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[DaveCottrell]

I have a mid 50's blue badge horseshoe grill Paolo Soprani that was originally GC and "Irishized" with BC reeds and a flat keyboard.  This was done by a reputable person, and I have no issues with the workmanship.  It is 3 reeds (LMM) and 2 couplers

However, the bass side is noticeably louder than the treble side.  My Nuage is louder, even with just 2 reeds.  I also have a Boxeen which is louder, though much "wetter".   My Pariselle 2 voice is louder, but those are Binci reeds.  Even with all 3 voices, the Paolo's trebles seem muted, even with the grill off.  In any case, I would not want to leave the grill off permanently.

I procured a  MMM Baldoni butterfly BC off the internet that was a bargain as it was someone else's project that was never completed.  All the mechanics are 100%,  the issues are cosmetic.  However, there are Tipo a Mano reeds in this  (the rivets have faceted tops), and the PS has flat-riveted machine reeds.  The reed plates are of similar size.

Before I embark on switching two sets of reeds (I want to preserve the low octave on the Paolo), does anyone have any caveats or suggestions?  My intention is to make the RH side of the Paolo louder to balance the basses, make the tremolo less, and increase the response with better reeds. 

Furthermore, I would like to use screws and Olivisc to mount the reeds, instead of wax.  The blocks look robust enough to handle this conversion.  I'd be interested to read opinions on the results of these two different mounting methods with regards to sound.

[Jef]

I've just redone the old leather gaskets on a 30's Hohner with the Olovisc, and though I can't comment on sound differences, I can report the Olovisc is easy to work with - even for a beginner.  I ended up ordering replacement screws from Micro-Mark, as I was unable to find any locally that were suitably small.

[Steve_freereeder]

However, the bass side is noticeably louder than the treble side.  My Nuage is louder, even with just 2 reeds.  I also have a Boxeen which is louder, though much "wetter".   My Pariselle 2 voice is louder, but those are Binci reeds.  Even with all 3 voices, the Paolo's trebles seem muted, even with the grill off.  In any case, I would not want to leave the grill off permanently.

It may be as you have described, but before you embark on any changes it is worth making just a few playing tests. Often a melodeon will sound significantly different to the player compared with how it sounds to a listener, especially the balance between LH and RH sides.

1. Ask a musically sensitive friend to listen to your playing, preferably in a variety of settings: different rooms, different distances away, etc., to see if there is a noticeable balance discrepancy.

2. If possible, do the same thing with someone else playing your instruments while you listen.

3. Finally, try making a set of recordings (they don't have to be sophisticated), again in different acoustic environments, and with the mic placed at varying distances away.

Hopefully as a result of these tests, you may discover that the LH and RH balance problems are nowhere near as severe as you first thought and perhaps may not be there at all.

[Anglophile]

I know this is an old thread, but I'm doing (almost) exactly the same work right now on an old Paolo Soprani - converting a waxed reed assembly to screws and gasket.
What size screw and washer combo is a good choice?
I presume I need to pre-drill so I need a small bit also.
Any tips?

[Jef]

What size screw and washer combo is a good choice?

For reference, on the treble side of my screwed and pinned Hohner I used #1 x 1/2" wood screws (Micromark #60745), and reused the original washers. 

Here's a photo showing the difference in some of the options:



To give an idea of the clearances:



The gaps between reed plates on this block ranged from about 2.7mm to a little over 4mm.

[Anglophile]

Excellent photos- Very helpful!

[Michael Driscoll]

This is an old thread but I am curious, having a 'horseshoe' box which is quite quiet.  I had always assumed it was the grill design that caused this but perhaps it is in the construction of the box also rather than the machine reeds which would have been in common with the other, louder P.S. Boxes? any thoughts on this?

[Lars]

This is an old thread but I am curious, having a 'horseshoe' box which is quite quiet.  I had always assumed it was the grill design that caused this but perhaps it is in the construction of the box also rather than the machine reeds which would have been in common with the other, louder P.S. Boxes? any thoughts on this?

The 'Horseshoe Grille' Paolo Sopranis have a reputation for being a bit quieter, less brash/agressive, and quieter than other Paolos made before and after that variant. I've had 5 horseshoe paolos, and for some this has been true, whereas for others, it wasn't the case. Both earlier models and later models come in quiet, loud, round and brash 'versions' - worth keeping in mind.

