AccordionPlayer23
Member
Please, make your opinion.
-
-
We're having a little contest, running until 15th May. Please feel free to enter - see the thread in the "I Did That" section of the forum. Don't be shy, have a go!
Bellows smell
- Thread starter AccordionPlayer23
- Start date
- Status
It would all depend on what kind of smell it is.
AccordionPlayer23
Member
I edited the question in poll
SO, define "bad".
Do you mean musty, mouldy ones; tobacco odours; benzine; cheap perfumes; naphthaline; ?
AccordionPlayer23
Member
Something like that.
Only if it's a Gola Super 6 mega cordeen that you found for $200 on craigslist two towns over buried in the trunk of a mint 1962 mustang convertible in the barn under a tarp, covered in small pieces of straw everywhere and the mourning doves are singing their lonesome song. He wanted $2000 for the car but you only bought the cordeen, figuring you could put it with a black light. Or, conversely, you could sell the car and buy a new fr8 with the Dale Mathis or Noel sounds.
There is no reason for any kind of bad smell to be coming from any accordion, and to have any kind of bad smell to it, this is always something that needs to be addressed.
That said, when I open my Morino, I fully smell the "lightly wood and varnish smell" every time I start a session with my accordion. Some may not like that smell (I absolutely love it, it truly is part of the experience for me), and this should not be categorized as a "bad" smell, you can't remove the wood/varnish smells of any acoustic accordion, they all have it to some extent. It mostly disappears after 1-2 full bellows inhale/exhales.
It's the cigarette/cigar/mold/rot smells that are the danger signs.
That said, when I open my Morino, I fully smell the "lightly wood and varnish smell" every time I start a session with my accordion. Some may not like that smell (I absolutely love it, it truly is part of the experience for me), and this should not be categorized as a "bad" smell, you can't remove the wood/varnish smells of any acoustic accordion, they all have it to some extent. It mostly disappears after 1-2 full bellows inhale/exhales.
It's the cigarette/cigar/mold/rot smells that are the danger signs.
how about stale beer?
Mr Mark
Squeezebaggeroni...
If you are looking in the bargain bins almost all of them have some sort of smell. The cases more so.
As long as they don't smell like problems you are good to go!
As long as they don't smell like problems you are good to go!
Stale beer would mean that some had to have been poured on the accordion, that would be the first thing I would check for, at that time, the smell is secondary, the damage is primary.
Any accordion with a noticeable mold/mildew odor would be a non-starter for me.
Years ago I tried to get the mildew smell out of a very nice (free!) Philharmonic and I never was able to do it. Maybe I lacked the patience and persistence, or the right technique, but nothing I tried worked. And every time I tried something new, I’d sit down and play the accordion to verify whether the smell was gone—unwittingly (the accordion being a very efficient air pump) spraying mold spores throughout the room in the process. Nasty! I could smell that stuff in my sinuses for a week after I got rid of the accordion! …Anyway, that experience convinced me to never again even consider buying a moldy accordion!
Years ago I tried to get the mildew smell out of a very nice (free!) Philharmonic and I never was able to do it. Maybe I lacked the patience and persistence, or the right technique, but nothing I tried worked. And every time I tried something new, I’d sit down and play the accordion to verify whether the smell was gone—unwittingly (the accordion being a very efficient air pump) spraying mold spores throughout the room in the process. Nasty! I could smell that stuff in my sinuses for a week after I got rid of the accordion! …Anyway, that experience convinced me to never again even consider buying a moldy accordion!
I once bought a cheap fixer upper Maugein CBA from Marseilles in France.
At first when I played it I got a whiff of Galloises cigarettes from the many clubs it had been played in.
Just loved that smell
At first when I played it I got a whiff of Galloises cigarettes from the many clubs it had been played in.
Just loved that smell
Dingo40
Been here for ages!
One thing for sure: while you can still notice that tobacco smell, you'll get no moths infesting your accordion!??
This thread stinks.
?
?
I find a lot of the smell comes from the case and the leather - the straps, bellow holders, etc. Once these are eliminated it's better. Initial cleaning takes care of a lot of the rest. The sun is your best friend really.
Ozone.
Some more serious pro car detailers use an ozone machine to kill in car smells (smoke comes to mind rather fast), but apparently in the open these are very harmful to humans. Apparently, the concentration of ozone would have to greatly exceed health standards to be effective in removing most smells. In the process of reacting with chemicals indoors, ozone can also produce other chemicals that themselves can be irritating and corrosive, so care is imperative.
Dingo40
Been here for ages!
This thread is beginning to remind of the Seinfeld segment where he unsuccessfully tries to remove the overpowering BO smell from his car ?
Dingo40
Been here for ages!
There are many ingenious suggestions for eliminating accordion BO/ bad breath here but the one simple technique that's worked for me has been perseverance with airing in warm, dry surroundings.
It can take a couple of years! ?
It can take a couple of years! ?
Last edited:
- Status
Similar threads
