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[Randal Scott]

I just received this in the mail--bought it just a few days ago:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=260273464541

It's nearly pristine, sounds/plays great and tuning is just a wee out on a few notes, but very acceptable.  Bellows are as tight and clean as can be.  I gotta say--ebay can be such a tremendous experience if one is careful--particularly with melodeons (and tenor banjos).  I'd like to encourage others to pursue the acquisition of such glorious instruments on ebay, especially beginners needing cheap instruments.  Simply be cautious--it's a great solution for folks like me who live in the outback. :)

[BruceHenderson]

I just received this in the mail--bought it just a few days ago: (snip)

    Great.  Looks like a solid instrument (not that you can tell much by what something looks like on EBay ...).  What did the key turn out to be?  It has more "third row" keys that is common - any idea what notes they are and how they fit into the keys on the main rows?

BH, NC USA

[Randal Scott]

Yeah, it's nice when they turn out to be as solid as they appear.  It's in the key of LOUD...and heavy (Bb/Eb).  Don't know much about the third row yet ()...'tis my first Club, and I'm not accustomed yet to much third rowing except on my anglo concertinas.

[TomB-R]

Apart from the keyboard layout charts on this site, presumably everyone knows about the wonderful resource for Club players at

http://www.delaguerre.com/delaguerre/pedagogy/club/index.html

I certainly second that Ebay is a load of fun, but I think that's how you need to look at it. It's a very "wise" market, not much gets missed.  You've either got to be spending "entertainment" money that you can afford to lose, or make sure you don't go bidding too far ahead of the crowd, that way you've got a chance of recovering some of your money if you decide to sell the "item" on.

[Pete Dunk]

It has more "third row" keys that is common - any idea what notes they are and how they fit into the keys on the main rows?

A 'half' row of seven buttons is normal on many of the club models. Keyboard layout is here.

Looks like a nice box, have fun!

Pete.

[BruceHenderson]

  (snip) Keyboard layout is here.[/url] 

__.  "Quite mature*" brain seemed to remember that there were these charts.  Lots of C# and Eb notes -- are these "repeated" notes so that they're easy to reach from all sections of the keyboard or are the ones near "low notes" on the two rows lower octaves and the ones near "high notes" higher octave?  Is it hard to move between a "normal" 4th/5th two-row layout and the club system?  I had a very hard time getting my head around the diagrams on that chart -- it looks like moving between two cars, one of which has the accelerator under your left foot and the clutch under your right!

BH NC USA
( *Hmmm, whoda thought that those two words would be used in the same sentence with the words "Bruce Henderson" ... certainly not any of my high school teachers ... or anybody I dated in high school ... or college ... or later ...)

[Matthew B]

are these "repeated" notes so that they're easy to reach from all sections of the keyboard or are the ones near "low notes" on the two rows lower octaves and the ones near "high notes" higher octave?  Is it hard to move between a "normal" 4th/5th two-row layout and the club system? 

Bruce,
Club system boxes are easier to figure out in practice than to describe.  The accidental row on a 30 button box covers 3 octaves, but the lowest two accidentals are hidden away at the end of the outer row.   There are a couple of reversals hidden in there as well.  So it's chromatic on the draw for about 2.5 octaves, and fully chromatic with some bellows work in 3.  It might seem a bit strange when you first use it, but quite soon you'll find yourself discovering handy conjunctions of buttons that make fingering something or other surprisingly easy.  There's a great set of those little two note chords the Conjunto guys use that you can find on the draw starting up at the knee end of the inner row and switching back and forth between rows most of the way down to the chin end.  Likewise the reversals give you some cool little runs on the push and the draw.  And the chord possibilities are almost limitless.  As to the second part of the question . . . I started on a club, and had a tricky time learning how to move around on a regular two-row.  It's getting easier but I still find myself hunting around for the missing notes on a regular box sometimes. 

[Nick Hudis]

Glad you had a good experience.  I've bought three old Clubs on Ebay.  Two of them are awaiting full restoration, the other, a Liliput bought from Mike Wild who posts on the forum, is currently my favourite box.  I love these old boxes.  They are not as slick and smooth as a modern Italian or French box, but they are very playable and full of character.  

I'd suggest you don't hurry to get it "declubbed".  Look at http://www.delaguerre.com/delaguerre/pedagogy/club/index.html

and give the Club layout a chance. It is a well thought out and flexible arrangement.  The thing about the half row layout is that it offers a high degree of chromaticism on the pull, in the useful part of the instrument's range, plus access to a wide range of right hand chords plus really useful reversals for cross fingering.  You can play the F scale entirely on the push or the pull.  People more in the know than me have told me that Clubs were designed to play alot on the pull and have a big air valve to quickly empty the bellows.

[Randal Scott]

Indeed, mine does...it's able to totally collapse the bellows in an instant.  I rather like this action and think I might prefer it on my other boxes as well.

[butterfingers]

  Glad to hear someone else got a Club accordion...I love the tonality of mine [which I think may have been made in the 50's] a very warm sound, and the melodic/harmonic possibilities are great, if a wee bit challenging [I haven't played the thing in public yet but enjoyed a few hours in the back garden this evening figuring out the theme from "Doctor Zhivago", a few old 60's tunes like "Moon River" as well as a few jigs and reels that have some flats and sharps]. The fact that one can also get most of the notes of simpler tunes on the push or pull is a bonus [figured out tonight how to have an alternating bass, the one/five combination rather than just the bass note of the key as one would on a single row, by playing melody notes on the the pull rather than the push]...A real intellectual exercise...good for the outback, or anywhere, no doubt...I'll conclude by saying the Bflat/Eflat Club I have only came into my hands eight months ago because I became a part of this website [didn't buy it on ebay, but yes I've gotten some really neat instruments on ebay, nevertheless the best one I have, the Club, came about because of melodeon.com].