It is true that the grille has several design flaws, since it does not really have enough opening to allow the sound to develop fully the way most players want it to, but it also has un-even opening, meaning that some notes (middle of inside row) can sound quite different than other notes.

I would not be too concerned with the reeds - as long as they are set up right, tuned right, and the wax and valves are in good condition (removing nicotine and dirt from the reeds, re-valving and re-waxing will make a world of difference if the box has not been overhauled for several decades). The reeds Paolo Soprani used back then are among my absolute favorites - personal opinion - and I am lucky to have reeds from horseshoe paolos in my main C#/D and D/D# boxes.

I was talking to tuner, paolo-afficionado, Charlie Harris about these boxes some years back, and he found that they sounded best if tuned to the wet side. All boxes are different, but he found that the most muffled boxes really lived up when opened up. Especailly on those made without a thumb-groove (a few horseshoe paolos were made like this) would benefit when given some tremolo.

Now, having your box tuned to 22 cents to either side of 0 might not be the right tone for you. They are nicely constructed boxes, and a quick fix could be to just take off the grille. Opening up the tuning a bit could be worth considering the next time your box needs tuning if you don't mind the old, wet style.

[KLR]

Which ones are the horseshoes?  These?



My 3 row is the, I don't know, "Slant 6" model, like this:



Mine is a Blue Badge, too.  Keyboard desperately needs flattening, and a new bellows would be helpful too.  Oh, and it needs a bass bar instead of a simple button.  Quite the laundry list...at least I cleaned and revalved everything, which about took the life out of me, and didn't help with the leaking much at all, too.   

How much do they charge to convert from stepped to flat, out of curiosity's sake?  I haven't been at it much with projects lately but might take a crack at doing it myself.  I already made shims for the buttons to make the stepped heights of the rows less drastic, which helped a little, but really I want a true flat keyboard.  Best, Kevin

[Lars]

Which ones are the horseshoes?

No, the ones often referred to as 'Horseshoe' Paolos have large semicircular grille vents that looks a bit like, well, horseshoes. See attached photo for a typical horseshoe paolo.

Mine is a Blue Badge, too.  Keyboard desperately needs flattening, and a new bellows would be helpful too.  Oh, and it needs a bass bar instead of a simple button.  Quite the laundry list...

It sounds like a full overhaul is needed, and that you have plans for what you like to have done. Great project:) Have you played many other Paolos with round air buttons? There are quite a lot of Paolos out there, where the round air buttons is really annoying. Some don't stick out enough, others stick out too far, and some have tight springs and bumper-felt making using it really hard on the thumb. My point is, it should not be that hard to get used to, and since 98 % of red paolos have them, there's a lot of players out there who gets great music out of them, using that type of air button.

As for the flattening of the keyboard, the only two repairmen I know of who has done it for customers are Martin Quinn and Anders Trabjerg. You could ask them, just don't be afraid to hear that it will cost more than the usual sale value of stepped-keyboard paolos. I have a stepped keyboard paolo where I did the conversion, and it took far longer than I had hoped for, so I can vouch for the fact that it's a time consuming and rather annoying job.

[KLR]

Ah, that is a horseshoe shape isn't it.  You or Stephen mentioned how there are a ton of different Paolo grille designs to keep track of.  Mine is close to the one I pictured but not entirely.  It's an 80 bass so you have to have an air bar, basically, so you can reach the buttons.  For mine they just built a B/C/C# and slapped a piano accordion left hand on it.  Later on they followed the lead of Excelsior and started using spare black keys from PAs.  This isn't ideal either as they're too short to make playing in flat keys entirely comfortable. 

Only other Paolo I've played is a D/D# that Joe Cooley used to own.  Seem to remember it having quite the big button.  Other semitone boxes I've played have been either modern brands or old Black Dots. 

Did the box you converted have buttons that screwed into ebony posts?  That's how mine is put together.  I imagine you'd flatten the posts, glue modern buttons on them, build new flat keyboard plate.

The stepped keyboard on mine is always jamming, too.  Another reason to not use these things.     Although a century old F/Bb I worked on didn't have that problem.  Dunno why this Paolo does that.