Planet Squeezebox piano accordion: Who is the manufacturer?
Medley'itis
the Planet Squeezebox nameplate, as sold by accordionheaven and as
played by Dan Newton of Cafe Accordion Orchestra?
If you own one yourself, what do you think of it? Is it worth the
pricetag? Would you buy one again?
Thanks.
Iam
It's a good question as to who makes those boxes, though the diamond
pattern on the bellows would seem to indicate they are a product of
Elio Gabbanelli's factory. They are first class instruments in my
opinion. Are they worth the price? You'd have to figure that out for
yourself by trying one and putting it into perspective with all the
others (and their prices) you've played over the years.
One thing about Accordion Heaven that I'm sure others would bear me
out on is that they charge absolute top dollar for everything
(instruments, accessories, music and services) they sell. It's
definitely possible to find all of what they have to offer for less
(except the house branded accordions) and sometimes for significantly
less, but you'd need to travel a considerable distance for it if you
are in the twin cities area.
Medley'itis
a very similar zig zag pattern of color shading on certain bass button
rows, it does seem that these could very well be made by Gabbanelli.
Glad to hear they are top quality instruments. I'll try to find out
from Gabbanelli whether they have any dealers in my local area so I
can check them out in person. Thanks Iam, and much appreciation for
your reply and input!
Alan Sharkis
company -- IMC Music srl., of Italy. Either they own the Gabbanelli
and Piermaria brands, or Gabbanelli owns IMC and, indirectly,
Piermaria. The price (and presumably quality) difference between the
two brand lines is rather wide.
In terms of putting a design specific on the bellows, any manufacturer
can do that. Same for the zig-zag in the bass buttons, although
that's less likely. But put the two together in one instrument --
bingo!
Take care.
Alan
--
If you really want to bug me via email, remove the "_fish" from the address above.
__
You can read the FAQ for alt.binaries.karaoke at:
http://members.chello.nl/~j.a.komrij/faq.html
Iam
It's highly unlikely that you'll find any other dealers for Planet
Squeezebox accordions aside from Accordion Heaven since they own the
brand and don't sell them through anyone else to my knowledge.
Keep in mind, if you're looking for other instruments made by Elio or
at his factory, that he turns out many different brands built to the
brand owners specifications. It's like the Samick guitar factory in
Korea - some of the brands that come out of there are great and others
are not so good.
Medley'itis
wrote:
> Actually, Gabbanelli apparently has an affiliation with another
> company -- IMC Music srl., of Italy. Either they own the Gabbanelli
> and Piermaria brands, or Gabbanelli owns IMC and, indirectly,
> Piermaria. The price (and presumably quality) difference between the
> two brand lines is rather wide.
>
> In terms of putting a design specific on the bellows, any manufacturer
> can do that. Same for the zig-zag in the bass buttons, although
> that's less likely. But put the two together in one instrument --
> bingo!
>
> Take care.
>
> Alan
Alan,
Thanks for your input. From what I've been able to find on
Gabbanelli's website, it would seem that the family owns the IMC
factory.
http://www.gabbanelliaccordions.com/imc.htm
I've only been able to find one authorized Gabbanelli dealer on the
web so far. I would have figured I'd be able to find more that just
one, though. I'd sure like to get a hold of one in person and try it
out firsthand.
Thanks again.
Medley'itis
> Squeezebox accordions aside from Accordion Heaven since they own the
> brand and don't sell them through anyone else to my knowledge.
>
> Keep in mind, if you're looking for other instruments made by Elio or
> at his factory, that he turns out many different brands built to the
> brand owners specifications. It's like the Samick guitar factory in
> Korea - some of the brands that come out of there are great and others
> are not so good.
