accordion advice requested

[jwgh]

I mentioned to my mother tonight that I wanted to buy an accordion next year, and she became very enthusiastic about buying me an accordion RIGHT NOW for Christmas, which is a pretty good deal!

So I told her I would do some research, and as there are a surprising number of accordion players on my 'friends' list, I thought I would ask your advice first. I haven't played one before (apart from fiddling around with plorkwort's a little in Boston once).

The one music store around that I know has some accordions is this place: http://www.lucamusic.com/accordions.htm so if those prices seem reasonable, and if any of those are accordions that I potentially should actually buy, then I might do that.

More generally, I'm wondering what I should look for in an accordion, if it's better to buy used or new, how much I should expect to pay to get a decent one, and, you know, questions like that.

Comments

[annarama.livejournal.com]

yayyy!! first, i just want to say that it's awesome you're gonna take up the accordion! :)

i suggest buying a new accordion first. the problem with old accordions is that they often have defects that would make it difficult for a beginner to work around... stuff like holes in the bellows, loose reeds, sticky keys, non-functioning buttons, etc. and when you're starting it's hard enough to manage coordinating the bass buttons, piano buttons, and squeezing, let alone be thinking about how to make up for the shortcomings of the used accordion. in other words, it's a lot easier to get a nice sound out of a new accordion! :)

new accordions can be pretty pricey, and i'm not suggesting buying an expensive one right off the bat. my first accordion was a cheap (but new!) chinese accordion (made by 'Parrot') and it cost $375. surprisingly the store i bought it from 15 years ago still sells the exact model for the exact same price. i would suggest looking for something in the $300-$400 range.

cases/gig bags: they usually come with the case, and if you want you can front an extra $25 or so to get a gig bag with shoulder straps (like backpacks). gig bags are awesome and definitely something you should get. i use my gig bag exclusively so the case just sits in the closet. in fact, i have no use for the case... so if you want to save some closet space, you might consider trying to make a deal with the shop to give you the gig bag instead of the case, or for a reduced price. they can use the cases for other accordions, usually.

hopefully someone in the shop can help you try them out. strap them on and play a few notes just to hear how they sound and decide what you like. then start looking at the price tags. once you've narrowed it down to one you want to buy, play every key and button to make sure they all work.

bass buttons: don't get less than 48. i recommend 48, 60, or 72. my bf chris says that 72 is ideal ("you're not going to run into anything you can't play.") but whatever you do, don't get a 12-bass... it's just too frustrating when you are playing with other people and you don't have enough buttons to play along with them. you probably don't want to jump right into a 120-bass right away, either, because they would just be too overwhelming (and heavy!)...

i hope this helps!

[jwgh]

For sure! Thanks a lot. I'll take a picture of what I end up getting, and eventually hopefully I will be up to recording something.

[plorkwort.livejournal.com]

There is a lot of traffic in rec.music-makers.squeezebox. Unfortunately, most of it is of the "RETRACT YOUR LIES!!1!" variety.

[knifeyspooney.livejournal.com]

My experience with Luca Music was that there were douchebags, about 5 years ago when I was looking to buy my second guitar they really treated me like shit because I didn't know what I was looking for. I didn't end up buying from them and haven't been back since.

I can't think of any other places locally that sell them; but take an hour to call all the music stores in the phone book and find out. I got mine at Salvation Army and that ended up being a can of worms, with a few reeds having noise problems that I didn't discover till later. I couldn't afford to spend more than $150 so I had to go that route, but if you can pony up $300 I'd say the Rosetta 48 would be a good choice. Though if I had $400 the 3/4-size 120 bass is what I personally would get, tasty.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Play an Accordion - Go to Jail. That's the Law!