Which Bass Buttons are Marked on a Stradella?

[John Doe]

I've always assumed that when more buttons than the basic C are marked custom dictates it is the E, G# and Ab, Fb.

I now have two PA's- one an Excelsior Symphony which appears to have factory dimples on the C, B and Db. (The other is a noname generic which asserts that it was made in Italy- probably in the thirties.) The workmanship on the dimples (minescule jewels on the second) is such that they really appear to be a factory "as made" job.

Not hard to get used to (as in five minutes playing since I rarely "feel for the dimples" (except when positioning at the start and even then not so much) but really a bit of a surprise when I first discovered it- naturally enough while playing a new piece... "That can't be right". On an "Alphonse Capone, Northside" custom I could see it sort of- but Excelsior was a real name brand in the fifties.

Is this marking pattern at all common or was it simply a bad day in the office when they assembled my accordion?

Henry

PS I have no intention whatsoever of altering it- a curiosity and a minor shock when I first noticed it but not worth the trouble to change.

 

[Dingo40]

Is this marking pattern at all common or was it simply a bad day in the office when they assembled my accordion?

Sounds like a Monday morning at the accordion works to me

 

[John Doe]

I'm inclined to agree with you but thought I'd ask around anyway.

 

[Ben-jammin]

Maybe someone on here can explain the history but it appears there had been two camps on how far to separate marked buttons. I have owned instruments with B marked instead of the more common E. You’re right it only takes 5 minutes to adapt but it is frustrating to switch instruments and miss a note before remembering this one has different marked notes.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

When I was a kid (and the dinosaurs walked the land) only the C was marked. The E and Bb came later.

 

[debra]

I've always assumed that when more buttons than the basic C are marked custom dictates it is the E, G# and Ab, Fb.

I now have two PA's- one an Excelsior Symphony which appears to have factory dimples on the C, B and Db. (The other is a noname generic which asserts that it was made in Italy- probably in the thirties.) The workmanship on the dimples (minescule jewels on the second) is such that they really appear to be a factory "as made" job.
...

It's unlikely that the accordion came out of the factory like this. More likely a repairer doing maintenance or solving some problem messed up when reassembling the bass mechanism (and didn't want to start all over again to solve the problem).

 

[Ventura]

actually that old hubcap Scandalli i referenced in another thread
(was a 140 bass)
had the Db and B bass buttons dimpled

i am positive on this, many many decades later, as that was the
accordion i learned to play "Temptation" on with the
huge jump back and forth to the Db

i played it so much that on later accordions with different
dimples the muscle memory was sufficient to hit the jumps

still can

 

[Siegmund]

I haven't run across 5-apart bass buttons yet... but have seen 3-apart (Eb and A) and seen five buttons marked 4-apart (Fb, Ab, C, E, and G#) once each.