Iam,
I guess my main reasons for finding out who the manufacturer is, is
(1) to check on quality reputation of the mfr., (2) to see whether the
OEM's nameplate models were in about the same price range as the
Planet Squeezebox nameplate models, and (3) to try to get a hold of
one in person and try it out firsthand. Don't think I'll be able to
make it out to MN to try a PS, so I'll keep trying to find a G. Thanks
for the additional tip, though, about the factory's different built-to-
order specs resulting in different levels of quality. I appreciate
your input.
ciao.accordion
applying American Logic to the actions of Italians
also to take a visit over there
first off, forever these American brand names
(the "G" family being one of the most egregious)constantly
try in most every way including outright lies, innuendo,
boasts, false associations, doctored photographs etc. to make
everyone believe they "had a factory in Italy" when
in fact next to none of them ever did, or even close to it.
it is true there were blood relatives involved at
SEM and Gabb was their major client, with PierMaria,
the Hohner Alpine and Atlantic models, and bodies
for Cordovox a few of the other major accounts
you see how far blood got SEM when they were
dis-embowled a few years ago
to extrapolate bellows design (when nearly all bellows
are now made by third parties who specialize in such,
then delivered to the various "assembly houses") is
a huge stretch... as is the button patterns or colors,
considering there are no factories making their own,
and so the possibility of exclusivity is wholly a matter
of ongoing payments to the source button maker
please recall the monterey accordions, built essentially
as clones to attack the Gabb marketshare (refer to the
lawsuit when they tried to actually use their name)
it is NICE that IMC seems to have serious and somewhat
special ties to Gabbanelli and PierMaria, and it may
be a more tightly held company than before, but it is
still new and small (some of the photographs of the
inside, for example, if compared to the outside
building shots reveal they obviously came from somewhere
else... i'll give you 1 good guess from where... i
certainly recognised the factory floor)
now regarding Planet... the website reveals these have
only been a brand name for a few short years, yet have
already taken their place in the pantheon of some of the
greatest accordions ever built of all time etc. etc. etc.
ad infinitum ad bullshit
it's kind of like this Smoke Joey brought over... he keeps
saying how great it is (isn't it, huh, isn't it) but
ya know, if it was really so great, it wouldn't need
to be hyped waaaaaaaaay overboard, now would it?
it would speak for itself... OTHER people would
say "hey the greatest accordion i've ever played"
(not the guy who orders 'em)
now here's another clue... pretty much anyone with a few dollars
can order enough accordions to get their name put on 'em...
very very few people have enough money to do much more
than cosmetically spec something out... even fewer and in truth
a bare handful of people spend enough to specify something
EXCLUSIVE in the physical engineering...
only a couple of elite level brand names can still have any
impact whatsoever on R&D
if YOU buy a Planet, it is simply because YOU would prefer
to say "i will trust this guy's ability to navigate
the murky Italian order system" rather than delving too
deeply into it yourself
and if that literally more than doubles the cost of the
instrument from the factory through someone to you, and
you don't mind funding someone else's Summer Vacation for
them, why, by all means drop 12 grand or more
some of you have that kind of excess money... fella in
Canada paid that much for an Excelsior 911 a couple years
ago... that had to be near 300% over wholesale...
fella around here paid that for a Morino, but he ordered
a totally customized job so at least he got what HE wanted
though (I) could fly first class round trip to Rome,
rent a really nice ride, lazily drive through Italy to
Ancona, get a nice room in CastleFi, live and eat like
a King for the next week, and bring back at least
2 accordions equal to or better than your 1 and STILL
have a lot of money left over
AND i would know exactly their familial Provenance, and even
the origins of much of their guts
ciao
Ventura
Iam
wrote:
I agree with most of what Ventura says. The word "murky" hardly
describes some of what goes on beneath the surface of the accordion
world and gettting a straight answer even from people you'd think
would really know something and be honest about it can be very
difficult. I wish Ken Mahler (owner of Accordion Heaven) would add a
comment to this thread -
ciao.accordion
> ........The word "murky" hardly
> describes some of what goes on..........
lol
> ........ I wish Ken Mahler (owner of Accordion Heaven) would add a
> comment to this thread -
me too... actually i wish more of these brokers and
brands would have a sunshine policy regarding what goes
into their accordions... I've never met KM, dunno if he's
on the level or just selling off Petosa's coattails...
