What is this magnificent accordion played by Olivia Steimel?

[accordionista]

I came across Olivia's wonderful playing in another thread on this forum, and I'm amazed by the number of left-hand buttons on her accordion! Does anyone know more about her accordion's model or button layout? It appears to have two groupings of left-hand buttons, with a thin vertical divide between the two groupings.

 

[Squeezebox Of Delights]

It's a Hohner I think, though the model name escapes me. A Gola or Morino? The two sets of bass buttons include a standard - albeit squared off - Stradella bass, along with an extra set of chromatic freebass buttons. I've never encountered one of these boxes in the wild, but I can only begin to imagine how heavy they must be! I believe the thin vertical divide is actually caused by the freebass buttons being raised slightly, so they can be distinguished from the Stradella ones.

 

[Walker]

Now what we have here, good citizens of the Accordionists Forum is an instrument called a Hohner Gola. It will be either a 454 or a 459 model with MIII free bass. They are some of the greatest accordions in all of creation, alongside the occasional vintage Scandalli Super VI and 1960s Victoria Converters.

By the way, what a player too, the very essence of musicality. They teach 'em well in Germany!

 

[JerryPH]

That... is what some consider the king of accordions... a Hohner Gola, except hers is not the base model of a Gola 414, hers is a (I confirmed it), model 454, meaning it is a 4/5 reed, 185 bass accordion. The right hand has a 45 key extended keyboard at the right hand and a 126 bass standard stradella system and a 58 note MIII (3 extra rows up top), system Free Bass in C-Griff.

There was one model above this one, a 459, same accordion basically except it is a 5/5 reed setup.

Every Gola is commissioned, you pay in full and wait anywhere from 1-2 years for it. Be prepared to pay big money. New Golas today fetch an unreasonable $60,000 US starting point and move up from there. Yeah, nothing short of ridculous.

I own the model under that one, a Hohner Morino VI N (45 keys extended RH keyboard, 5/5 reeds, 185 bass MIII system)

 

[Walker]

That... is what some consider the king of accordions... a Hohner Gola, except hers is not the base model of a Gola 414, hers is a (I confirmed it), model 454, meaning it is a 4/5 reed, 185 bass accordion. The right hand has a 45 key extended keyboard at the right hand and a 126 bass standard stradella system and a 58 note MIII (3 extra rows up top), system Free Bass in C-Griff.

There was one model anove this one, a model 459, same accordion basically except it is a 5/5 reed setup.

Every Gola is commissioned, you pay in full and wait anywhere from 1-2 years for it. Be prepared to pay big money. New Golas today fetch an unreasonable $60,000 US starting point and move up from there. Yeah, nothing short of ridculous.

Every time I listen to a recording like this, it reminds me what an inferior product the modern accordion is. Most new accordions can't sit next to the likes of this.

 

[JerryPH]

Well, honestly, I'd kind of balance it a little differently... 75% the player and 25% the accordion... and you KNOW how I feel about Golas... lol

 

[OuijaBoard]

A used Gola 454 is currently listed at $45,000.00 on Reverb by a German music store that sells new and restored used accordions among other instruments. The posting date for the listing is four years ago. No age or production year is noted. The one-word condition rating is "Mint," but the description text says "very good." An instrument of this type would not be remotely in my aspirational paradigm of a playing and interacting experience with an accordion or any instrument. But for a musician whose aspirational dream would match up with this, how would one even begin to vet such a purchase, or locate a credible 3rd-party expert to do so. I suppose a Euro-based buyer could bring a specialist contractor with them when going in person to play it.

 

[OuijaBoard]

I have and enjoy an all Scarlatti CD by accordionist Mie Miki. Never searched for what she plays, but I see from photos it seems to be a Gola of some variant.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JLwyCFYufQ8/hqdefault.jpg

 

[JerryPH]

A used Gola 454 is currently listed at $45,000.00 on Reverb by a German music store that sells new and restored used accordions among other instruments. The posting date for the listing is four years ago. No age or production year is noted. The one-word condition rating is "Mint," but the description text says "very good."

Yeah, I spoke to the owner about 4 hours after it was posted on Reverb… it was already sold… lol

 

[JerryPH]

I have and enjoy an all Scarlatti CD by accordionist Mie Miki. Never searched for what she plays, but I see from photos it seems to be a Gola of some variant.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JLwyCFYufQ8/hqdefault.jpg

I don’t know now, but yes she used to play on a Gola 454 too!

