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Discussions => Other Free Reed Instruments => Topic started by: Ribs on September 01, 2018, 03:50:31 PM

Title: Does anyone know what brand this accordion is?
Post by: Ribs on September 01, 2018, 03:50:31 PM
Hello everyone. I picked up a keyboard accordion yesterday as a project, but for the life of me I can't figure out what brand it is. If it ever had a nameplate, it fell off before I got ahold of it. I'll link to a picture of the accordion and the little badge that fell off of it almost immediately after I bought it. Thanks in advance.

https://imgur.com/F9uOGse (https://imgur.com/F9uOGse)

Edit: I forgot to mention, it says "made in Italy" on the back, and right next to that, the number "969/69" was scratched in lightly. I'm not sure if the number was from the manufacturer or not, but it looks like it was. Also, I'm assuming that the accordion is rather old, because the valves are leather.
Title: Re: Does anyone know what brand this accordion is?
Post by: Henry Piper on September 03, 2018, 01:44:22 PM
It would be a mistake to use Leather valves as an indicator of age, many modern manufacturers and restorers still use Leather valves. here at Melnet, we are probably better at identifying Melodeons as opposed to Piano Accordians, but it Looks '60's and rather cheaply made judging from the plasticcy looking front grille. I would hazard a guess that the "69" in your scratched number refers to 1969 as the date of manufacture.

Have you tried contacting one of the Piano accordion sites for advice ??

Title: Re: Does anyone know what brand this accordion is?
Post by: Ribs on September 03, 2018, 03:25:05 PM
It would be a mistake to use Leather valves as an indicator of age, many modern manufacturers and restorers still use Leather valves. here at Melnet, we are probably better at identifying Melodeons as opposed to Piano Accordians, but it Looks '60's and rather cheaply made judging from the plasticcy looking front grille. I would hazard a guess that the "69" in your scratched number refers to 1969 as the date of manufacture.

Have you tried contacting one of the Piano accordion sites for advice ??

That's true, I probably shouldn't use leather valves as a good indicator of age generally speaking. In this particular case, though, the leathers look like they're probably original to the instrument as they're badly curled. To my untrained eye, it looks unlikely that the instrument has ever been serviced, or if it has, it's been decades. I'm almost certain that it was built as a low-end child/student model, because it's only got 12 basses and no buttons to change the voice. I was surprised to find that the grille is actually metal; when I first got it, it had a horrendously ugly and damaged plastic "mother-of-pearl" coating on it, but I removed that layer before I took the picture. I've attempted to make an account on accordionists.co.uk, but I'm waiting to have my account approved. I already had an account here, so I thought posting it here was worth a shot.
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