Accordion Care and Maintenance

[SamuelBLupowitz]

I've been super absent from the forum lately and I miss all y'all! Hope you're well.

 

So, I dug out my grandfather's accordion recently. It's been in my possession for close to two decades but I never try to play it. But I was working on the keys parts for a friend's album release show, and decided I'd surprise him by walking out front with the accordion for the finale (video below, don't look at my hands to see how much I mess up by the end). It was a treat, even just playing some simple right-hand-only pads and guide tones unamplified, and I'm thinking I might want to dig into the instrument a little more to add it to my arsenal.

 

But this accordion is probably in the neighborhood of 80 years old. It needs a little TLC -- some sticky keys, some questionable tuning and voicing. Does anyone know ... how to get started with that? I could look around for someone in my area that services accordions, of course, but I know there are a few folks on here who play professionally, and I thought you might have some pearls of wisdom to share.

 

Happy spooky season, y'all! Here's me busting out the extra axe on a song about Star Wars.

 

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[Al Coda]

Interesting thread !

 

I inherited pa´s italian, possibly from 1950s or 60s, accordion which I didn´try up to now.

I´d have to practise I fear ...

But it´s a nice instrument and I remember how good it sounded when pa played w/ his trio,- accordion, acoustic bass and guitar.

This accordion has seen a lot of gigs in the past and I don´t have any clue how to care for.

It´s still in it´s case and I cannot decide for selling.

Have to make pics soon.

Maybe some experts around here ...

 

 

A.C.

[Outkaster]

2 hours ago, SamuelBLupowitz said:

I've been super absent from the forum lately and I miss all y'all! Hope you're well.

 

So, I dug out my grandfather's accordion recently. It's been in my possession for close to two decades but I never try to play it. But I was working on the keys parts for a friend's album release show, and decided I'd surprise him by walking out front with the accordion for the finale (video below, don't look at my hands to see how much I mess up by the end). It was a treat, even just playing some simple right-hand-only pads and guide tones unamplified, and I'm thinking I might want to dig into the instrument a little more to add it to my arsenal.

 

But this accordion is probably in the neighborhood of 80 years old. It needs a little TLC -- some sticky keys, some questionable tuning and voicing. Does anyone know ... how to get started with that? I could look around for someone in my area that services accordions, of course, but I know there are a few folks on here who play professionally, and I thought you might have some pearls of wisdom to share.

 

Happy spooky season, y'all! Here's me busting out the extra axe on a song about Star Wars.

 

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=315&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsamuel.lupowitz%2Fvideos%2F1553994285102487%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowFullScreen="true"></iframe>

 

 

 

IMG_9245.MOV 31.6 MB · 1 download  

 

 

Sam there is a music store in Batavia that works on them.  That's the closest I know of.  Other than that there is Cintioli's in Phiilly.

[Mighty Motif Max]

Professional accordionist here! Sticky keys can be fixed yourself in many cases. The keys on most piano accordions are held in by a metal rod running inside the keyboard. Do make sure to keep track of the order since you’ll have to put them back on one by one. Be gentle as these old instruments had fairly fragile parts to begin with in some cases. And be very slow with pulling that rod out or keys will go everywhere.

 

For tuning and reed work, that’s usually best left to a qualified repair person, because it can turn into rewaxing, filing, and all sorts of fun stuff that can do significant damage if not done right.

 

Other basic fixes that you can do yourself include key/button replacement, sticking buttons (a rod in the bass machine is most likely either bent or has jostled out of place), and bellows repair (bellows tape specifically is best as opposed to duct tape). Internal stuff I mostly leave to the pros.

 

Other comments...it can be quite an undertaking to find replacement keys for old accordions. So many manufacturers made their own slightly unique keys, and so it’s a challenge to find a matching piece, even if most of the measurements line up. 

A lot can be fixed with a light brushing and vacuuming in terms of the key and button mechanisms. Do NOT take a vacuum near the reed blocks however.