but then i wouldn't buy a Petosa at 10 cents on the
dollar either
it really isn't that hard to spec out and order
accordions that are a cut above the normal stuff
people have access to, though the more unique your
accordion is, the risk is there that less people
will find it compelling - but I believe if they have
honestly valid reasons to show why their
accordions are a better value that the competition
(as opposed to actually exactly the same
guts except for the rhinestones and nameplate)
then the real players will pull out their wallets
however, if they are sitting at 12 Grand for smoke and
mirors on no specific info (which is like taking
the 5th amendment) IMHO they are mostly interested
in fishing customers out of the suckers' pond
for instance, there is a guy in the east handling
this Cywa and Figli (or something like that) and
a friend of mine went up to see him... the guy
presented compelling and concrete reasons and
evidence to him why they were awesome, special,
and maybe even somewhat unique so he bought one
(and it was expensive, but not ridiculously so)
and you look at what Alex has done over the last
decade... how many exclusives he's brought over
and things like modeling an older and awesome Polka
tuned accordion and having a new one built as close
to it as possible for the people who really want
that, but can't find a good Vintage one
and all the people who ordered a Serenellini and
later a FisItalia or Master reedless based on my
reviews, first hand reports from the factories in Italy,
and extensive posts here in RMMS years ago
all those people had serious access to detailed information
and received full disclosure when they asked questions...
they were able to order what they really wanted as a result,
and not a one has been unhappy with their accordion
really, having seen that, you would think the accordion
re-sellers here in the USA would have more faith in
the intelligence of the customer base
so saying "$12 Grand" then being Vague or just
saying "yeah my Italian factory etc. etc." just
doesn't do much for me.
ciao
Ventura
actually when the awesome Anders Bakke was importing
Baile accordions from China, he would take them
apart and do stuff like tape the inside of the bellows,
varnish unfinished parts, tighten the tuning up,
and other such improvements before re-selling them...
as a result, they were likely the only Chinese
accordions that were somewhat reliable and a decent
value for their money... he eventually got them
to make production changes at the factory to the
ones he ordered that improved their reliability
so even at the budget level of price, a good and
dedicated importer can make a legitimate difference...
frankly, anyone who had a chance to buy one of Ander's
Baile's, over cheaper Excalibur or Rosetti or
E. Soprani or whatever name Chinese Ebay junker
was lucky to have that opportunity and hopefully they
made an informed choice
Medley'itis
only say that I am keeping my wallet back in my pocket for now and
will not be placing any orders in the foreseeable future. I thank you
for your input and feedback.
ciao.accordion
ahh... sorry medley
didn't mean to put you off...
perhaps we can still be of help... let's
give this a try...
1> what kind of Music do you most like (or intend) to play?
2> what kind of Accordion are you using now?
(reed configuration, tuning, overall quality)
3> what do you feel is the greatest limitation of your
current accordion that is holding you back?
4> do you (or hope and intend to) play professionally?
5> what general area of the world are you in?
(perhaps we have a member nearby who could let
you try some good ones... or there may be a club
in your area we know about)
6> have you played any really really good accordions?
and (if you did) what did you like best about them?
7> do you feel you know enough about Accordion types
to specify the reed configuration and tuning you want?
8> and how are you physically? can you handle a big, heavy
full boat Professional accordion, or would you prefer
something smaller/lighter but still professional quality?
9> what's your favorite color? (lol)
10> of the accordions you found on the Internet, which
specific models have caught your eye and do they
have some common denominators as per specifications?
with the answers to these questions, people can direct
you to models and types of accordions that would be
suited (or at least close) to fulfilling your needs...
and as i said, we may know someone (or one of us)
who are close enough to you to let you have some
hands on help and exposure to good models.
the more informed you are, the better decision you
will make... buying a NEW accordion should be well
considered, as it will take many YEARS of use to get
your moneys worth from it... so you want to get it
right (or damn close) the first time
Ciao
Ventura
Medley'itis
Thanks for putting together an accordion purchase questionnaire for
me. I'm grateful for the time and effort you put into this.
Unfortunately, due to recent unforeseen circumstances, I won't be
making a purchase anytime soon, so I'll have to postpone my answers
for another time. Thanks again for trying.
Ike Milligan
"Medley'itis" <medle...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:bf39f250-6361-492e...@q14g2000vbi.googlegroups.com...
Having glanced over the thread I will say that the questions wer too simple
and the answers too complicated.
