Hello there, folks. It's been a little while 
While searching a little on the topic of reed quality, I stumbled upon the following text. Allegedly, it was published on Usenet's rec.music.makers.squeezebox thread back in 2001 by a Zero Sette's worker named Alessio. I'm by no means well versed on the topic but, for what it's worth, the content looks legit to me. At least, it agrees with a varios things I learned throughout the years regarding this adorable expensive squeezy instrument. Either way, there are lots of well-informed people on this forum, so I'm positive they'll give their 2 cents if needed be.
Also, since effective February 22, 2024, Google Groups will no longer support new Usenet content, I thought it'd nice to preserve this information where it can be of use for interested people. I took the liberty to give a little hand to the author at some points, since English clearly isn't his first language and the Internet back in 2001 was quite primitive, so good spelling aid tools might not have been widely available. Admittedly, I didn't spend a lot of time on this task, and my English do be quite dodoo tbf, which means some stuff maybe (probably) felt through the cracks, so bare this in mind if spelling upsies make your tummy upset. I also took the liberty to format the text a bit, so that it can be read more comfortably. Lastly, the original text should be available online for the time being (I've also placed its link at the end) in case anyone wants to check the original. Without further ado, here we go:
"Dear Friends,
Following to the questions and requests we got from several fellows concerning reeds, I will post some informations and facts about the present situation.
The first thing to mention is that no italian accordion manufacturing company has anymore a reedmaker inside, and basicly this is a good thing. Years ago , when the accordion was much more popular and thousands of instruments were exported every month from Castelfidardo many producers (not all !) were absolutely independent and made all parts for the instruments inside tha factory, including reeds. At that time there were factories employing up to 1.600 workers, now the biggest factories in Castelfidardo have max. 30 workers employed and no-one is making anymore reeds inside the factories. The same thing happened with the bellows also.
REED QUALITY THROUGH THE YEARS
There are different opinions about this, but the fact is that there used to be many special masters making reeds that had a very special sound caracter, one of these was Mr. Elio Guidobaldi (if you should find an instrument with his reeds, get it !!!!) In general there was much more skilled people, but the limits were given by the quality of the raw material which was not allways the same, and the working conditions of the masters. Most of the old reedmakers were delivering good or top quality depending on how much under pressure they were. Today the quality is more equal, in general.
REED MAKERS
There are 5 main reed supplyers:
ANTONELLI (SIVA): Full range off reeds, from machine made to top quality hand made reeds (www.accordions.com/siva)
ARTIGIANA VOCI: Full range off reeds, from machine made to top quality hand made reeds
CAGNONI: Full range off reeds, from machine made to top quality hand made reeds
SALPA: Full range off reeds, from machine made to top quality hand made reeds
BINCI: Specialized in the production of diatonic reeds, they also supply reeds made with a brass plate (very heavy, but gives a special sound on diatonic instruments).
Each of the above mentioned reed supplyers is normally producing all the parts for the reeds (the plate, the reed or tongue, etc.) and has several Teams of reedmakers that are mounting (assembling) the reeds, each Team is specialized in a certain type of quality or reed (treble reeds, bass reeds, piccolo reeds, etc.).
For this reason we consider that it is a positive thing that accordion manufacturers can buy and get reed from external suppliers:
- There is a good choice
- The quality is good because they have several Teams and each one is highly skilled for a certain type of reeds
- Reed suppliers can afford all the costs related to quality improvements, training of new people, and most of all they invest money in the stock for finished products and materials. All this would be too heavy for accordion manufacturing firms nowadays ...
TYPES OF REEDS
There are 3 main reed qualities made in Italy:
MACHINE REEDS: This is the bottom line which is used mainly for student instruments (usually very small instruments) and by some low-cost accordion manufacturers even on full size instruments. Some types of machine made reeds are not really good but are extremely cheap, but it is possible to get also very good types which give very good results .