 

Final one - FRM Enterprises likes to sell parts with a minimum order of around $150 as they’re an industrial supplier...and even then you don’t have a guarantee that keys, in particular, will actually match what you wanted even if you gave measurements. So forget them if you’re looking for just one part or something. Not great to deal with in that scenario.

 

This website has some good general guidelines for repairs, which is what I’ve followed when I needed to do something (although again, I wouldn’t recommend touching tuning or voicing, or reed repair). https://accordionrevival.com

You can get some specialized tools from Dale Wise/Accordion Plus to make things easier as well.

[yannis D]

For simple cleaning contacts you might do it yourself but for the metallic parts or anything more sophisticated I would suggest to go to a specialist or you can damage it as I damaged my Hammond melodica when trying to adjust a detuned note: i just broke it... These things are more fragile than they show 

 

 

 

[Doerfler]

6 hours ago, Outkaster said:

Sam there is a music store in Batavia that works on them.  That's the closest I know of.  Other than that there is Cintioli's in Phiilly.

Benny Cintioli passed January 5, 2020. RIP

 

[skipeb3]

Accordions don't age well if they're left alone, unplayed for years. They need to be played. They're not like a Telecaster you can put under the bed for 40 years...

Wax degrades, corrosion can build on reeds & actions, bellows dry out, etc. Definitely take it to an experienced repair firm if you want to make it right.

JMHO...

[KuruPrionz]

Sorry, I can't resist!

 

What is perfect pitch?\

Perfect pitch is when you throw a banjo into the dumpster, it hits an accordion and they both break. 

 

OK, I feel better now... 

[Outkaster]

18 hours ago, Doerfler said:

Benny Cintioli passed January 5, 2020. RIP

 

My buddy Tom and I have taken pictures every time I was there. It was funny.  Supposedly he had mob ties and was financed by the mafia.  The place was hilarious.  The amount of shit they talked in there was amazing.

[Shamanzarek]

I have an accordion that I got in the early 80s. I never seriously played it but pulled it for some recording about a year ago and it still works great. I like to record using acoustic instruments when possible and the accordion can add a subtle warmth when mixed in with other instruments.

[re Pete]

20 hours ago, Outkaster said:

My buddy Tom and I have taken pictures every time I was there. It was funny.  Supposedly he had mob ties and was financed by the mafia.  The place was hilarious.  The amount of shit they talked in there was amazing.

 

It was a crazy spot. I went to the original I guess by Oxford circle. On a Friday was filled with cover or rock band musicians getting gear fixed or new.

Never heard of mob ties. I did get my Real book there under the counter.

Besides a regular accordion, I played a thing called an Accorgan which cost me 2K with a Nova amp associated with it. The worst amp in the world. A built in oil can of some sort for a half ass leslie effect, but when you played anything beyond soft the amp heaved out a huge distortion. You'd think the speaker was blown, but the electronics were worthless. I remember taking it twice up to Brooklyn at the factory to get it fixed. They knew it was a piece of sh_t the moment I brought it in. Never got it working normal. The Accorgan had to get the electronics fixed or contacts cleaned every so often and I took it to Cintiolli's a couple times as they had a great repair team.

Playing the thing through my 145 sounded great though.

I mentioned to Bennie about selling them and he looked at me like I was crazy. He loved accordion. So I still have them somewhere.

He sponsored a concert for a jazz accordionist name Art Van Damme who was the first guy I saw playing jazz and I got into it.  

There is this spot in Philly I don't know much about. With the mummers lots of accordions around. 

https://www.libertybellows.com/

Squeeze on

 

[Outkaster]

It was a crazy spot.  I guess it was in North Philly. We used to come in by way of Trenton NJ so it was about 45 mins away.   My buddy would grab Hammonds from them all the time.  They had a ton of gear there,  something was always being dropped off there for trade or whatever.   It’s to bad Benny passed away. I hadn’t seen him in a while. I have a picture somewhere of Danny Federici with one of those Accorgans.  I heard they weren’t reliable but people did play them through Leslie speakers.

[D. Gauss]

never gets old. and yes, i have an accordion.

