hello Debra
from what i remember (it is convoluted) Giulietti had a special arrangement
with the ORIGINAL Zero-Sette company
(similar to how Montgomery Ward held a special right to the use of and image of
Rudolph the red nosed reindeer) in perpetuity, for the life of the original company,
in specially designated market areas worldwide and/or advertising
when Monty Ward finally filed bankruptcy, even though their name resurfaced
some years later, they no longer held a right to Rudolph
when Zero-Sette lost it's factory but before they totally disappeared sort of
at the last moment (but not in bankruptcy court, as the SEM name had been taken)
Bugari stepped in as a "Friend" - but the original entity of Zero lost it's special
rights arrangement to Guilietti (and Fausto went into retirement)
there was also a brief period when Petosa was scrambling to find a new source, and
this contract was likely a deciding factor for Bugari's kindness)
the remaining Giulietti Family in the USA resisted for a long time any future
licensing of their name, so it did pass for a time completely out of existence
then a limited "right" was sold to/arranged with Petosa and a few models
were whipped together, but it appears the breadth of Petosa's marketing was
somewhat overloaded with top-dollar items and the Giulietti name seems to
have regressed to whomever die-hard buyers may want that nameplate on
their new accordion regardless of reality
i think the key thing to remember here is that Zero made bajillions of private
label accordions shipped to America
(they never really marketed their own brand name here)
and the thing that set these 1000's of clone/brands apart was the FINISHING
they received by the various American shops/pseudo factories
most of the Castiglione private label were Zero's, DaVinci, countless small
accordion schools, etc.
Petosa wins their right to brag from their seemingly infinite patience and ability
to finesse the key-action and the tuning and a few special exclusives they
contract for (like material used for the tone chambers)
Giulietti won their right to brag primarily because they had built a huge
reedmaking facility in their factory and even the models that used
Italian reeds were fitted and finished with those reeds here in America,
and they also had a few physical engineering exclusives from company
held designs and patents and contracts implemented by Zero exclusively for G models
(similar to Titano's exclusive design, patent and contract arrangements with Victoria)
it is possible that you, in Europe, have only seen Gulietti's built for
the Euro Market by Zero, and so have never worked on actual Guilietti reeds,
but this is really what sets their classic vintage top end accordions apart
and makes certain models truly desirable
many American reedsmiths learned their trade from Guiletti, and you can
find echo's of their skills hidden in some Universal and other brands of
american accordion houses
even after the second world war, there was a lot of reedmaking being
done here in the States, which was quickly won over by lower wages in Italy
in the 1940/50's and lasted until the Italian baby boomer generation, looking
to the big cities of Europe and modern jobs, kind of killed the reedmaking
industry in Italy for a time (which precipitated all the new ways
to market reeds that are not hand-made, but make you think they are,
as for a few decades there simply were not enough honest to god reedmakers
to go around)
oh, this has been long-winded after all... your experience may shed
a different perspective on this timeline, but from this side is as i remember it
and i do still have my one, original, vintage, Montgomery Ward
Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer Shopping Bag which i would
not trade for a brand new Sleigh !
ciao
Ventura
