Any info about this Excelsior Electronic

[Zvon]

Hi all!

I am very new to accordions and this is my first post. I discovered the forum a week ago and I already learned a lot from posts I’ve read.

I became interested in accordions a month ago, more specifically as a source of great sounds for my sound design. I bought an entry level 8 bass chinese one and I love it but I quickly realized that 8 bass is not enough.

Today I bought this Excelsior Electronic and I am wondering if anyone would have some info about it as I am not finding anything on this specific model on the web. It is written “Made in Italy” and Model 2000 P S in the back.

It plays well and all keys and buttons work and are in tune. it sounds great and some of the bass sounds are very impressive indeed! The power pack is missing. Note that I still have much to learn about accordions, so all and any info is welcome.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Ben-jammin]

Someone likely has more knowledge about this model than I would. But it was probably a pretty high end instrument and should have better reeds. Pre midi accordions with electronics are frequently missing associated components (tone generators and power supplies) and when they aren’t can be less than fully functional. Frequently the electronics are removed altogether leaving a decent acoustic accordion with less than stellar aesthetics. The nice thing is that many acoustic/electronic accordions from that vintage have a dry LMH reed setup and yours has LMMH. That second middle set is really nice for getting different sounds.

 

[Zvon]

Thanks Ben-jammin for your useful reply!
Indeed I don’t have the tone generator either. I bought it from a reputable musical instruments store here in Quebec, but they don’t usually deal in accordions. So they had limited knowledge about this instrument. Anyway I did buy it for the acoustic accordion not the electronics.

After further web searches, it seems its name is “Digisyzer “. But the photos I saw show a different model (maybe newer) with a different control panel and connector for the tone generator. Like this one from the Matrixsynth website

Excelsior Digisyzer Digital Synth Accordion

Synthesizer website dedicated to everything synth, eurorack, modular, electronic music, and more.

www.matrixsynth.com

 

[Zvon]

Sorry to bump this thread but I am wondering if anyone knows if the model I found with the control panel with round buttons on silver background is older or newer than the one with square buttons on black shown in my post above?

Another difference between both is the tone generator connector. It has 23 pins on 2 rows on mine and it's circular on the other one.

 

[Thomas N]

I was going to tell you that the weight of that thing must be insane and you should gut it and use the fine acoustic portion.

Then I saw your pictures. THAT INSTRUMENT IS PRISTINE! It would be a crime to alter it in any way. Wow, that has to be 30-50 years old. Must have been played indoors only and seldomly at that. I take very good care of my accordions and just from practicing they have more wear than that accordion.

Hope you can find the tone generator to match it.

 

[Zvon]

Hi Thomas, thanks for the reply.

It is a beautiful instrument that weighs a bit over 29 pounds. I think its electronics must account for 3 to 5 pounds of that. I am keeping them for sure even if I never find a tone generator but it would be fun to find one that works. I've read that the TG was made by Kawai.

It is heavy to play but it sounds fantastic. At first I was looking to buy a 72 bass, used or new, but by sheer luck found the Excelsior at a good price. After playing for 2 weeks, I decided to also buy a lighter accordion to make it easier to practice. I got a 3 voices 60 bass last Saturday. So now I am the happy owner of 2 accordions.

I see that you have 2 Excelsiors, cool!