Bellows makers'

[Mr Mark]

I am looking to have some new bellows made, and of course the options out there are limited. It is for a Hohner Tango IIB.

I have had Liberty Bellows do one in the past (for a Verdi II, so basically the same size), and while it turned out great, it was very expensive. Turn around time as I understand things in the accordion world now was pretty quick. But there were no options provided for anything, including bellows tape colour or pattern..

I have reached out to Harmonikas but no reply as of yet. As I understand it, they may be awhile to respond. I like that they have a number of options to choose from. One of the problems with the online order form is the size of the corners. I am not sure how to A) measure mine properly and B) extrapolate that into the options they have there.

The final issue I have is I would like to keep the old bellows and frames intact. It would be good to practice my retaping skills on at some point. The only issue they really have is that some of the corners are coming loose - and in my experience repairing these comes with a limited success rate. Thus I would like some new bellows (plus these are like 85 years old).

Are there any other makers out there I should know about? Any experiences with Harmonikas? Does anyone know the specific size of these corners?

Thanks for indulging me!

 

[debra]

I have visited Galassi (https://www.galassi-bellows.com/) near Castelfidardo. They will do single bellows orders.
There is also a bellows maker in Slovenia but I don't know which that is.

 

[tcabot]

Good luck with harmonikas - let us know if they ever get back to you.

You can try carinidena.it

Given that's an old battered hohner, the cost of new bellows will probably well exceed the cost of the box itself. If you want new custom frames as well, you're probably looking for quite a few $$.

If you go to aliexpress, you can get Chinese factory-made bellows done to your spec for under $100. They are not the same quality as the "proper" Italian stuff, but I've had two sets from them and they do the job just as well. However, afaik, they don't do frames, so you'll have to destroy your old bellows and re-glue the frames. Or find a competent fine woodworker in your area...Making the frames is easy, but fitting them to your box will be a bit time consuming which translates into more $$.

Your other alternative is to learn how to make bellows from scratch

 

[colinm]

My repairer got me some from Marconi bellows Italy

 

[Mr Mark]

Great to know there are some options out there! I remember thinking I would just make my own the first time I went through this - then finding out I did not have the time or experimental money to give it a go. One day I will, today is not that day alas.

$100 bellows? I have a bellows tape supplier that charges $100/roll. I would love to see a link to that - I can't seem to find anything when searching. On this particular accordion I want something quality that is going to last and look great (the amount of time I have put into this instrument has already greatly exceeded its value so why not throw some $$ at it too ), but I have quite a few others of this vintage (and people coming to me with bellows beyond repair) where this would be a fantastically cost effective solution. I would buy a couple just to see.

I realize I will probably just have to reuse the old frames to expediate things, no worries there if so.

Thanks for the responses, I will post back once I figure out where I'm going with this.

 

[tcabot]

why not throw some $$ at it too

A set of high quality custom bellows with frames probably costs at least a third of a working Morino

You can't find the Chinese ones because the ad has been taken down. I've dropped a message to the supplier and they said they are too busy with wholesale orders at the moment and don't have time for retail. Sorry for getting you excited. It will be quite sad if they stop doing retail orders all together.
They've been selling retail ones for years though, so I hope it's just a temporary thing.