TIPO A MANO (HANDFINISHED) REEDS: Here you can find the biggest range of offer and the quality goes to normal (basicly like a good machine made reeds) to top qualities that can be exactly as good as an average hand made reed. Handfinished reeds are nowadays a very good option compared even to some type of hand made reeds because they offer the best price/quality relationship. Unfortunately many people still throw a lot of money away by buying accordions with bad hand made reeds (paying hefty prices for the "hand made" reed option) at some manufacturers, only because of a psycologic satisfaction (they're so happy when they say: "HAND MADE").
A MANO (HAND MADE) REEDS: This is the professional product and in here there start to be quite big differences also between one producer and the other. Having a hand made reed doesn't mean to have a top quality reed. One of the particular features of a hand made reed is the absolute precision and the very small tolerance between the reedplate opening and the reed (or tongue). Please note that the "art" needed to make a good hand made reed is to have the right tolerance as there is a limit (and good reedmakers know it); if the tolerance is close to zero , the risk is that the reed will touch the top (or even the side) of the reedplate opening when the instrument is played and the temperature has changed.
HOW MANUFACTURERS CHOOSE REEDS AND CHECK THE QUALITIES
Some of you have asked me how we decide where and what to buy and also how we do check quality. First of all it is important to say that the most skilled people when it comes to choose and to check reeds are the TUNERS and unfortunately not all producers have a tuner inside (and believe me the freelance tuners available on the marker can be dangerous). Each producer has his own internal "rules" and tastes and is therefore opting for some manufacturer and some specific quality for each type of accordion. All the above mentioned things are FACTS, the following things are related to our personal experience so please don't consider them as 100% objective, but just as the results of my own experience.
In general we prefer to invest a little more money on the reeds and on the reedwork than most of the other producers, this is simply because the results of this small amount of extra money spent is very evident for a player and is determinating the whole quality of the instrument. The reeds in an accordion are more or less the same as the engine for a car, it's useless to have a Ferrari when you then put a normal engine inside just to save some money.
One of the things we pay attention for is to have different sizes of reeds so that we can use for each model the type and size of reeds that is giving the best results. Of course this is costing a little more because the supplier is delivering customized reeds and in many sizes instead of a standard production. Depending on the model, the customer, and the destination area we ask also to suppliers to customize the manufacturing process of the reed (tongue) in order to have a louder sound, a more prompt reed, etc.
The needs of a jazz player are quite different from a classical music player or a folk music player. To choose the right kind of reeds for a certain instrument is not that easy, usually the best results can be had with a deep cooperation between professional players + accordion manufacturers (the tuner) + the reed maker.
To check the quality of the reeds we have our tuner checking them out immediately (visual and "mechanical" check) when they arrive, before handing them out for the pre-tuning.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
One of the F.A.Q. is "how should we choose the type of reeds?", and it is difficult to give a simple answer. Every player has his very own taste and needs. If somebody suggests you some kind of reeds or a specific reedmaker it might often not be anough to reach a good result: the reeds might be very good, but then the reedwork could be done with average quality and the result can be average.
The reedwork (pre-tuning, mounting, waxing and tuning) is able to enhance the good qualities of a set of reeds or also to "destroy" them. The only good way for you to judge is to test the instrument which is the final result and there is no other way (besides being an expert in reeds + reedwork + knowing the results in a certain accordion...).
One of the biggest experts for reeds and tuning I know is Mr. Torben Ejersbo from Denmark (the name of his workshop is ProCordion, www.procordion.dk). In case some of you should have some very specific question about reeds or tuning, I'm sure he can help you.
I hope that I was able to help some of you about this matter in spite of my poor English (sorry for the mistakes!!) (editor's note: don't worry m8, you did awesome! We thank you <3).
Have a nice day!
