Big Scandalli chrome pads on the front…get rid of them??

[32251]

Tarnished and scratched up. A couple have broken parts where they bolt to the shaft. Piano/forte buttons don’t work well………so……

Any one ever seen a unit where these were removed? The grill cloth under the holes still looks good.

Opinions please and who has seen one with the chrome pads gone? Many thanks.

 

[Ventura]

the round shifts were on the original models.. very old..

what i call the hubcap scandalli's and most everyone calls the Brevetto model
and what our new friend calls "polifonico"

the hubcaps are the iconlc signature item of this ridiculously famous and
long lived model.. i personally, if i fell into one where the hubcaps were removed,
would take the reeds out and throw the rest away

and really, these old Scandalli's have huge cohones for volume and dynamics.. you really
need dem mutes or your landlord/wife gonna throw you out

 

[Dingo40]

I have heard replacements are available.
There was a long line of these over many years. The latest ones came without the "lids".
There was a variety of voices and tunings.
Here's an earlier 4-voiced one in action:
Here's another (ff to1:16, to avoid a rather lengthy introduction!)
Our member JerryPH has one.

 

[dak]

If you want to look for spares, those are generally known as "saxophone flaps".

 

[KiwiSqueezer]

There's a couple of accordion parts outlets, easily found on the 'net, who sell replacements. I suspect they originate in the Orient, since there's a Parrot knock-off of the iconic Scandalli model - or a very similar-looking Soprani.

The early, 'typewriter key' Scandallis had a mute flap that was in one piece. Later ones, with a curved line of faux ivory switches, had two-piece flaps, where the piece nearest to the hinge was soldered to the stem of the flap. I think the major dimensions of the Oriental(?) replacements are the same as the Scandalli flaps, but one would have to re-engineer the mounting of the flap's arm to the actuating mechanism. They'd also look a bit different - does this matter? How important is it to keep these old Scandallis looking as original as possible? I'm faced with having to make this decision in the future, and the cost of 6 new flaps is way more than I paid for the whole box...