Always wanted to play. Looking to finally start learning.

[postylem]

Ahoy all,
I'm here because I've always wanted to play the accordion. I play some Celtic and Klezmer music (fiddle, amateur) and occasionally hear some squeezeboxes being played in various settings, and always wish I could play. I used to live in Eastern Europe where I encountered garmoshkas and a chromatic button accordion a few times. And particularly the latter... a CBA... I just love everything about that instrument, and want to learn to play it.
At this point, it's been something I've been wishing I pursued for over a decade, and now I want to actually get started. I suppose that means buying an instrument. I'm in New England now for the foreseeable future, and it seems CBAs are not exactly commonplace here, but I've got my mind set on getting one now.
I'm happy to find this community exists, and I'd like to ask for advice as I start to look for what instrument to buy as a beginner. Perhaps I'll make another post after doing more research, but I'd welcome any advice. I live in an apartment and am a bit worried about annoying my housemates/neighbors, so am thinking perhaps an electronic instrument (eg Roland FR-1xb) is worth looking for, as I begin to learn my way around the CBA treble system and stradella bass, though I also gather that learning the bellows will be pretty different compared to one with real acoustic reeds. I'd love to hear if there's some resources in the Boston/Providence area, advice about how to get started, or any ideas about where I might (or might not) be most likely to find a serviceable used CBA to start learning.
Greetings, and thank you!

 

[Tom]

Welcome Postylem! You will love playing your new accordion, I am sure. I recommend the Fr1xb as a great instrument for apartment dwellers. I play both acoustic and Roland, and just loooooove the volume knob for when my family is home. Some people are psychologically opposed to digital accordions but not me!

When you look for your acoustic, the most important thing in a used accordion is its condition. Accordions, especially old ones, are notorious for having issues such as poor tuning, air leaks, dried out wax, etc. Examine your new instrument carefully. Don’t buy sight unseen. They are expensive to get properly restored or repaired. Often not worth the hassle unless you do it yourself. Bring an experienced accordion player if you can.

If you can, visit Liberty Bellows in Philadelphia. Amtrak and Uber. They may have a new or used CBA for you.

Not sure if Cory Pesaturo still resides all or part time in the Providence area. If you can get a hold of him he probably has one laying around…..

Good luck!!!

 

[JerryPH]

New England Accordion connection and Museum, they sell accordions. Give them a call and if you are close to Caanan CT, go and see Paul Rammuni. At the very least you will get to see some 500+ accordions, new and old.

If you do go, please tell him that Jerry from Montreal said hello.

 

[Tom]

New England Accordion connection and Museum, they sell accordions. Give them a call and if you are close to Caanan CT, go and see Paul Rammuni. At the very least you will get to see some 500+ accordions, new and old.

If you do go, please tell him that Jerry from Montreal said hello.

Good call, Jerry, I forgot about that one.

Don’t tell them Tom sent you, they’ll double the price!!!! Go with Jerry!

 

[Big Squeezy Accordions]

Hello Postylem,
I'm a former New Englander myself - New Hampshire, Vermont, and year in Providence. I personally would not recommend a digital "accordion" as your first and only squeezebox. I have a Roland, and it's fun to play with. I mostly use it for the organ sounds, and for demonstrating different types of musette tuning for clients. It is not an accordion, however. The sound is totally synthetic, like the uncanny valley of accordions, and the response is less sensitive than even a mediocre accordion. Also, when it breaks, good luck fiinding someone to repair it. Luckily, you've got some competent accordion repairers within a few hours drive of you, like Nathan Longo of the Free Reed in Montpelier and Ben Hemmendinger of Mudlark Music in Brattleboro. Of course, if you've had the opportunity to try both accordions and digital accordion-shaped things, and you prefer the latter, by all means you should get one.

 

[postylem]

Wow, thank you for the info! That museum and collection place in Connecticut looks incredible. I will definitely have to take a trip out that way. And certainly say 'hello from Tom and Jerry' (!). Coincidentally I just moved down from Montreal myself. Also thanks David for those recommendations, and its good to get two different perspectives on the V-Accordion idea. I imagine it's something like calling a MIDI-keyboard a piano, they're different things. It does make me realize I've should definitely try to test these things out before thinking of buying one. Seems that should be possible one way or another with the help of these recommendations .

 

[SteveBox]

Hi Postylem. I live in New England and play C-system CBA, but as you know, they are not very popular in North America. I taught myself in incremental steps. I had piano lessons as a kid, then I decided to teach myself piano accordion as an adult, and only later did I switch to the CBA. If you think you need a teacher for the CBA, good luck finding one local to you. There are various method books, but they are often not in English, and it seems that each author teaches a different fingering technique. As for fingering, my advice is to experiment and see what works best for you. You also have to decide if you want to play C or B system.