Alessio
ZERO SETTE Accordion Factory
60022 Castelfidardo - ITALY
Fax : +39 071 7822845
E-mail : ze...@tiscalinet.it"
Souce:
groups.google.com
While searching a little on the topic of reed quality, I stumbled upon the following text. Allegedly, it was published on Usenet's rec.music.makers.squeezebox thread back in 2001 by a Zero Sette's worker named Alessio. I'm by no means well versed on the topic but, for what it's worth, the content looks legit to me. At least, it agrees with a varios things I learned throughout the years regarding this adorable expensive squeezy instrument. Either way, there are lots of well-informed people on this forum, so I'm positive they'll give their 2 cents if needed be.
Also, since effective February 22, 2024, Google Groups will no longer support new Usenet content, I thought it'd nice to preserve this information where it can be of use for interested people. I took the liberty to give a little hand to the author at some points, since English clearly isn't his first language and the Internet back in 2001 was quite primitive, so good spelling aid tools might not have been widely available. Admittedly, I didn't spend a lot of time on this task, and my English do be quite dodoo tbf, which means some stuff maybe (probably) felt through the cracks, so bare this in mind if spelling upsies make your tummy upset. I also took the liberty to format the text a bit, so that it can be read more comfortably. Lastly, the original text should be available online for the time being (I've also placed its link at the end) in case anyone wants to check the original. Without further ado, here we go:
"Dear Friends,
Following to the questions and requests we got from several fellows concerning reeds, I will post some informations and facts about the present situation.
The first thing to mention is that no italian accordion manufacturing company has anymore a reedmaker inside, and basicly this is a good thing. Years ago , when the accordion was much more popular and thousands of instruments were exported every month from Castelfidardo many producers (not all !) were absolutely independent and made all parts for the instruments inside tha factory, including reeds. At that time there were factories employing up to 1.600 workers, now the biggest factories in Castelfidardo have max. 30 workers employed and no-one is making anymore reeds inside the factories. The same thing happened with the bellows also.
REED QUALITY THROUGH THE YEARS
There are different opinions about this, but the fact is that there used to be many special masters making reeds that had a very special sound caracter, one of these was Mr. Elio Guidobaldi (if you should find an instrument with his reeds, get it !!!!) In general there was much more skilled people, but the limits were given by the quality of the raw material which was not allways the same, and the working conditions of the masters. Most of the old reedmakers were delivering good or top quality depending on how much under pressure they were. Today the quality is more equal, in general.
REED MAKERS
There are 5 main reed supplyers:
ANTONELLI (SIVA): Full range off reeds, from machine made to top quality hand made reeds (www.accordions.com/siva)
ARTIGIANA VOCI: Full range off reeds, from machine made to top quality hand made reeds
CAGNONI: Full range off reeds, from machine made to top quality hand made reeds
SALPA: Full range off reeds, from machine made to top quality hand made reeds
BINCI: Specialized in the production of diatonic reeds, they also supply reeds made with a brass plate (very heavy, but gives a special sound on diatonic instruments).
Each of the above mentioned reed supplyers is normally producing all the parts for the reeds (the plate, the reed or tongue, etc.) and has several Teams of reedmakers that are mounting (assembling) the reeds, each Team is specialized in a certain type of quality or reed (treble reeds, bass reeds, piccolo reeds, etc.).
For this reason we consider that it is a positive thing that accordion manufacturers can buy and get reed from external suppliers:
- There is a good choice
- The quality is good because they have several Teams and each one is highly skilled for a certain type of reeds
- Reed suppliers can afford all the costs related to quality improvements, training of new people, and most of all they invest money in the stock for finished products and materials. All this would be too heavy for accordion manufacturing firms nowadays ...
TYPES OF REEDS
There are 3 main reed qualities made in Italy:
MACHINE REEDS: This is the bottom line which is used mainly for student instruments (usually very small instruments) and by some low-cost accordion manufacturers even on full size instruments. Some types of machine made reeds are not really good but are extremely cheap, but it is possible to get also very good types which give very good results .
