Beginner CBA with Free Base

[donn]

It sounds better than I expected, in the video. The weak spot is the bass, for me - though Id be surprised if it would drown anything out! I guess its a reed quality issue - hear the sproing sound that the bass notes make in lieu of tone.

For an unfair comparison, heres a fairly common make, Paolo Soprani. Better recording, too, but the difference should come through Thats no lightweight intro level accordion, but Id be looking for something with fewer, not lesser, reeds. Thank heavens Im not in a hurry to pick up an accordion right now! I get the merit of moving forward with something, but ... that seems like a lot of money.

 

[donn]

Knowing what I know now after playing PA for 4 years, I would have gone down this route.. http://www.saltarelle.com/accordion_bourroche.htm

My little knowledge of the Piano keyboard (used mainly as support) hasnt helped me much, and I really like the idea of an extra bass row.

That is a pretty sweet sounding box, though at the price I hope one could afford to be rather picky. It has a kind of mellow, reedy sound that would be great for a lot of English/French folk music and similar - great sounding bass - but if I ever go to another box I think Id like a cleaner tone, that someone who really likes that Saltarelle would find piercing. Not that I dont really like the Saltarelle, but like I say, for the price Id have to think real hard about my options.

I dont wish Id gone with a piano accordion, but I suspect a lot of CBA envy is grass is greener syndrome. Ive probably said before, I hold that the raised black keys of the piano keyboard gives you a tactile structural sense thats missing with buttons, and stuff like that may explain why it has been in standard use for 4 centuries while buttons are an obscure alternative.

 

[Anyanka]

Donn, I love that particular Saltarelle sound, but it's not as versatile - my JubJub co-squeezer has a Saltarelle melodeon, but the tone just doesn't fit most of our ceilidh tunes, unlike his Paolo Soprani which suits almost everything.

re 'sproing' sound on the Weltmeister bass: spot on!

 

[Jim2010]

One option is a Roland FR-1xb. You get to try B or C system CBA, stradella or several FB options, and lots of voices. It is a flexible introduction.

I just now looked at the Roland FR-1xb. For me, the pros would include: everything Pat S. said, plus light weight. The cons would include: needs electricity or batteries and possibly all of my unknown unknowns. What might be anyones known cons?

 

[dunlustin]

The main (only?) con is that it isn't an acoustic accordion.
Maybe the need for an amp if you're in public.
Maybe long term viability.
Apart from that, it offers so many ways to explore accordion options that it's hard to put down.
I've bought things unwisely down the years but I have no regrets about buying my FR1XB.

I found my little Weltmeister to be a good intro to Freebass but it is single reed so that's Musette out the window.
(Lack of Stradella was not a problem as I bought it to explore Freebass.)
With hindsight, had there been a RH 2-voice option with a single voice register, I'd have gone for that.

 

[Russ]

I agree with dunlustin "The main (only?) con is that it isn't an acoustic accordion." But that is a BIG con. I would love to buy an electronic accordion but not as a first accordion.

Anyway, My friend has a Weiltmeister like the one you are looking at and it is true the bass is quite loud. But it is still an excellent little accordion and she has played it for many years.

I would consider a third reed in the treble, for a little more money it adds so much. I love having that low reed it really changes and gives a full rich sound that you dont get with two treble reeds.

Consider the following two accordions:

Hohner Nova III 96 - about 2000 new, 96 bass 3 reeds in treble (LMM) - I love having that low reed
if you like the 72 bass
Weltmeister 60/72/III/5 (same as the model you are looking at but with 3 reeds in the treble LMM)

If you are looking for a small accordion that Weltmeister looks good to me.

 

[Jim2010]

I want to thank everyone for the suggestions. They were very helpful. In the end I followed the advice to worry about stradella vs converter later. In fact, I decided to forget the left hand entirely until later and purchased a Marcel Dreux accordina.

 

[kimric]

The weltmeisters do have a pretty punchy bass, but I found removing the bass plate and gluing a piece of suede on the inside of the bass plate really does the trick of mellowing it out. I do have a used weltmeister 4 row french setup C chromatic on the shelf at the shop right now. Weltmeister also make small freebass and converter instruments in piano and chromatic systems.

Kimric