Not meant as criticism.
When buying an accordion, you can't usually go by brand name. For a new
accordion, do not buy an "off-the-shelf" item, regardless of brand.
The problem is, the accordions are now "made to sell" to make money for the
seller and the maker. You will be hard-pressed to find anyone with the
patience and the knowledge to help you get anything better than that. I have
had many people waste my time about new accordions. I would have to take a
deposit, and speak to the maker. No one wants to do that so far. If I had
about $50,000 I would get some in stock to my specs, and wait for buyers,
not like other dealers who are buying as cheap as possible and trading on
faded reputations of once decnet brand-names, and not like other dealers who
are having cheap accordions with their own custom brands.
You absolutely cannot get a very good new accordion by looking for a brand
in stock. Even if you tell a dealer you want hand-made reeds, you might be
disappointed. You could put good reeds in a badly designed accordion, and it
would be a waste, if the internal acoustics and the mechanics are less than
optimal. you could even have hand-made reeds, which are no better than the
reed maker is. I have seen or heard about all these problems from
professional players and looking at recently made accordions, and hearing
about what accordion dealers hgave done to make money. The dealer is in
business to make money, period. He is mostly not imbued with professional
ethics.
The right accordion maker could help you, but only if you know whom to
trust, and what questions to ask, and put money opn the table. Otherwise the
big names mostly have for you the off-the-shelf stuff. They also may have
custom models for big name players that have the well-known name on it, but
inside customized. These players have the experience and the taste to know
what to get.
Len Killick
>
> The problem is, the accordions are now "made to sell" to make money for the
> seller and the maker. You will be hard-pressed to find anyone with the
> patience and the knowledge to help you get anything better than that. I have
> had many people waste my time about new accordions. I would have to take a
> deposit, and speak to the maker. No one wants to do that so far.
Ike, don't paint the whole world so badly... I keep a small stock of
accordeons which I have selected as being good (even if not always to
my personal taste), and my sales are around 60% from these and 40%
from custom finished instruments after (sometimes long) discussion
with the customer about what he/she is trying to get from their new
instrument and then making special order(s) with manufacturers.
.. I know, it doesn't really pay enough for most "dealers", but that's
the way I like to do it!
>
> You absolutely cannot get a very good new accordion by looking for a brand
> in stock. Even if you tell a dealer you want hand-made reeds, you might be
> disappointed. You could put good reeds in a badly designed accordion, and it
> would be a waste, if the internal acoustics and the mechanics are less than
> optimal. you could even have hand-made reeds, which are no better than the
> reed maker is.
>
Agreed, you have to be very careful just going by manufacturer's name.
Len Killick
David Kastrup
> The problem is, the accordions are now "made to sell" to make money
> for the seller and the maker.
Uh, what else is new? Solid instruments nowadays are often the result
of cheap mass production 70 or more years ago (not limited to
accordions). Because cheap mass production meant assembly lines with
humans, not robots. Humans compete, and humans improve over time.
Also, the large numbers produced statistically relevant fluctuations in
quality: one could determine what kind of stuff was an improvement and
what not.
Hohner's accordion turnout is much less than in their heyday, China
production or not.
Nowadays, you can for about the same amount of money get a cheap
mass-produced early 20th century violin from Markneukirchen (almost the
same area as the Harmona/Weltmeister origin) with a "Stradivarius" fake
sticker inside of it refurbished, or get a new violin from a good
Chinese violin maker who got his education in the old continent (sure,
"old continent" in the context of China is hyperbole). Quality is about
comparable.
With regard to Hohner, some would claim that China is still playing
catch-up.
> The right accordion maker could help you, but only if you know whom to
> trust, and what questions to ask, and put money opn the
> table. Otherwise the big names mostly have for you the off-the-shelf
> stuff. They also may have custom models for big name players that have
> the well-known name on it, but inside customized. These players have
> the experience and the taste to know what to get.
Got a story here from a retired accordion maker. Viktor Romanko was
here for a concert tour, and he had an automobile accident. Nothing too
bad, but his accordion got damaged (I think he was still playing Jupiter
at that time). This accordion maker (and a few other specialists, I
think maybe also from Hohner) conferred on the instrument, and decided
that they could not get the mechanics straightened out. The instrument
was dispatched to the best specialists in Italy. They threw their hat
in. Finally, it had to be taken back to Russia to get it back to
playing order.
