What i thisnk are tge best accordions makes and models.

[JerryPH]

I don't know if I've ever even played a top-end accordion like the ones discussed on this forum. I might go "meh" and I might think "whoa, I've been missing out!".

Totally! There are several higher end accordions that I played and kind of enjoyed (a true "meh" moment for me), but didn't even feel like playing a song on them (Dallapé SuperMaestro was my "meh" accordion) and others where I did not want to put them down!

The day I just started playing other accordions, I could tell by tone, feel and ergonomics which I liked. No surprise, I really enjoyed the higher end accordions... just not all of them. My body/mind just either responded to the box, or not.

When you first start this, you like any accordion that has certain traits, but as you continue to "experiment" you get a strong feel for your personal preferences real fast.

That said, I know of several people that don't really care what they play, as long as it makes a noise. Give them a Gola or chinese Bravo, they are happy either way. I wish I was one of those people, my wallet would be a bit fatter... lol

 

[Ventura]

Is this the one we’re talking about?

that's a good candidate

 

[JerryPH]

@Ventura - Siwa & Figli like using the 'billiard cue' style reed blocks too. Enjoy!

Something that screams a desire to work harder and look a little different/better even if the sound is top notch with or without those little touches!

 

[debra]

Actually... I believe that the reed maker Bugari and the accordion maker Bugari are not necessarily the same company.

They are totally unrelated afaik. The Bugari reed maker stopped several (at least 4) decades ago.
I have seen Bugari reeds in old Crucianelli accordions and in the Hohner Morino M and N series.
I have not seen it but also some Weltmeister Supita accordions supposedly came with Bugari reeds.
I have never seen an Armando Bugari accordion with Bugari reeds.

 

[JerryPH]

They are totally unrelated afaik. The Bugari reed maker stopped several (at least 4) decades ago.
I have seen Bugari reeds in old Crucianelli accordions and in the Hohner Morino M and N series.
I have not seen it but also some Weltmeister Supita accordions supposedly came with Bugari reeds.
I have never seen an Armando Bugari accordion with Bugari reeds.

Thanks for the confirmation. There was also a couple years where there were some Gola made with Bugari reeds (I believe in the early 90's... easy to spot, they had the word Bugari stamped on them... lol

 

[debra]

Thanks for the confirmation. There was also a couple years where there were some Gola made with Bugari reeds (I believe in the early 90's... easy to spot, they had the word Bugari stamped on them... lol

Yes, some Bugari reeds have the word Bugari stamped on them. But some manufacturers put these reed plates on backwards so the name would not show. I only discovered that my Crucianelli had Bugari reeds when I did a full rewax and noticed the word on the back of some reeds (and the diagonal stripe).
I doubt the Golas you saw were from the early 90's. Hohner started the Morino S series in 1983 and the Bugari reeds were no longer available by then. (They put Cagnoni reeds in the Morino S instead.)

 

[dak]

Yes, some Bugari reeds have the word Bugari stamped on them. But some manufacturers put these reed plates on backwards so the name would not show. I only discovered that my Crucianelli had Bugari reeds when I did a full rewax and noticed the word on the back of some reeds (and the diagonal stripe).
I doubt the Golas you saw were from the early 90's. Hohner started the Morino S series in 1983 and the Bugari reeds were no longer available by then. (They put Cagnoni reeds in the Morino S instead.)

I've heard it rumored that Giovanni Gola left a huge cache of prepared (selected and treated) reed sets at his retirement, so that there was a certain number of years where "Gola" still implied work (and possibly stealth sources) from him, and at the start of that time even an occasional Morino de Luxe might benefit. As myths would have it they also benefitted quite a bit during his active time since Gola hand-selected each reed set from the reed plates of three complete reed sets, and the "leftovers" then went into "lesser" instruments ordered with a mano reeds.

Obviously such myths are worth their weight in gold for anyone wanting to sell such an instrument (and make for nice story-telling), so one has to be rather skeptical about their veracity. But I think it is at least somewhat accurate that in Gola's active time he had rather flexible limits in how much effort he was allowed to put in the instruments. It is also pretty sure that after his retirement, a certain amount of careful corner-cutting set in.

 

[JerryPH]

I doubt the Golas you saw were from the early 90's. Hohner started the Morino S series in 1983 and the Bugari reeds were no longer available by then. (They put Cagnoni reeds in the Morino S instead.)

For that I can only go by what the Gola owner told me and the pic he showed me with the Bugari stamp.

 

[murathan]

The best accordion is what you could own with your budget

 

[dak]

The best accordion is what you could own with your budget

Or with your skills.

 

[breezybellows]

Some chutzpah alright, mentioning Bravo and Gola in one breath as "highly regarded" and claiming their high regard in diatonic accordion circles (there are no diatonic models of either).

Frankly, this looks to me like someone tried out what ChatGPT or similar would produce from a suitable prompt, incompletely digesting the marketing blurb from some company websites and coming up with a confused mashup of soundbites.

That's a huge compliment for bravo and an embarrassment for the Gola. Definitely looks like AI generated.

 

[craigd]

that's a good candidate

Is that the feather motif you referred to? I've never seen it that way, but perhaps...
Definitely distinctive. I've got just that accordion, sporting some battle scars and "two deer" straps. Looks real pretty in that picture.

 

[murathan]

Best accordion is a working accordion

 

[dak]

Best accordion is a working accordion

I want to play it, not marry it.

 

[JerryPH]

I've heard it rumored that Giovanni Gola left a huge cache of prepared (selected and treated) reed sets at his retirement, so that there was a certain number of years where "Gola" still implied work (and possibly stealth sources) from him,

Obviously such myths are worth their weight in gold for anyone wanting to sell such an instrument (and make for nice story-telling), so one has to be rather skeptical about their veracity.

That “myth” was repeated to me twice, by Ralph Tritcher at Hohner and the head Gola tech who both agreed that my Gola was one of the last few Golas to use the reeds that Giovanni Gola himself hand-picked before he left. I asked to have that placed on the certificate or on an official paper but was denied. I have no proof or provenance to be able to prove or disprove this other than what I was told at Hohner Trossingen personally.