TIPO A MANO (HANDFINISHED) REEDS: Here you can find the biggest range of offer and the quality goes to normal (basicly like a good machine made reeds) to top qualities that can be exactly as good as an average hand made reed. Handfinished reeds are nowadays a very good option compared even to some type of hand made reeds because they offer the best price/quality relationship. Unfortunately many people still throw a lot of money away by buying accordions with bad hand made reeds (paying hefty prices for the "hand made" reed option) at some manufacturers, only because of a psycologic satisfaction (they're so happy when they say: "HAND MADE").
A MANO (HAND MADE) REEDS: This is the professional product and in here there start to be quite big differences also between one producer and the other. Having a hand made reed doesn't mean to have a top quality reed. One of the particular features of a hand made reed is the absolute precision and the very small tolerance between the reedplate opening and the reed (or tongue). Please note that the "art" needed to make a good hand made reed is to have the right tolerance as there is a limit (and good reedmakers know it); if the tolerance is close to zero , the risk is that the reed will touch the top (or even the side) of the reedplate opening when the instrument is played and the temperature has changed.
HOW MANUFACTURERS CHOOSE REEDS AND CHECK THE QUALITIES
Some of you have asked me how we decide where and what to buy and also how we do check quality. First of all it is important to say that the most skilled people when it comes to choose and to check reeds are the TUNERS and unfortunately not all producers have a tuner inside (and believe me the freelance tuners available on the marker can be dangerous). Each producer has his own internal "rules" and tastes and is therefore opting for some manufacturer and some specific quality for each type of accordion. All the above mentioned things are FACTS, the following things are related to our personal experience so please don't consider them as 100% objective, but just as the results of my own experience.
In general we prefer to invest a little more money on the reeds and on the reedwork than most of the other producers, this is simply because the results of this small amount of extra money spent is very evident for a player and is determinating the whole quality of the instrument. The reeds in an accordion are more or less the same as the engine for a car, it's useless to have a Ferrari when you then put a normal engine inside just to save some money.
One of the things we pay attention for is to have different sizes of reeds so that we can use for each model the type and size of reeds that is giving the best results. Of course this is costing a little more because the supplier is delivering customized reeds and in many sizes instead of a standard production. Depending on the model, the customer, and the destination area we ask also to suppliers to customize the manufacturing process of the reed (tongue) in order to have a louder sound, a more prompt reed, etc.
The needs of a jazz player are quite different from a classical music player or a folk music player. To choose the right kind of reeds for a certain instrument is not that easy, usually the best results can be had with a deep cooperation between professional players + accordion manufacturers (the tuner) + the reed maker.
To check the quality of the reeds we have our tuner checking them out immediately (visual and "mechanical" check) when they arrive, before handing them out for the pre-tuning.
FINAL CONSIDERATIONS
One of the F.A.Q. is "how should we choose the type of reeds?", and it is difficult to give a simple answer. Every player has his very own taste and needs. If somebody suggests you some kind of reeds or a specific reedmaker it might often not be anough to reach a good result: the reeds might be very good, but then the reedwork could be done with average quality and the result can be average.
The reedwork (pre-tuning, mounting, waxing and tuning) is able to enhance the good qualities of a set of reeds or also to "destroy" them. The only good way for you to judge is to test the instrument which is the final result and there is no other way (besides being an expert in reeds + reedwork + knowing the results in a certain accordion...).
One of the biggest experts for reeds and tuning I know is Mr. Torben Ejersbo from Denmark (the name of his workshop is ProCordion, www.procordion.dk). In case some of you should have some very specific question about reeds or tuning, I'm sure he can help you.
I hope that I was able to help some of you about this matter in spite of my poor English (sorry for the mistakes!!) (editor's note: don't worry m8, you did awesome! We thank you <3).
Have a nice day!
Alessio
ZERO SETTE Accordion Factory
60022 Castelfidardo - ITALY
Fax : +39 071 7822845
E-mail : ze...@tiscalinet.it"
Souce:
Reed qualities
groups.google.com
Last edited:
