Scandalli super vi

[colinm]

There is a super vi for sale on ebay by auction, does anyone know wether this is a genuine instrument or not ?
I cannot distinguish a hand made reed with any certainty and I believe that there are some super vi that are better than others.

 

[debra]

There are several super vi accordions for sale on ebay, some of which called "vintage".
If you cannot go to physically collect it, forget about it. If you can, you need to inspect it inside and out and check that it has the original reeds. Just checking that it has hand made reeds isn't good enough. (Checking that is easy enough: the sides of the square part with the rivet should be blued.)

 

[colinm]

There are several super vi accordions for sale on ebay, some of which called "vintage".
If you cannot go to physically collect it, forget about it. If you can, you need to inspect it inside and out and check that it has the original reeds. Just checking that it has hand made reeds isn't good enough. (Checking that is easy enough: the sides of the square part with the rivet should be blued.)

There is only one for sale in uk

 

[debra]

There is only one for sale in uk

Oh that one... (for £7,995.00). It doesn't even have hand-made reeds, so it has definitely had "maintenance" where the original reeds were stolen.

 

[colinm]

Oh that one... (for £7,995.00). It doesn't even have hand-made reeds, so it has definitely had "maintenance" where the original reeds were stolen.

Thanks, can you see that they are not hand made reeds from the photos ?

 

[boxplayer4000]

From the reed photos of the UK Scandalli on eBay I don't believe it's possible to say if they are hand made or not.
There's a small sign that at least one of the reeds is original but I await correction on these points from our resident experts.

 

[colinm]

From the reed photos of the UK Scandalli on eBay I don't believe it's possible to say if they are hand made or not.
There's a small sign that at least one of the reeds is original but I await correction on these points from our resident experts.

Thanks Boxplayer, can you tell me what the small sign is?

 

[boxplayer4000]

These are pictures from eBay of the accordion I think is under scrutiny:

 

[colinm]

Correct

 

[debra]

Thanks, can you see that they are not hand made reeds from the photos ?

The reeds have a quite small circular rivet with a flat top. Hand-made reeds have the rivet hammered on (by hand) resulting in a circuler pattern of hammer marks. We cannot see the sides of the base of the reed to see whether they are cut from a narrow steel ribbon or punched out of a wider steel plate, but the lack of hammer marks does suggest that these are not hand-made reeds.

 

[Thomas N]

Paul -

Here is a picture of my Excelsior 960 Reeds. I'm trying to see the difference. These are handmade.

 

[colinm]

Paul -

Here is a picture of my Excelsior 960 Reeds. I'm trying to see the difference. These are handmade.

Yours is a clearer photo, It looks as though these rivets have been bashed by a hand hammer.

 

[debra]

Yours is a clearer photo, It looks as though these rivets have been bashed by a hand hammer.

And the result is that the rivet then looks larger than with those of machine-reeds (hammered in by a machine).
But indeed the pictures are not very detailed. However, when an interested buyer goes to inspect the instrument in person the difference should be clear.

 

[Scuromondo]

Paul -

Here is a picture of my Excelsior 960 Reeds. I'm trying to see the difference. These are handmade.

You need a clear photo of the reed, showing the edges of the base of the reed. ideally, a bit closer if possible.

 

[Ventura]

if you compare closely to the "barn find" scandalli pictures,
the reeds (and other things) are different