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Author Topic: 3 row troubles (or MAD troubles)  (Read 1015 times)

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Angienever

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3 row troubles (or MAD troubles)
« on: November 17, 2017, 01:34:28 AM »

Okay, I recently went a little nuts and bought this old man.  I couldn't stop looking at his pictures and promised myself I wouldn't invite him home unless the price dropped. It did, and I jumped. I knew I was taking a risk on the tuning (I'm strictly a G/C player so far) but I thought I could piece it together.

The tuning was advertised as F#/B/E, but the number of sharps and flats on this thing is unreal. (I have, for example, nine buttons that play F#, seven that play E flat, and no natural C on the instrument anywhere.) None of the scales offered in Milleret & Pignol's Volume 4 are playable. As far as I can tell, the scales accessible are F# Major (or B Major, I'm not sure), B melodic Minor, and E Major, but I confess to knowing very little about all that.

My question to you all, I think, is what do I do with this guy? What kind of music was he designed to play? If anybody has any information about this kind of instrument or any resources that would help me start figuring things out, I would greatly appreciate it.
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triskel

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Re: 3 row troubles (or MAD troubles)
« Reply #1 on: November 17, 2017, 03:04:07 AM »

As the owner of a lovely 1-row Vienna accordion of the same early Hohner style and vintage (with the same printed bellows-frame corner plates and spring-loaded catches), I may have an insight or two to offer. Only mine was made (with steel reeds) for the British market, and the pitch of it was very confusing for my then tuner Nils Nielsen - who assumed it must be in old British Philharmonic pitch, half a semitone sharp, so tuned it to C#, but it was actually in old German pitch, half a semitone flat, and should have been in D, which is what's stamped on the bottom edge of the keyboard...  :o

But Hohner instruments built for the US market at this time seem to have been made with "steel-bronze" (brass) reeds, and I don't know what pitch they were originally tuned to, or if the same confusion might arise.

Is your accordion in A=440 pitch, or something else, and is the key system stamped into the bottom edge of the keyboard?

In F#/B/E you should think of it as a transposing instrument, a semitone flat, and not think of attempting to play it in your usual keys, though it may be possible to convert it to G/C/F.

There's a gorgeous tone in these old Hohners.

Malcolm Clapp

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Re: 3 row troubles (or MAD troubles)
« Reply #2 on: November 17, 2017, 09:52:22 AM »

The "B melodic minor" I would put down to a damaged/corroded reed or two (or incorrectly pitched replacement reeds) on what should be the B major reedblock (the middle one!)

While I can read music reasonably well, I do find it difficult to sight reed onto melodeons generally. I have an F#/B/E box similar to yours, and sight reading in those keys I find near impossible. But with my ear player's hat on, it's no different to playing any other 3 row melodeon; the key is immaterial unless you're playing with others. Just tell yourself that it's a G/C/F or whatever you're used to playing, keep calm and carry on!

As Triskel alluded to, you may also find that your melodeon is likely in some old (flat) pitch. Again, as long as you are not playing it with others, it's not an issue.

That said, if you intend taking it to a repairer to fix the B row reeds, it is likely that other faults may be discovered (100 year old valves, pads and wax are likely to be in poor condition for instance), so might be worthwhile getting the pitch raised and possibly tuned to something you would be more comfortable with at the same time....

Good luck with it!
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Tuner/repairer, now retired, but still playing! Happy to offer advice on repairs etc., and might be persuaded to undertake the odd emergency job for local and longtime  customers. Selling a few melodeons from my collection currently....
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