I have two acoustic CBAs, but I tried out a Roland FR-1xb a few months ago. I returned it because it had a defective bellows sensor, but it worked well enough to evaluate it and decide that I didn't care for it all that much, but some people really like them.

Your best bet is to visit a good accordion store with a large selection of instruments and see what you like and can afford. Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer of them these days. In New England, as Jerry mentioned, there is the New England Accordion Connection and Museum in North Canaan, CT. I've never been there, and you should probably call to see what selection of CBAs they have for sale.

Probably the best accordion store near you is Liberty Bellows in Philadelphia. Judging from their website, they seem to have a large selection of CBAs, including the Rolands. They also offer online lessons for all types of accordions. I don't have any personal experience doing business with them, but they seem to have a good reputation.

 

[JerryPH]

Probably the best accordion store near you is Liberty Bellows in Philadelphia. Judging from their website, they seem to have a large selection of CBAs, including the Rolands. They also offer online lessons for all types of accordions. I don't have any personal experience doing business with them, but they seem to have a good reputation.

Liberty Bellows has a good reputation and they may have more CBA's than the museum and choices are important, but Paul often gets good deals and passes that on to the clients, so worth a call at the least..

 

[Dingo40]

I suppose that means buying an instrument.

Welcome Postylem!
This is where it all begins: decisions, decisions, decisions!
Like the old advertisement said, "Oils ain't oils!"
Apart from the Roland, which gives you several options in one, there's 3, 4, 5, and 6-row layouts in the right hand as well as C, B, Belgian/Modena and Finnish layouts in the left. Also, there's variety in the range of notes and basses and tunings.
What's your physique like? Remember, the more notes/voices options the instrument has the heavier it will be to tote and this can become a serious issue for the owner (with some weighing over 30 pounds).
Enough choices to keep one busy for years!
They say challenges are there to make life interesting.
If you go for a CBA, you'll certainly be living in interesting times!
More complicated than buying a new car.
Good luck!

 

[SteveBox]

I have no idea what your budget is, but I noticed this C-system CBA for sale near you on Facebook marketplace priced at $3000. It appears to have been previously listed on Reverb a year ago. (If it has been hard to sell, maybe you can negotiate a lower price.) If in excellent condition, as is claimed, it might be a great first accordion. It is made by Bugari, a well-known Italian accordion company. This "Juniorfisa 320 J" model is what one might call a deluxe beginner's instrument. 3 sets of super dural reeds on the treble side, 4 sets on the bass side, about 20 lbs.

If you are tempted to look at this, as a beginner, you should seek advice on how to evaluate the condition of a used accordion. The most local dealer for Bugari is Emilio Accordions, who might be able to assist you in evaluating it. If the price is too high, maybe what you want is a less expensive Chinese-made instrument (beware!), or (better) an older used European-made instrument.

 

[SteveBox]

As Dingo pointed out, there are many variants of the chromatic button accordion, and regional preferences for these variants. Another thing a beginner choosing their first CBA probably doesn't realize is that button sizes and spacings are not standardized. Some manufacturers use 14-15mm buttons on 19mm spacings. Others use larger 16-17mm buttons on slightly wider spacing. It probably makes little difference which you choose, unless maybe your hands are unusually sized. However, if you buy a second accordion you may want it to have the same button spacing.

 

[postylem]

Apart from the Roland, which gives you several options in one, there's 3, 4, 5, and 6-row layouts in the right hand as well as C, B, Belgian/Modena and Finnish layouts in the left. Also, there's variety in the range of notes and basses and tunings.

[...] there are many variants of the chromatic button accordion, and regional preferences for these variants. [...] However, if you buy a second accordion you may want it to have the same button spacing.

Yes, I am starting to learn just how many different options there are! A little intimidating, or exciting. I think I'd like to find a 5-row instrument, but if a nice 3-row were to find its way to me, I'd be happy with that too, just putting in the time to really get a feel for the melody by intervals on the CBA right hand is what I am looking forward to, and either way starting off forcing myself to learn using 3 rows seems a like it could be a good constraint (no choice about where to go to play a note!). Whether it's B- or C-griff, I am attempting to simply not have a preference (though, I've started fiddling around with GMobiler's app on my phone in curiosity, to build a mental model of where the notes are, and chose B-griff rather arbitrarily...), and I'm not too worried about weight/size either. I would really love to find one that had the option to be free-base, since that seems like something I'd like to learn to use eventually (the mirror-image style of bass layout seems intuitive over the upside-down free-bass that I've heard exists in some Eastern European converters, but my impressions about what would be intuitive or not are probably not worth much at this point, I realize), but that's not necessary either. Just something serviceable to start learning is what I'm hoping for. Getting something that is more common (so, not Finnish, for example) seems like a good idea.

