Back from Italy
Dan Lavry
Back from 4 days in Italy and 2 weeks in Italy. I "parked" at Casafidardo for 4
days, and checked the "accordion scene".
Way too much to say in one post, so I'll put down a few things at a time. I was
inclined to get some kind of a toy - midi accordion, and wanted it to be 37/96
full size keys but lighter. Frankly, it was not easy to find a smaller
instrument with much quality (comparing to a full size 41 / 120). I did see one
or two but it very costly. Yes, Serenelini does make such instruments, good and
affordable. But they were out of stock. The demo I tried was already sold. I
almost gave up, and than in the last day of that part of Italy, I came across an
Excelsior with the MIDIVOX III, light 37/96, 3/5 reeds all ready to go, with a
"backpack" type carry case. I could not resist, so now I am playing with midi.
Great fun!
Of course, the idea is not to replace my main instrument, the Giulietti super
continental. Just wanted to try some midi. It was very affordable. One pays
"full price" including the Italian customs. But when one gets out of Italy, they
send the factory a form, and they will be able to recover some $175 or so for
each $1000 spent. So a $2000 is really about $1650 and so on.
I was glad to see Excelsior (Cemex). Those small companies (and Cemex is the
largest) make folks do more than one job. The gentleman I met was the designer
of the electronics in the midivox, but also helped me in all respects. I think
we hit it off, both of us being EE's. Marco Galeazzi is a gentleman. I can
assure you.
When in Cemex, I met some players from north Korea. They came to buy a big
shipment (government owned music schools). A couple of them played very well so
we had some fun playing together - the international language....
I got a tour at Zero Sette. Alessio Gerundini, the president, was very
informative, and let my wife take a ton of photos. Those guys are into quality.
I tried one of the Zero Sette instruments, and asked for the price. They just
don't sell them to individuals. I learned though, that the name Giulieti is
still alive overseas. The same design is still intact. Mr. G. allowed the
factory to carry the overseas marketing under his name, but kept the US
distribution which stopped when he did. So a brand new Giulietti is not a hoax
if sold overseas...
Yes, Serenilini was very impressive as well, with it's unique sound, that
reminded me of a church organ. Of course, Beltuna sound great, and costs a lot,
though it may be well worth it. The smaller instruments did not come anywhere
near the full size types. It may be just a question of what was in stock - I do
not know.
I could not find FisItalia. I believe I found the brothers working as
Piatinessi. Their big monster instrument sounded great, wonderful bass and all,
and was not that expansive either. I saw a duplicate set of instruments right
next door - the other half of the family with their own brand. That happens a
lot in that part of the world... Master is now split into 2: Master and Master
Sound. I saw it at another place or 2.
To the best of my understanding, after asking a lot of questions, Antonelli
reeds seem to be respected for PA's and alike. Siva is respected for diatonic
instruments. As expected, hardly anyone makes reeds or bellows for their own
instruments, though how one handles the reeds seem to vary widely. That hand
made, hand finished, machine made and so on concept is pretty much as I expected
after reading Linda's description a few month back.
For the most part, I tried to limit my search within the guidelines mentioned by
Phil V. I only visited 9 factories, 2 of which were strictly for midi kits.
The people of Italy are as friendly and helpful as one can hope for. The nicest
folks!!! It was wonderful to be there.
Regards
Dan Lavry
Dan Lavry
> Hi to all,
>
> Back from 4 days in Italy and 2 weeks in Italy.
Sorry, should have said 4 days in Paris and 2 weeks.....
> Regards
>
> Dan Lavry
Gordon Groening
Dan Lavry
> Were you able to see Zupan Accordions
>
> Dan Lavry wrote:
>
No I was not. There are about 30 places around, and I only checked about 10, and 2 of
those are for midi kits, leaving only 8 accordion manufactures. Given a bit more time,
I would have liked to see a couple more. However, I did not see any reference to Zupan
being in the area. When I got to the Hotel, I asked for some materials, and indeed
they had a map of the area and also a small "booklet", printed with nice colors. The
booklet listed the manufacturers in alphabetical order, along with some instrument
photos and some brief description. I do not recall Zupan listed there (I'll check it).
It is possible that not all were listed. It is possible that Zupan is made by a
manufacturer with a different name (???) For the most part, I thought Zupan was a
German accordion, though that does not mean much in terms of the manufacturing
location...
Speaking of the "mix-up" between location, name and so on... In Paris, a friend
finally found a manufacturer for me to visit (that was what he thought). It turned out
to be just a store. They carried Fratelli brand. Given that I was already there (half
an hour drive), I decided to try an instrument. 2 rows of bass (the outer rows) were
extremely stiff!!! The instrument was on the shelve, but the packing material was
still inside... I could not believe it. So we got it out, and I played for a few
minutes. As "expected", the 3 reed musette only came with the full 41/120. A 37/96 or
smaller would have only 3 reeds (sets) on the right - LMM, so no 3 reed musette. One
can probably "special order" it, otherwise, for stroling in a restaurant, you need a
heavy instrument... No wonder the only stroler I saw had some obscure and very old
instrument... I would think that there would be some demand for some French musette PA
37/96 or even 80 bass in Paris... Of course I did not check the button instruments,
being a PA player.
br
Dan L
Crs smitty
>being in the area. When I got to the Hotel, I asked for some materials, and
>indeed
>they had a map of the area and also a small "booklet", printed with nice
>colors. The
>booklet listed the manufacturers in alphabetical order, along with some
>instrument
>photos and some brief description. I do not recall Zupan listed there (I'll
>check it).
>It is possible that not all were listed. It is possible that Zupan is made by
>a
>manufacturer with a different name (???) For the most part, I thought Zupan
>was a
>German accordion, though that does not mean much in terms of the
>manufacturing
>location...
Zupan accordions are made by Beltuna to specs supplied by the Slovenian
designer of these instruments !! There were quite a few Zupan accordions made
in Slovenia but when they got popular manufacturing had to be farmed out to
mass production facilities most of which were in Italy!
Ron Smith, Montana squeezer
Gary Dahl
http://www.accordions.com/garydahl (with sound files) ...visit this
site for Books, Sheet Music, Recordings,
Harmony & Chord Applications Course and lessons by correspondence.
Gary Dahl
Puyallup, Washington (near Seattle) USA
..visit this site to view 20 show stopper arrangements.
http://janpress.freeservers.com
http://users.aol.com/accrdnmn/
(hear Clarinet Polka...also, click on the eiffel tower to listen to a
tango from the Mel Bay French Tango Book )