[ShadowMan]

You might reach out to Liberty Bellows in South Philadelphia. It’s really nice accordion shop -  I had great purchasing and service experiences with them. Talk to Mike, the owner. 

[KuruPrionz]

Today there was a fellow busking outside the Value Village. Apparently he had a battery powered amplifier, it was loud!

A top-notch accordion player, chops for days. I was rushing through life at that point and stopped briefly about 100 yards away to listen. 

 

Sounded awesome. I didn't ask him who serviced his accordion, I don't know of anybody nearby and this is NW Washington state, probably good techs closer to Sir Samuel. 

[SamuelBLupowitz]

I forgot I posted this thread and then Life Happened. Thanks, all! Especially for the Liberty Bellows recs -- if my leads in my area don't pan out, my brother lives in Philly and I'm there pretty often, so that's a good option. Also would have been close to where my grandfather lived when he got the thing in 19*mumble mumble.*

 

Thanks all. Now trying to figure out the easiest way to start playing it *amplified* ... pray for my wallet.

[ShadowMan]

I’ve mounted a couple of lav mics on my older Hohner Student model, phantom powered from and feeding into my keyboard mixer. Works OK, but not great.

 

You can also have a multi mic system installed inside the accordion with volume and balance controls… terminating on a 1/4” jack.  I’m planning on getting one of the more moderately priced ones done on my next trip down to Liberty. (I’m sure your local shop can install something like this as well.)

 

Good luck!

[Mighty Motif Max]

19 minutes ago, ShadowMan said:

You can also have a multi mic system installed inside the accordion with volume and balance controls… terminating on a 1/4” jack.  I’m planning on getting one of the more moderately priced ones done on my next trip down to Liberty. (I’m sure your local shop can install something like this as well.)

These are great - good ones are quite expensive. Currently I just do a stereo XY SDC mic pair or, alternately, just mic the treble and bass sides separately with some dynamic mics (NOT SM57/58's if possible - great mics but they amplify the wrong frequencies for accordion IMO). For recording condensers are better but live you might not want to go that route if you have a loud stage. Run the two channels through a mixer, add some reverb and compression, and that's my live gig setup.

 

Something to think about - you can do a lot with guitar/fx pedals on accordion. I use a Line6 M13 unit for this purpose. My favorite is adding some delay on the treble side for band stuff, and sometimes an octaver effect. If you do external mics instead of internal pickups this works fine as well, just use the XLR to 1/4" adapters like I do.

[mynameisdanno]

12 hours ago, SamuelBLupowitz said:

I forgot I posted this thread and then Life Happened. Thanks, all! Especially for the Liberty Bellows recs -- if my leads in my area don't pan out, my brother lives in Philly and I'm there pretty often, so that's a good option. Also would have been close to where my grandfather lived when he got the thing in 19*mumble mumble.*

 

Thanks all. Now trying to figure out the easiest way to start playing it *amplified* ... pray for my wallet.

 

I'm not sure exactly which model it is, but my Petosa Little Pro Xt has a "Harmonik" brand mic system in it with individual volume and tone for LH and RH.  Sounds great, and very good rejection, so gain-before-feedback is excellent and other loud instruments on stage aren't bleeding noticeably into the accordion.  Active output, so it works just fine plugged into the Key Largo.  Needs a new 9V every 10-15 gigs or so, as long as I remember to unplug it after soundcheck.

[Chris Link]

I picked up a two octave student model at an estate sale years ago. I use it on a few songs with the country band. (Why doesn’t “Callin’ Baton Rouge” have accordion on the original recording?) It adds a lovely sound that’s like nothing else. Plus it’s a great visual. I can’t help but smile.

 

There was a certificate for completion of some home study level one filled out in grade school-looking cursive. I always imagined that once he did that he got the guitar he really wanted and never touched the thing again. 

[murphybridget]

Welcome back! Your accordion surprise sounds cool. For TLC, seek local accordion pros for repairs. They'll revive the vintage magic. Enjoy your musical journey and spooky season!