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[Andrew Kennedy]

Hohner Club IIB Victoria is a lovely box with a gorgeous sound and a satisfying feel to play. They can be had for very reasonable prices. I got a Bb/EB in very good condition for 75 Euros from German EBay, and a C/F for 50 which did need some work, and which Mike Rowbotham converted to D/G. Lush, as they say down his way.
Theo is working on a Club IB in C/F (70 Euros) which I hope to be able to comment on before long.

[baz parkes]

Who knows, maybe I can spend some time in Sheffield at some stage, I will be sure to look up Ollie King when I do.

There's no shortage of good box players in Sheffield, but Ollie is no longer among them...he recently moved to London...

[Eshed]

There's no shortage of good box players in Sheffield, but Ollie is no longer among them...he recently moved to London...

Note the date.

[baz parkes]

There's no shortage of good box players in Sheffield, but Ollie is no longer among them...he recently moved to London...

Note the date.

Duly noted....

[Dennis Steckley]

I decided to get back into accordions after a hiatus of several years.  Back then I had piano accordions (actually owned 13 at one time!), but after doing a lot of research, I decided a club system was the route to go for me.  I picked up an inexpensive Hohner Club, and a very nice Hohner Ouverture.  Also have a Liliput ordered that will need work and would love to find a Preciosa (obviously, when I go into something, I go whole hog).  I am disappointed in the lack of instructional materials, but I've found a few things.

Dennis Steckley

[Anahata]

I'm hosting a couple of PDFs of Club tutors at https://treewind.co.uk/melnet/
They are both in German.

[alexalexander]

Those tutorials are both interesting and amusing, but also quite scary how formal it can all seem - I wonder how many people were put off by these?  I guess the formality is typical for the time and place of printing but there are some things which seem a bit random and surely didn't add to the learning process.  They all begin with basic music notation but the first one then invents its own clef system and doesn't introduce normal clefs nor note names until the very end,  and the other two  insist on using full staff notation for the bass and chords left hand (overkill for notating an 8 bass/chord button diatonic system, and then they don't explain why some chords are root position and others first inversion).  I'm glad I didn't start on the instrument with this sort of introduction.  Thanks for posting them - I found them interesting.

[smiley]

This reinvigorated thread is interesting to me, as I've only recently discovered an appreciation of my C/F Hohner Club IIB.
It sat unused in its case for years until I was accompanying a french singer for a recent gig and needed to play La Vie en Rose in Bb, and other songs in Cm, Fm etc.
Suddenly the club button layout made sense (and I wished I hadn't changed the original gleichton). Playing chords on the treble side using the helper row of accidentals has opened up a whole new range of possibilities. Looks like I might be spending a bit more time exploring the Club system ...

[Jon Stapleton]

I am a closet Club nut  i have a 3BS which i use mainly for playing some of the tunes you find in the old booklets.  When you start to play the kind of music these things were made for they suddenly make sense.  i bought one out of curiosity originally and started playing english tunes on it but they didn't seem to fit, the treble was brazen and the bass sounded a bit weird to my ear.  But then i started to learn some waltz tunes from a dusty old pre war german booklet,  and the Club monster was unleashed! As Smiley pointed out a lot of the french tunes fit perfectly and come out with a totally different vibe.   As has been said before    it is a case of horses for courses and given the quality and price of these old Club boxes it has got to be worth giving them a go.  It is good to see a bit of club conversation on the board

[Dennis Steckley]

As one who learned to read music as a child with piano lessons, I must admit I find all the strange diagrams and tablatures so endlessly complicated and weird when one could simply look at traditional music.  But perhaps it's a matter of what one is familiar with.
Dennis Steckley

[alexalexander]

A while back there was a comment and reply:-

"It also underlines what had initially attracted me to the club system, that is the possibility of being able to play long melodic lines more fluently."
"Therein lies, of course, the danger of going to far into the direction of those piano accordions and chromatic button accordions. You can loose to much of the distinct melodeon sound."

But it isn't all or nothing.  The club system doesn't stop you playing in the style that gives you the distinct melodeon sound.  You can still play up and down the rows (allowing for the alternative option(s)for the pull on the gleichton), play across the rows, and adapt the RH for the required basses. Every technique that works on a non club box works on a club one.   But, in addition, you gain the option to play (some) long melodic lines more fluently when you want.  I find it gives you more choice.

[Andrew Kennedy]

I agree with pretty well all of this: waltzes seem to flow very naturally, but it can also be possible to play English tunes very satisfactorily.

What I would add is that, as with any system, it depends on the instrument.  Mike R converted a Club Victoria 2B to D/G for me and it makes a great Morris box - not as loud as my Erica but gorgeous to handle.  On the other hand, Theo overhauled a C/F 1B and it makes some French tunes sound lovely.  For the waltzes, and especially those that stray into the higher notes it's the Bb/Eb Victoria or, for truly lush, the 256.  Part of the pleasure is taking a tune and seeing where it fits best.  I'm now trying to get to know a c/f Club III and saving up to have the Bb/Eb Lilliput overhauled....