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[Andy in Vermont]

Butt........  ?   : )

That’s not just a one and only, unfortunately ...

No and apparently its not just a Cajun makers thing, if you look at the picture Tirpous posted check out the box in the front at the corner, big butt and not even covered with metal.

No. Some have the outer corner cut off and replaced with an outer block. I’ve actually been to that display and they are all mitered.

Additionally, I’ve been to Messervier’s shop and seen the wall of accordions. Same there. The variation is  whether the stops are “fixed” or moveable, and whether they are two or four voices etc.

[boxcall]

It's hard to get a good look from the picture so you may be right, it appeared the one in the corner had end grain showing. It could be a block as you say, I can see the block clearly on some of the others that one looked different.

Edit: there are some québécois makers Mselic's Clement Breton has butt joints I believe, still a quality box. Mitres are good but its just a detail really, its not going to make it sound better.

Edit fixed spelling

[mselic]

Edit: there are some québécois makers Meslic's Clement Breton has butt joints I believe, still a quality box. Mitres are good but its just a detail really, its not going to make it sound better.

There is a Clement Breton box, like mine, in that photo of the museum display. It is on the far right on the upper level.

[Andy in Vermont]

Edit: there are some québécois makers Meslic's Clement Breton has butt joints I believe, still a quality box. Mitres are good but its just a detail really, its not going to make it sound better.

There is a Clement Breton box, like mine, in that photo of the museum display. It is on the far right on the upper level.

Yes, true. The Gagnes, Messerviers, and Melodies are all mitered. The box identified by Boxcall is mitered.
The practice of using a mitered joint to connect two sides of the body, then removing the outer corner and gluing on a corner block (which is then rounded off) with perpendicular grain to the body pieces, is common to Melodie and some Italian builders (I’ve seen organetti like that).

And true of course, this has no bearing on the sound. The original question was about fixed versus moveable “stops” and the answer to that is that generally the boxes with fixed stops are loud.

The construction variation that I personally found very interesting in viewing historical boxes in Quebec is that many very old ones had soundboards/condos/face plates (whatever) screwed onto the frame rather than set into grooves (which is prevalent today).

[mselic]

There is a slightly higher resolution of that photo available here:

https://goo.gl/images/KAWWYf

I’d love to check out the museum sometime. Too bad you probably don’t get to try out the boxes!

[boxcall]

In the photo
It appears that some of the two stop models have stops that don't even line up with the pallets, I take it they are false stops.

The one I thought had butt joints is the only one with out stops, not sure if its a 2 or 3 voice.

Still I wonder why put them on if they don't work, I know its tradition but is that reason enough?

[Larry Powers]

For the french speakers what are the stops on the accordion called in French?  My best guess is "des taquets".

[Winston Smith]

Lots of the Firewood boxes I've had had offset stops. They were connected via blocks inside which were also offset. I expect it was all down to wanting a "balanced" look.

[Stiamh]

For the french speakers what are the stops on the accordion called in French?  My best guess is "des taquets".

In Québec people familiarly call them "les sapins".

[Andy in Vermont]

For the french speakers what are the stops on the accordion called in French?  My best guess is "des taquets".

In Québec people familiarly call them "les sapins".

Totally! And they say that regardless of whether they are fixed or functional.

[melodeon]

les sapins = fir trees  ?

Interesting.

[pgroff]

For the french speakers what are the stops on the accordion called in French?  My best guess is "des taquets".

In Québec people familiarly call them "les sapins".

Stiamh,

Just a speculation - could this nickname be related to the conifer trees often pictured on the stops of Ludwig accordions?  I think quite a few Ludwigs were exported to Canada. I don't have an example handy today, but see e.g:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R1liTzu5EtU/TlQxw-zYcXI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/opnIbsxvdOI/s1600/ludwig+1row+%252457+UK+2011+3.JPG

Source of that image: Christopher Kux's wonderful "Gumshoe Arcana" blog:

http://gumshoearcana.blogspot.com/2011/08/more-cool-corner-badges.html

PG

[Stiamh]

Interesting, Paul, and very plausible! I'll ask around to see if anyone hereabouts is aware of a possible connection.

