even though it is clearly not.) Almost all public playing is organized. Sort of a shame, really.

 

[J P Duffy]

Hi tom busking aint for everyone. Here in the uk its the same. Are you a live player then. Busking does improve your playing quickly. Its just a hobby for me or a breadline occupation if one day i become homeless.
Apart from busking, live shows aren't for me.

 

[JeffJetton]

Where I am in the USA busking is not at all common. Shop owners would frown upon someone busking in the streets

Although that's not the case is some other places. Boston/Cambridge, MA and Boulder, CO are a couple of places where I've seen some world-class street performers (and where they tend to be pretty organized about it too, I believe).

Here in Nashville we get a little bit of it, and no one really minds. Although unfortunatly the downtown bars are so loud these days they tend to drown the buskers out.

 

[Corinto]

Busking does improve your playing quickly. Its just a hobby for me or a breadline occupation if one day i become homeless. Apart from busking, live shows aren't for me.

Yes, I fully agree! Similar situation here, but I must change location almost daily, and yes, Christmas is the best season!

 

[Tom]

Hi tom busking aint for everyone. Here in the uk its the same. Are you a live player then. Busking does improve your playing quickly. Its just a hobby for me or a breadline occupation if one day i become homeless.
Apart from busking, live shows aren't for me.

Hi JP,

I pretty much just volunteer now, 1 day per month, solo accordion, at a day center for disabled adults. I used to volunteer 3 or 4 times per month before covid. Played in other bands, a few restaurants and bars, community events, etc. but now just with friends, at home. I'd like to get out more, but with covid it's not worth it. I wouldn't mind busking but I'd have to go to a bigger city like Jeff says.

 

[Valski]

I don't busk per se, for a couple of reasons. The first is that I don't need the money and secondly here in the Toronto area you need a permit which is too much of a bother for me. You can however play in public as long as you're not soliciting payment and you aren't disturbing others by playing too loudly.
I still get a lot of attention and practice when doing so and it has resulted in bookings for paying gigs which suits me. Most of all I play for enjoyment and with Covid restrictions there have been fewer opportunities.

 

[J P Duffy]

Hi JP,

I pretty much just volunteer now, 1 day per month, solo accordion, at a day center for disabled adults. I used to volunteer 3 or 4 times per month before covid. Played in other bands, a few restaurants and bars, community events, etc. but now just with friends, at home. I'd like to get out more, but with covid it's not worth it. I wouldn't mind busking but I'd have to go to a bigger city like Jeff says.

Hi tom,

Its good your giving back to the community by entertaining disabled adults. Id like to play piano accordion in cafes and restaurants but haven't had an opportunity. Its a bit difficult cause i dont drive. Plus i need a bigger repertoire.maybe 2 hours worth. I currently have an hours set list. I compose a bit which is cool.so i will have to work harder.

 

[Valski]

Hi tom,

Its good your giving back to the community by entertaining disabled adults. Id like to play piano accordion in cafes and restaurants but haven't had an opportunity. Its a bit difficult cause i dont drive. Plus i need a bigger repertoire.maybe 2 hours worth. I currently have an hours set list. I compose a bit which is cool.so i will have to work harder.

Hi JP,

Busking is by it's nature for people who are passing by. Most won't stay for more than a few minutes so I'm not sure why you would need a two hour repertoire. If you have a dozen songs that's already more than one half hour of entertainment so most people won't hear the same song more than once because let's estimate 3 minutes per song, do you expect most people to linger for more than ten or fifteen minutes? The biggest issue might be that you'll find playing that song lists over and over boring, but you will most definitely get better because playing those same songs many times and you can slowly add to your song list.

People want you to play songs that they know, they probably won't remember that you played that song twenty minutes before. You're not giving a concert where people have paid a lot for admission, even in those situations it's unlikely that the performance would last for two hours. Relax, go out and play but have fun doing so because it really shows and as your playing improves so will your earnings.