The mechanics were a complete incomprehensible mess of various octave
couplers and stuff. Quite built to specification, utterly unusual, and
not readily sorted out for repairs.
Romanko is one of those players who get paid for displaying brand names
(nowadays Hohner), but the likelihood of his instrument being off the
shelf is not all too high, even though they let him _comment_ on the off
the shelf instruments.
Actually, I have a "built to specification" instrument (though not my
own specs) here as well, with a rather opaque bass mechanism.
<URL:http://home.arcor.de/david.kastrup/thoeni.jpg>. And I went through
several accordion makers before I found someone who reworked it to my
satisfaction. Custom jobs often have "Kinderkrankheiten", stuff that
would get straightened out before or during mass production.
--
David Kastrup
Iam
wrote:
This has been a really, really good informative thread. Now here's a
challenge for those who may be willing to step up to the plate and
take a swing. I'd like to see a list of all the known Italian
accordion manufacturers with a sublist below each of them listing the
brands they turn out. Anyone up to this?
Iam
Nuts. I didn't think so (but I wasn't holding my breath either).
David Kastrup
Is your Google broken? Searching for "accordion brands" gives as the
first hit <URL:http://www.accordionlinks.com/manufacturer.html>. No
necessity to "take a challenge" or "step up to the plate" or "take a
swing" or "be up to this" or similar grandiose words.
Just paint your fence, Tom Sawyer.
--
David Kastrup
Iam
I've been all over the internet trying to find answers to the question
I posed above (maybe you need to read it again David) and something
like the link you posted has been the only thing that has come up. It
doesn't answer the question.
I'd suggest that you respond with a better attitude and something of
substance next time and spare everyone in this group the (totally
unnecessary) condescension.
David Kastrup
> On Sep 8, 9:25�am, David Kastrup <d...@gnu.org> wrote:
>> Iam <jtb...@gmail.com> writes:
>> > On Sep 3, 9:23�am, Iam <jtb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> >> This has been a really, really good informative thread. Now here's
>> >> a challenge for those who may be willing to step up to the plate
>> >> and take a swing. I'd like to see a list of all the known Italian
>> >> accordion manufacturers with a sublist below each of them listing
>> >> the brands they turn out. Anyone up to this?
>>
>> > Nuts. I didn't think so (but I wasn't holding my breath either).
>>
>> Is your Google broken? �Searching for "accordion brands" gives as the
>> first hit <URL:http://www.accordionlinks.com/manufacturer.html>. �No
>> necessity to "take a challenge" or "step up to the plate" or "take a
>> swing" or "be up to this" or similar grandiose words.
>>
>> Just paint your fence, Tom Sawyer.
>
> I've been all over the internet trying to find answers to the question
> I posed above (maybe you need to read it again David) and something
> like the link you posted has been the only thing that has come up. It
> doesn't answer the question.
The above link includes "References
The following references were used in the list of manufacturers
above:"
Including several lists of Italian manufacturers.
> I'd suggest that you respond with a better attitude and something of
> substance next time and spare everyone in this group the (totally
> unnecessary) condescension.
You mean like "I wasn't holding my breath either"?
--
David Kastrup
Iam
You jumped to a conclusion there and were completely incorrect. That
remark simply meant that the question was a tall order (that I knew
upon posting and was acknowledging as such) and that I was not
surprised that there had been no responses.
Ike Milligan
"Iam" <jtb...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4daf961c-85ed-4519...@j19g2000yqk.googlegroups.com...
(IKE)
Your question doesn't mkae sense becuase the answer will have no practical
value to you.
Ike Milligan
(IKE)
No one cares about your research, and please don't take that as a snub. You
seem obsessed with brands. It's not like you buy a Mercedes vs. a Chrysler.
Brands really mean very little. If you can't tell the difference between a
good and bad new accordion instantly, then having one brand vs. another
brand will not be anything you need. I will post more about this later, but
a friend just called on the phone and I have to go out, since I have very
few friends. People who post here that have knowledge have mostly better
things to do than to try to get this idea into your thick skull. (Please
just ignore that remark.)
