What model Bugari?

[saundersbp]

Thanks Paul, pleased to appear to be right! I have always assumed by looking at the insanely complex converter mechanism that you shouldn't meddle with any buttons when doing a mechanical change!

In terms of force this is common to many other keyboard instruments. Harpsichords are more heavy when you pluck two strings rather than one. Organs (with mechanical action) get more heavy the more stops you use or when engaging manual couplers or octave couplers. I like it because to make a bit more sound it's a musical thing to make more physical effort. It's connects keyboard instruments to the wider family of music making and other instruments. The quelle horreur of musicality is electonica novelties where the touch is identical whatever sound you make and that essential intimate physical dialogue between player and instrument is absent.

 

[Walker]

a word of caution too: when pressing the convertor switch or any of the octave couplers you should always do so while no bass button is pressed. The whole bass mechanism may jam when these switches are operated while keeping bass buttons pressed.​

I was aware that chromatic converters had the added jeopardy of "jamming" though I didn't know the best technique to do it.
​

There's 2 nice gizmo switches in addition to the Left Hand registers in stradella mode​

That's lovely. It's a hugely impressive accordion. May you play it in good health!

Sadly my new Scandalli (Quint free bass) doesn't have any gizmos like that. It's only just got the reeds it needs, without any special effects.

In fact I've had a very close look and my accordion appears (in every possible way) to be just a very nice stradella bass accordion - but they make it so 3 of the normal bass switches lets air flow to only single "free bass" notes instead of the "oom-pah" stradella chords. I don't even get a converter bar on this accordion (but my Pigini has one) and the bass buttons and mechanics all feel exactly the same regardless of what mode I'm in. I've tried jamming my basses, and it can't even do that. I guess I'll just have to be the mechanical minimalist round here from now on. The only jammin' I'll be doing is with other musicians. ​

 

[saundersbp]

The only jammin' I'll be doing is with other musicians.

Absolutely. And to quote a true poet: ' We've come too far, To give up who we are....'

Seriously though, despite my aversion to gizmos, I have found the octave and unison bass coupler things rather musical...

 

[JerryPH]

My Gola also has the ability to have the FB in L, M, H and LM, it surprises and pleases me SO MUCH me every time I play it. Sadly it is now in the hands of my tech friend and gone for a while. I will miss it badly until it is back in my hands!

 

[debra]

...
In terms of force this is common to many other keyboard instruments. Harpsichords are more heavy when you pluck two strings rather than one. Organs (with mechanical action) get more heavy the more stops you use or when engaging manual couplers or octave couplers. I like it because to make a bit more sound it's a musical thing to make more physical effort. It's connects keyboard instruments to the wider family of music making and other instruments. The quelle horreur of musicality is electonica novelties where the touch is identical whatever sound you make and that essential intimate physical dialogue between player and instrument is absent.

To prevent needing extra force to go from the standard 2-voice (LM) base notes to 4-voice bayans have two extra voices in the lowest octave "side-loaded" on the largest bass reed block. When you activate the 4-voice switch register slides in the bass block enable these extra reeds. (These reeds thus only play in the melody bass, not in the Stradella chords, not in a higher octave of the melody bass.) As a result the force required to press the buttons remains unchanged. Many larger Italian accordions nowadays also have this setup (copied from the Russian bayan). Some still have an additional normal octave coupler to enable a 6-voice bass.
I don't believe that the main purpose of the side-loaded extra reed banks was to keep the button-pressure the same, but rather to keep the convertor mechanism simpler and avoid jamming.

 

[debra]

I was aware that chromatic converters had the added jeopardy of "jamming" though I didn't know the best technique to do it.

That's lovely. It's a hugely impressive accordion. May you play it in good health!

Sadly my new Scandalli (Quint free bass) doesn't have any gizmos like that. It's only just got the reeds it needs, without any special effects.

In fact I've had a very close look and my accordion appears (in every possible way) to be just a very nice stradella bass accordion - but they make it so 3 of the normal bass switches lets air flow to only single "free bass" notes instead of the "oom-pah" stradella chords. I don't even get a converter bar on this accordion (but my Pigini has one) and the bass buttons and mechanics all feel exactly the same regardless of what mode I'm in. I've tried jamming my basses, and it can't even do that. I guess I'll just have to be the mechanical minimalist round here from now on. The only jammin' I'll be doing is with other musicians. ​

The older chromatic convertors used registers, and so do the quint convertors. Because everything is done with register sliders it's impossible for the switching between Stradella and melody bass to cause any jamming. Likewise accordions with MIII (separate rows for melody bass) only have registers and no jamming mechanism. There is one exception though: the Hohner Solist MB II. That accordion has MIII and what looks like two registers (one for L and one for LM). But these registers are not really registers but are an octave coupler that applies to the lowest 46 notes of the melody bass. So when you think you get LM you actually still only get L but the notes of one octave higher play along. This is a rather intricate system and it fools you to think you have more reeds inside than you actually do. That Hohner only has 58 reed plates that give you 58 notes in L, and 46 notes in LM (and the upper 12 notes only in L as there is no more higher octave to link to).
The chromatic convertor with the register switches, as seen in some Piigini accordions for instance, but also in an old Paolo Soprani I have in for tuning, and an older Excelsior I did earlier, have an interesting design: the largest reed block has 12 notes and also the second reed block has just 12 notes, spaced quite far apart (considering the smaller reeds) and then there are two reed blocks with a much larger number of reed plates, to complete the whole range covered by the melody bass. The accordion industry really has come up with some clever designs!