 

[OuijaBoard]

Yeah, I spoke to the owner about 4 hours after it was posted on Reverb… it was already sold… lol

Really? Something must be awry with Reverb, because I'm getting it as an active listing. Just double checked and on Reverb for me it shows as live, not "Ended."

 

[JerryPH]

ah, the error was not Reverb or you, it was me, I was looking for specifically an MIII Free Bass Gola. Yeah, I am aware of these Golas (1 converter and a few non-free bass models... not really interested in those), so my search parameters were different.

I find the prices of this dealer right at the bleeding edge and no real value.

 

[accordionista]

Wow. Thank you for the identification help everyone. Now that you've given me a name, I've been looking for and watching all the Gola videos and performances I can find, and it really seems like as magnificent of an instrument as it looks like.

One question though, coming from someone who has never played free-bass (maybe someday!) - with the Gola only having three rows dedicated to free-bass, wouldn't that give it a big disadvantage in terms of possible alternate fingerings, compared to the usual c/b griff layout with duplicated buttons for notes?

 

[JerryPH]

Depends on how talented one is. Steimel didn't seem to have any issues... lol

Kidding aside, yes it is possible but it all depends on how far you want to take it.

 

[Walker]

compared to the usual c/b griff layout with duplicated buttons for notes?

Ah well, the c & b converters over 4 rows are good systems. There are many fine players. Viviane Chassot and Fanny Vicens are great exponents of the instrument.

Now Miss Steimel, comes from a tradition of music where the MIII system is highly prized. Hohner created the system nearly a century ago. It is a different tradition from the button accordion with converter and in my opinion should be appreciated on it's own merits. Also see Stefan Hussong and Mie Miki, they are great.

Basically a chromatic converter with free bass over 4 rows has 1 extra row of notes compared to an MIII. The outermost row on a chromatic converter is repeated on row 4. Thus, one-third of all notes are repeated... it may help, but it's not a massive revolution in accordion design.

Now, for what it's worth, if you really want a system with lots of repeated notes you are looking in entirely the wrong place. The accordion in your neck of the woods, known as Palmer-Hughes Converter (Quint system) has every free bass note repeated at least 3 times (just like stradella bass). Great exponents include Riccardo Centazzo, Ivano Battiston, Richard Galliano and Grayson Masefield.

I have discovered over the years that accordion enthusiasts tend to be all about the systems. I have also noticed that great musicians are almost always more concerned about making music.

My 2 cents.​

 

[saundersbp]

I have discovered over the years that accordion enthusiasts tend to be all about the systems. I have also noticed that great musicians are almost always more concerned about making music.

Very true, but it does present problems for teachers, learning materials and affordability of a set of instruments to suit the growing child!

 

[Walker]

Very true, but it does present problems for teachers, learning materials and affordability of a set of instruments to suit the growing child!

A valid point.

 

[Ffingers]

Very true, but it does present problems for teachers, learning materials and affordability of a set of instruments to suit the growing child!

My experiences with teachers:

For ab initio students, especially younger ones, the instructor who determinedly struggled to master the skill is usually a better teacher; the natural achievers who applied their talent fastidiously make the better master-class tutor.

My first flying instructor was a natural but had a blind spot for others' difficulties whereas the one who had twice been re-coursed in his own training was able to appreciate the problems which many student pilots had with the unnatural environment of aviation.

I have encountered similar cases in a variety of circumstances.

As a once-upon-a-time instructor I also found that with some students it was inadvisable to proceed too slowly else they become indolent and even bored when insufficiently challenged.

Very much a case of teachers needing to carefully evaluate the students' natural abilities and proclivities and to adjust their methods to suit.

 

[saundersbp]

Very much a case of teachers needing to carefully evaluate the students' natural abilities and proclivities and to adjust their methods to suit.

Of course, and decent teachers in any subject will do this.

 

[Ffingers]

Of course, and decent teachers in any subject will do this.

However, for the beginner in places of relatively small populations, they can be somewhat of a rarity.

Try correcting a Geography teacher who insisted on telling his students that the Sun always rose in the East and set in the West.
(Navigational people of any competence will confirm that this only actually happens on two days out of 365.2425 )