Ike Milligan
"Iam" <jtb...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:c24a0f1b-1e1d-4afc...@w36g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
(IKE)
ciao.accordion
>
> ......................... I will post
> to go out, since I have very few friends.
lol
hey Ike, i like ya man...
hey you wanna hang out at Lucia's with me sometime
and I'll buy the eats (wheaton)
actually, i do need to call you on Biz
ciao
Ventura
ciao.accordion
>> challenge for those who may be willing to step up to the plate and
>> take a swing. I'd like to see a list of all the known Italian
>> accordion manufacturers with a sublist below each of them listing the
>> brands they turn out. Anyone up to this?
>
> Nuts. I didn't think so (but I wasn't holding my breath either).
well i been thinking on it
first, let me see if i have this right...
you would like folks to give a shout out regarding
Accordion Manufacturers that they KNOW FOR SURE
actually exist in the flesh brick and mortar
meaning they've been there, seen that, or damn
close to it
and second, BTW, what do I call you?
i might start by mentioning the places that
i know have died since my last published report
from Italy (articles still available in the archives)
the two greatest have fallen, meaning the last 2
that were actually totally vertically integrated
manufacturers
the CEMEX/Excelsior company was sold to Pigini,
and all the things they wanted from it were moved
from the Cemex factory to Pigini's factory... the factory
itself was idle for a time, but i've heard Bompezzo
moved in there... the Monarch brand was mostly
sourced from CEMEX
the SEM factory just up from ORLA was closed, then at
bankruptcy proceedings, certain intellectual property and
branding assets were purchased by Menghini (then they
tried to backdate and re-write history to make it
seem a merger) this factory is a dungeon compared
to the ORLA plant, which was both state of the art
AND steeped in tradition (perhaps the last hands-on
active applied cellulose/celluloid unit was sited there)
the respected ZERO-SETTE folded... even with the long-standing
PETOSA contract and the perpetual right to sell GIULIETTI
branded accordions in Eastern Europe, and their near
dominance of the Scandinavian Accordion Market, they couldn't
stay in business
the MASTER front-end MIDI installation and export facility
run by Max was a casualty of his association with the
"Monterey" people and the Gabbanelli lawsuit... Max also
tried to re-juvenate the once famous Ranco-Antonio but it
was just a lot of smoke, rebranded Fisitalia's,
and an inebriated spawn of the old family who let
his picture be taken looking all awesome (ROFLMAO)
the people who R&D and manufacture MASTER products still exist
ELKA is dead, and very much deserved it
__________________________________________________________
the COOPERFISA is supposedly an outgrowth of the school
and training program, and i believe it does exist as
i just can't believe Gary would have bought one and
endorsed them if they weren't legit (i trust him)
Beltuna exists as a manufacturing entity
i am personally eyeball certain of the following:
Guerrini and Figli (on the road leading up to
Castlefidardo, you see it on the right before you
get to the Hotel Pardo (formerly the Crucianelli Factory))
i've been in there and am still regretting i didn't
bring that art-case trip musette home with me one trip
CI and EMME grew into FIsItalia... began as a
specialty repair shop, expanded to a contract manufacturer,
has their own line now and still builds for other brands too...
i have their Woody (special 38 i think is the offical name)
Serenellini (down the hill from Loreto) a master craftsman
with a tremendous ear and attention to detail... i believe
much of the Concerto contract is sourced there
ORLA exists and is a heck of a company... well managed
and proud of their excellent R&D dept and heritage
i know that
Fantini and Victoria are associated somehow, they have
showrooms, i havn't seen their actual factory, but do
know Vistoria is capable of turning out highly customized
and specialty accordions (extended keyboards, etc.) so
it's a pretty safe bet they exist
Polverini has a showroom, i have not seen their factory
Bugari has a showroom, i have not seen their factory
Bompezzo has a showroom
Italiacinte has a showroom and factory (straps, accessories)
Fisart has a factory in the old town (i saw it was active,
but i did not go in)
PIGINI is perhaps now the most vertically integrated
manufacturer, but this is by modern measures... they
definitely exist and are a powerful company... their
largest contract is, i believe, with E.Deffner
(Titano, Pan) as well as their flagship Pigini line
and now their less expensive Excelsior line... i havn't
visited them yet either
Roland bought the old SIEL company decades ago to hedge
manufacturing flexibility to the fluctuations of European
money markets... they created the E-series (intelligent)
this grew into the Roland Europe of today and the V-Accordion
KORG also has a factory in this area, their i series
came from this R&D department
for decades no accordions were built in Germany by Hohner,
then they made it look like the old factory was working
again (but it was just a showroom and smoke and mirrors)
but eventually they are supposed to have actually re-started
some production there (or just finishing stuff from China?)