In this recent conversation I remarked that the stops on mselic's Clément Breton box look rather like inverted Christmas trees. 

[mselic]

In the photo
It appears that some of the two stop models have stops that don't even line up with the pallets, I take it they are false stops.

The one I thought had butt joints is the only one with out stops, not sure if its a 2 or 3 voice.

Still I wonder why put them on if they don't work, I know its tradition but is that reason enough?

All the Quebec-made two voice boxes that I’ve seen had dummy stops. If you see a box with two stops that look like kitchen cabinet handles (which is what they are) on top, you can bet that they’re dummy stops. All the boxes on the left hand side in that photo, for example, have fixed stops. Now, to make matters more confusing, some of the older 4 voice boxes (such as Messerviers) also only had two dummy stops on top!

I suppose tradition, and the look, are the only reasons that “stops” are featured on these boxes.

[pgroff]

Interesting, Paul, and very plausible! I'll ask around to see if anyone hereabouts is aware of a possible connection.

In this recent conversation I remarked that the stops on mselic's Clément Breton box look rather like inverted Christmas trees. 

Thanks Stiamh. I've often seen these Ludwig models for sale out of Canada. (Though, they show up in the US and in the UK as well). Melnet member Quebecois mentions having learned on a 3-stop "Ludwig Pine" in G.  And "Ludwig Pine Tree" models are mentioned here, with importation beginning around 1902:

http://mnemo.qc.ca/bulletin-mnemo/article/l-implantation-de-l-accordeon-au

PG

[boxcall]

Interesting, Paul, and very plausible! I'll ask around to see if anyone hereabouts is aware of a possible connection.

In this recent conversation I remarked that the stops on mselic's Clément Breton box look rather like inverted Christmas trees. 

I guess they do look like upside down pine trees, but my first thought after someone mentioned His train connection was that they looked like engine smoke stacks.

[triskel]

For the french speakers what are the stops on the accordion called in French?  My best guess is "des taquets".

In Québec people familiarly call them "les sapins".

The English word "stops" derived from organ terminology, and on both instruments they are knobs that are pulled out/pushed in to operate them. I don't know of a colloquial name for them in France, but the usual French equivalent word, on both organs and melodeons, is "registres".

[triskel]

For the french speakers what are the stops on the accordion called in French?  My best guess is "des taquets".

In Québec people familiarly call them "les sapins".

Just a speculation - could this nickname be related to the conifer trees often pictured on the stops of Ludwig accordions?  I think quite a few Ludwigs were exported to Canada.

Lots of goods in the old British Colonies and Dominions, including musical instruments, came through merchants in, and were exported from, Britain. So those Ludwigs may well have found their way to Canada via London where "Manufacturer, Importer & Exporter" J. T. Coppock, of 61-67, Old Street, E.C.1 were the "Sole Distributor - Ludwig Pine Tree and Parsifal Brand Accordeons, Concertinas & Mouth Organs."

I have their November 1928 (for 1928-1929) catalogue, which starts with no less than 8 pages of German-model accordeons (melodeons), 2 pages of Italian models, and one page of piano accordions, nearly all made by Ludwig, and the "Pine Tree Brand" Trade Mark features prominently in it.

Of course there was no shortage of pine trees in the mountains around Klingenthal, where the old Gebr. Ludwig factory (now a museum, which I've visited) was located at Zwota. Whilst my first playable melodeon was a "Parsifal" (which would have been made there) bought new in 1971.

[mselic]

In Quebec, I’ve most often heard them referred to as “registres”, occasionally “sapins”, and sometimes even “tirettes”.

[-Y-]

I don't know of a colloquial name for them in France, but the usual French equivalent word, on both organs and melodeons, is "registres".

Apart from the "sapins", which is heard only in Québec, the French use mainly "registres" and sometimes "tirettes" as mselic said, one colloquial term would be for the stops on top of the accordion which are sometimes referred to as "champignons" (mushrooms), due to their shape. (btw do you have an English word to discriminate between those stops and the stops behind the keyboard or in front ?).