It was by far the cheapest in the market (32 bass, 30 keys for $ 243.00 delivered).
I wanted a budget piano accordion to complement my beloved Hohner Panther.
Didn't want to spend a lot of money. In the past, I ordered a Parrot which was very defective
(several sticky and squeaky buttons), then I purchased a vintage full size 120 keys Italian accordion on
Craigslist: wonderful, but so heavy that it was hurting my back.
Finally, i found the "Barcelona" brand on Amazon, and decided to try. Amazon has a very good return policy,
there was little to risk. After having ordered the accordion, I discovered on-line that it is made by
Yingie, which - as far as I understand- is not considered one of the best chinese accordion manufacturers.
I read that, among chinese manufacturers, Golden Cup is slightly above the others, Parrot is in the middle
(not my experience though) and Yingjie is at the very bottom of quality. It is also branded "Rossetti" and Rossetti accordions do not have a favorable reputation in several accordion and/or melodeon forums. So when the accordion arrived, I was bracing for a huge disappointment. Well, in all honesty, I was positively surprised. Pros: the piano keys action is excellent, keys are firm (not
wobbly) but at the same time very responsive. The bellows are air tight, I mean: no air leakage as far as I can judge, so the accordion produces a sound at the very minimal movement of the bellows. The volume is high. The sound (musette) is very pleasant although not as warm as the Italian vintage accordion that I briefly owned. The accordion is very light ( my back thanks !).
Cons:One of the 32 bass buttons (minor chords row) some times sounds right, some other times sounds like a mix of the minor and major chord ...
The overall tuning of the bass side, as far as my ears can judge, it is not as accurate as the tuning of the piano keys, however it is generally quite acceptable.
As far as I can judge after two days, no other problems. Ah, I forgot: the bass side sounds slightly less loud than the treble side, which I find good t because it creates a good balance between melody and chords.
In all honesty, I am not sure that I should pretend much more from a $ 240.00 accordion. Perhaps the quality of Chinese accordions has improved, perhaps I have been just lucky with the quality control lottery and got a decent one. Perhaps...the accordion will fall apart in a few months ! I will keep you posted.
