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Frans van der Aa retiring

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Chris Ryall:
Gosh, I’m on the van der Aa website! I love my Dutch machine and use it for nearly all my playing nowadays, my spare is a Gaillard G/C 😐 but the vdAa is in British D/G and suits my voice

Frans will be 70 this year, and is completing his last batch of orders. As an EU citizen, he and Lucie will likely retire to rural Bulgaria.

I’m not alone 😀 Clive, also of this parish was featured as a van der Aa owner, just last weekend 😀 Anyone else?

diatonix:
I've heard rumours of Frans retiring regularly for the last ten years. Fortunately, so far it hasn't happened. Making excellent accordions (like most other forms of art) is not something one does retire from easily  .

Chris Ryall:
Your words ring true, but he has been doing up an old school in Bulgaria, and I suspect Lucie’s options may be clarifying. She’s (guessing) a decade off retirement, and does love her job in Sind Michielsgestel.

The present photo parade of clients? Frans issued a whole book on his career 8 years back, so we’ll see 😉

Stiamh:
He seems a little more definite about his retirement plans just now. I received an email from him this morning with plans for a farewell concert in October, at which he is inviting all his customers to come and play. With 300 boxes out there, it could be a marathon, assuming that anybody will be able to travel anywhere by then.

Yes I am one of those customers. I was impressed by Sean's (deltasalmon's) instrument, which I tried a few years ago, and more recently by one that Ken (kenacordeon) had, and thought I would have to order one - one day. But then he announced his impending retirement in 2018 and I wrote pleading with him to accept an order. He kept me hanging on for 6 months and then said yes. I collected no. 290 in February of this year. There are two other melnet members waiting for completion, too.

Frans took this photo of me trying out the new baby. Once I could persuade him to stop playing it!
C#/D 10/11 inner keyboard row --> top treble pallets, 12 thirdless basses
LMM or MMM (spare middle reedblock)
He couldn't quite match the shade of mauve I wanted but this is good enough

hickory-wind:
I had a 4 voice DC# which I loved (pic 1). I was planning on reconfiguring to C#D for myself but after seeing the pristine and packed reeds (4 voice in compact box) I decided to sell as is and order one in my desired C#D.

A recent progress photo from Frans theoretically includes some of my new instrument's parts along with the others currently in his shop. (pic 2)

Looking forward to receiving it.

Scott

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