Heavy Accordion

[Nicki Cohen]

I am new to this group and listserv. I am thrilled to find a group interested in selling and swapping accordions. I am a very small-framed female, and 120 button accordions are just way too heavy for me. I have a used Organinaire 24 bass button that works well for me right now when performing, but it lacks a contra-bass line of buttons and only provides me a with a limited number of tonalities, chords, and keys. It is 9 lbs. but the sound is not the best.

I am practicing at home on a new Rossetti 48 bass button with a two and a half octave keyboard, but it is too heavy right now for me to perform with. I get muscle spasms if I practice it too much. I like the quality of sound much better on the 48 bass button instrument.

I understand that by adding another reed, the accordion will naturally increase. I have looked for a 32 bass button accordion, which might give me a bit more liberty with tonalities, keys, and buttons, but the ones on eBay look cheap. I also am not sure the 32 bass will be much of an improvement over the 24 button in sound.

Any suggestions or comments would be welcome.

[Shelia Lee]

Sounds like you need a Hohner 48 bass. they are much lighter than italian accordions - and have the counter-bass row like you are looking for.

ALSO - consider the Roland Fr1x. It is extremely light - more than 48 basses - same keyboard as a 48 bass and you get cool electronic tones as well. Look up the specs and listen on Youtube.

I see both - Hohner -$1495 and Roland about $2195. Much cheaper than the acoustic accordions.

Call me

Shelia Lee

281-788-6667-

[Nicki Cohen]

Thank you, Shelia. I prefer the acoustic sounds though. I'm old school that way. I will check out the Hohner 48 bass. 

[Daniel Kott]

I have a Gabenelli Ethnic accordion with contra bass buttons. it is not heavy and plays well, but is limited on voices. The Roland FR1x that I have has many voices, but is MIDI. I happen to like the world of MIDI music, but some acoustic players do not. Many of the professional are now using the Roland MIDi ( V ) accordion as they are very versatile and have good sounds.

[Nicki Cohen]

Thank you, Daniel. I will look up the Gabenelli. At this point in my accordion development, that should work fine. I will learn to navigate the various reeds/voices later. Do you think the Gabrinelli  would be heavier than the Hohner 48 button that Shiela recommended? As you can see from my picture, I am a little person. 

[Daniel Kott]

Hello again

Gabenelli used to have an outlet in Houston. The accordions are made in Italy. There was a problem after a death between the American family members and the Italian family members that lead to a law suit. So I do not know where it stands now. They are very ornate accordions and therefore used alot by professionals who want a good looking accordion. They are well made and sound good. The ethnic series is lightweight. It looks to me lately that Hohner may be selling them now. You can see mine on youtube - channel mecatx in several videos of me playing it. Also, there are many Conjunto players on Youtube playing Gabenelli's Good Luck! If you cannot find a new one. there should be some used ones on the market. I teach young children, so it is important to have light weigth accordions. ( 12 pounds or less ) 

[Nicki Cohen]

Thank you, Daniel!

[Nicki Cohen]

By the way, those Gabbanelli accordions are gorgeous!  Really beautiful. Where are the best places to look for used Gabbenelliis, along with this website?

[Bill Palmer]

Good luck finding a used Gabbanelli. They are tremendously expensive, even used ones. They don't make many piano accordions any more. Most of their output is in three-row diatonic instruments.

In addition to Chromatic Button Accordion, I do play piano accordion. I played professionally for several years. I think Shelia Lee's solution may be the best.

BTW, contrary to Dr. Kott's assumption that the ornate accordions Hohner is selling may be made by Gabbanelli is completely wrong. It's a very complex issue that really can't be discussed on this forum.

I should also add that the "Gabbanelli outlet that used to be in Houston" is the headquarters of the company and is STILL located in Houston.

[Daniel Kott]

Always interested in complex issues that I am completely wrong on, expecially when it is to complex to discuss. The Gabenelli estate and company is very complex. I own two very fine Gabenelli accordions that I would not part with. The price when I got them was about the same as other good accordions. I agree that Shelia is a good contact for light weight accordions.

[Bill Palmer]

Dr. Kott:

With all due respect, I must say that this forum is not the place to air the differences between various members of the Gabbanelli family. The late John Gabbanelli was a very close personal friend of my family, and I also have the good fortune to know his son, Mike. I met John just a few weeks after he set foot on US soil, and I remember when he brought in his first diatonic instruments from Italy. However, there are things going on both in the US and in Italy that are very sensitive issues, and I don't believe that Mike or any of the other parties involved would want them disclosed on this web site.

Daniel Kott said:

Always interested in complex issues that I am completely wrong on, expecially when it is to complex to discuss. The Gabenelli estate and company is very complex. I own two very fine Gabenelli accordions that I would not part with. The price when I got them was about the same as other good accordions. I agree that Shelia is a good contact for light weight accordions.