 

[saundersbp]

My Gola also has the ability to have the FB in L, M, H and LM, it surprises and pleases me SO MUCH me every time I play it.

You have an embarrassment of riches there Jerry!

 

[saundersbp]

chromatic convertor with the register switches, as seen in some Piigini accordions for instance, but also in an old Paolo Soprani I have in for tuning, and an older Excelsior I did earlier, have an interesting design: the largest reed block has 12 notes and also the second reed block has just 12 notes, spaced quite far apart (considering the smaller reeds) and then there are two reed blocks with a much larger number of reed plates, to complete the whole range covered by the melody bass. The accordion industry really has come up with some clever designs!

I used to have an old zero sette which "converted" by register switches, nice accordion but the free bass was fixed at MH only with no option for a single reed and the touch was rather heavy in the left hand. I guess an intermediate mechanical technology...

 

[debra]

I used to have an old zero sette which "converted" by register switches, nice accordion but the free bass was fixed at MH only with no option for a single reed and the touch was rather heavy in the left hand. I guess an intermediate mechanical technology...

The Paolo Soprano I'm working in also has a rather heavy touch in the left hand. I guess it's because more pallets open than are needed.
This one though has L, M and LM available for all notes in the melody bass. So it's not really a limitation of this technology in general.
There are advances in the technology, and how critical things are. I was really surprised to find out how light the 540 is to the touch, yet the pallets all close well enough to not cause any "wheezers" while pushing.

 

[JerryPH]

You have an embarrassment of riches there Jerry!

It seems that you are as well!
Bugari are definitely up there with some of the best in today's world.

 

[Walker]

...reminds me of that classic Keith Floyd cookery programme theme tune....

I would love to hear tunes like Waltz in Black played on the Roland FR4 or FR8 in full macabre voicing. That would blow the cobwebs away and bring a bit of cachet to the digital accordion.

 

[dak]

The Paolo Soprano I'm working in also has a rather heavy touch in the left hand. I guess it's because more pallets open than are needed.

My special Morino in full blast coupling mode is its own definition of "rather heavy touch". Up to 5 pallets per bass button, up to 11 pallets per chord button (each pallet serving two reed plates). When not using that mode, it is very light to the touch (with the usual 3 pallets per chord button, 2 pallets for unrelated bass button), to the degree that the chord buttons don't make it up again when the instrument is lying flat instead of being in playing position. One better engages the coupling mode for transport. In coupling mode, your fingers get a real workout. But the arms will get sore before the fingers do. The free bass though is one pallet per button regardless of what you register.

Its precursor (an exhibit in the Harmonikamuseum in Trossingen) is not much lighter with 9 pallets per chord button in coupled mode.

 

[saundersbp]

Back to an old topic - my new favourite Bugari accordion is a 380. Been borrowing one of these for the past few weeks and I love it. Apparently its their best selling accordion (in B system for obvious reasons) and having given it a good playing I can understand why. A very sweet spot between enough bellows umph, weight, great ergonomics, enough notes to play anything at all (sensibly) and a really good sound and voicing.

Any one else tried one?

 

[debra]

Back to an old topic - my new favourite Bugari accordion is a 380. ...

I have not tried one of these. It is like a 540/ARS/C but without cassotto. For me a "classical" accordion (with convertor) without cassotto does not sound like an attractive offering (but of course there is a significant price difference between the 380 and 540...). As you have played both, how is the sound of the 380?

 

[saundersbp]

As you have played both, how is the sound of the 380?

I'd say it's a very happy balance tonally with, and most importantly, very similar sound between rh and lh on single M reeds. It's relatively mellow for a non-cassotto accordion compared to the direct competitor larger (Pigini Caracter) non-cassotto offering. The other thing I like against the 540 is the bellows capacity is just right. I found the 540 didn't quite have enough bellows capacity on full blast, perhaps because it had 2 M reeds. ( The 580 gets this just right and also doesn't suffer from the same degree of unevenness on the M cassotto register). I guess there is a price to be paid for compact proportions.

Having said all that, the 380, 540 and 580 are all great contemporary instruments. If advising someone wanting to buy new I'd recommend the 380 (for normal people) or 580 (for retired dentists). However on the second hand front I'd recommend all three if the deal is right. I personally wouldn't go to models above the 580 with pinned rather than waxed reeds as not only is the price astronomical but also I don't think the long term tuning is quite as solid as their more modest cousins.

 

[saundersbp]

It is like a 540/ARS/C but without cassotto.

And now it seems there is a new model 550/ARS/C....

Bugari 550 ARS C

www.lueschermusik.ch

 

[debra]

And now it seems there is a new model 550/ARS/C....

Bugari 550 ARS C

www.lueschermusik.ch

I have seen it announced before. The 550 sits in between the 540 and 580, also price-wise. The 540 has 52 notes, the 550 has 55, the newer 580 has 61 notes (and older 580 accordions have 58 notes). My 540 has TAM reeds, the site says the 550 has TAM reeds, the 580 has a mano reeds. The 540 has 49 notes in melody bass, the 55 has 52, the 580 has 55. The 540 is compact (40cm), the 550 and 580 are the same larger size (45cm). All in all the 580 is the better accordion, but also costs a bit more.

 

[Walker]

That 550 is clearly starting to gather dust, and I've gotta be Franc here - at 17250 CHF for an accordion with TAM reeds, I'm not surprised!