I have no idea what your budget is, but I noticed this C-system CBA for sale near you on Facebook marketplace priced at $3000.

That looks gorgeous. I would be very happy if I could afford that, but I can't at this point (probably could only justify to pay around a third of that, realistically).

I'm really impressed with the volume of helpful advice and encouragement. Thanks all!

 

[Big Squeezy Accordions]

Just FYI, a CBA free bass converter in good condition for $1000 is not really a thing. For that price, you could get an okay refurbished 3 reed piano accordion with stradella bass, or a 3 row Soviet-era bayan with stradella bass. 5 row CBAs are rare in the US, and ones with converter bass are extremely rare, and not cheap. Since it sounds like you are committed to learning CBA, the Russian 3 row might be your best bet for a starter instrument. You could learn on that while you save for a more expensive 5 row converter.

 

[SteveBox]

I would really love to find one that had the option to be free-base, since that seems like something I'd like to learn to use eventually

FYI, that Bugari 320/J also happens to be available in a free-base version as the 320/J/C - but then it would be even more expensive.

If you want to experiment around with C vs. B system and the various free-bass systems, then maybe one of those accordion-shaped computers, such as the Roland FR-1xb is something you should consider. It's not a real accordion, but it has the advantage of being configurable to several different button layouts on both the right and left side.

 

[postylem]

Again all very useful info, thanks (and in particular, I'm aware that I don't know what I'm talking about, and might be even insulting like 'oh, I've heard a Stradavarius is a nice violin, my budget is 5k, where can I find one, also I don't play the instrument yet...' oops). Back on topic though, I suppose a good idea would be to actually touch some CBAs in person, to understand what these are like. I'm imagining an Amtrak pilgrimage to Liberty Bellows would be fun. It seems they happen have a 3-row converter bayan, at near to my price point, that looks interesting. https://www.libertybellows.com/shop...utton-Accordion-B-Sys-MM-64-120-x89100509.htm
But mostly I'm getting the impression that just seeing some of these things in real life would be a good idea to understand the options a little better.

 

[Big Squeezy Accordions]

It seems they happen have a 3-row converter bayan, at near to my price point, that looks interesting.

This one looks like a good match for you. Unfortunately, the bass is not mirrored, which I would find preferable, but you can't have everything.

 

[JerryPH]

This one looks like a good match for you. Unfortunately, the bass is not mirrored, which I would find preferable, but you can't have everything.

Standard Bayan system. If it was mirrored, I don't think it's a Bayan as this is one of the main defining characteristics.

I listened to the Liberty Bellows video and found something that I might not like... Free Bass accordions (traditionally all of them), have one defining trait... available registrations with NO musette, and this one does not.

I did not see any registraters on the front grill, though there may be sliders on the back of the keyboard, but they were not displayed in the video .

Free Bass accordions need registration on the right hand that matches the left hand (ie: singular reed tones). Most mid-range and up Free Bass accordions may have 2 registers on the left hand (middle and low reeds), and the right hand may have middle and high as a minimum... and if 3 reed, low/middle/high (even my beginner student model FB-36 has 3 treble registers of mid, high or both!).

For basic learning of a CBA in general and the B-system in particular with a tilt towards "Free Bass curious", this is a great instrument, but its not a keeper once you make the decision to get serious about your direction with Free Bass or if you need something with more than 1 treble registration.

 

[SteveBox]

I've heard a Stradavarius is a nice violin, my budget is 5k, where can I find one

Yeah, I've heard there are a lot of cheap violins out there that say "Stradavarius" on the label inside. The same can be found in the accordion world. There are many cheap Chinese accordion brands that use Italian-sounding names. Some have found these low-priced accordions to be serviceable as a beginner's instrument. It helps if you buy one from an accordion shop that has gone over it and fixed any manufacturing defects.

I suppose a good idea would be to actually touch some CBAs in person, to understand what these are like.

Excellent idea. If you go to LB, you might even want to spend a couple of days and try out a lesson. There are so many choices and much to think about. Also, don't underestimate how long it will take before you start to become accomplished on the instrument. It will be years, not weeks.

 

[Rosie C]

I'd like to ask for advice as I start to look for what instrument to buy as a beginner. Perhaps I'll make another post after doing more research, but I'd welcome any advice. I live in an apartment and am a bit worried about annoying my housemates/neighbors, so am thinking perhaps an electronic instrument (eg Roland FR-1xb) is worth looking for ...

Welcome to the forum @postylem. Regarding opinions on electronic accordions, I've recently bought a Roland FR-1X - the piano key version, and I love it! I guess it depends on what genre is played - I mostly play folk dance music and it suits me fine. The main advantage for me is the volume - I can practice with the volume turned low, whereas with all the acoustic accordions I've had my ears feel battered after an hour's practice.