i don't know... others have visited and reported it looks
real again... hard to say... Hohner has not been
european owned for a long long time
there are boutique brands still in Castlefi, meaning
old timers buy a basic unit (akin to a "Bare-Bones" computer)
then finish it over a years period or so, sell it then
do another one... these are often really cool, very nice
playing perfectly tweaked reeds etc. labors of love...
you have to play around town to find them or have a
shot at buying one
__________________________________________________________
other information leads me to believe Baffetti has a "corner"
inside someone's factory (limited specialty line)
Menghini is now Suoni (maybe the new name will fool
people for awhile... lol) they control Paolo Soprani,
E. Soprani, Scandalli, SEM and other names
apparently there is a small, independant factory start-up
for both the Gabbanelli and Piermaria contracts... it is on
my list of must see places next trip
this is to the best of my activities and personal knowledge
Ciao
Ventura
ciao.accordion
one thing i did in CastleFi was get my hands on
the yellow pages first off... and i laughed my
ass off when i saw how FEW of the names we THINK
exist, in the USA, actually do in fact...
in 2000 there were less than 2 dozen listings
and several of those were just specialists
(action manufacturing, buttons and keytops,
bellows, bodies, and other specialties
who then feed the assemblies to "factories")
also, most Reed prep and waxing is done in peoples
homes working as independant sub-contractors...
few "factories" actually do their own reedwork
other than final tuning
ciao
Ventura
David Kastrup
Not to mention the bellows. There is a reason Castlefidardo is the
center of accordion making. It's not just that there are factories.
Lots of old experienced hands work on some accordion parts in their
spare time to make ends meet a bit better. Lots of backyard production
happening, and some important brands started (and ceased) that way, by
some factory worker setting up his personal production after work, and
the whole family pitching in.
--
David Kastrup
alexrat
>
> this is to the best of my activities and personal knowledge
>
> Ciao
>
> Ventura
V
You mentioned Siwa and Figlie. I think I have that spelled right. A
friend of mine (like yours) seems very happy with his.
Another friend was very impressed with a Verdi, which seemed to have
been made up towards Cooperfisa (?)
I'd be interested in knowing more about either of these companies.
Alessandrini would be another family table type operation. I thought
reasonable and uh assembled well.
Ventura. Another fact finding trip is in order.
BOba
Iam
wrote:
Thanks a lot for the response Ventura - just what I was hoping for. Is
the Max you mention of MASTER related to the Polverini operation at
all?
Iam
ciao.accordion
last year that Max finally got married and had
surfaced working at Polverini
Len updated me last night that the Dino Baffetti brand
has expanded, modernized, and has a swell place
of their own
http://www.baffetti-accordions.com/photoshow.htm
he knows for sure 'cause he took the photo's
>
> Thanks a lot for the response Ventura - just what I was hoping for. Is
> the Max you mention of MASTER related to the Polverini operation at
> all?
>
> Iam
once again... what do we call you?
iam just doesn't work for sayin' howdy... it
either reminds me of the brand (Iam's)
or just makes me wonder if your name is Sam
(as in Sam I Am)
ciao
Ventura
Iam
wrote:
Iam (as in Liam). Hope that meets with your approval -
ciao.accordion
thanks... makes it easier...
now I know 2 Liam's...
my friend is from Cork, Ireland, and plays professionally...
recently added an FR-1 Roland to his kit...
nice fella too...
ciao
Ventura