Cavagnolo Vedette 5

[maugein96]

Thought Id let you hear what one of my accordions sound like, but I also thought the late Joss Baselli would make a better job of it than I could. 

He developed that accordion from the bigger Vedette 10, in the late 50s, and its a shame that he passed away when he did, as I could have shown him how to play it properly! 

Not all Cavagnolos sound the same! The swing tuning (not demonstrated here) is not typically Cavagnolo either, and neither are the other registers. Modern Vedette 5s just sound like generic Cavagnolos, and nothing like Basellis accordion. Mine dates from 1970, and I dont know when they de-Basellied them so they just sounded typical of the house. They were/are a bit of an acquired taste, but I love mine. 



Heres what it sounds like when playing musette type tunes.



Perhaps not French enough, but I have a Maugein Mini Basson if I want to go Gallic.

 

[Dingo40]

Very pleasant: light and bubbly! Nice tone! I like it!

 

[maugein96]

Very pleasant: light and bubbly! Nice tone! I like it!

Dingo,

Glad you like at, as away from the straight tuned registers it does have a bit of a "marmite" sound. Most recordings he made under the name "Jo Basile" were done in the US, where he spent some years on and off accompanying the singer "Barbara". There's a lot of folklore attached to how it was achieved, but he basically seems to have gone to Cavagnolo in the late 50s, and asked them to design a more manageable instrument "for the road". He wanted a jazz sounding accordion, but it had to be a French make. He'd probably heard the big US jazz accordionists, but wanted to retain a French identity. The fact that both of his parents were Italian was neither here nor there! They came up with the Vedette 5, which is LMM with the bassoon reeds in a tone chamber.

He made one or two "Paris accordion" albums in the US using the box and it attracted criticism from some who were expecting a lot of vibration in the reeds, for a more "typical" Parisian sound. I believe they use different reeds these days which sound very typical Cava when they are tuned "americain" instead of Baselli's swing tuning. It is difficult to tell whether he would have used the same accordion in both clips, although it does sound like it. 

If I'm honest mine is a hybrid model, with the same reed configuration as the Vedette 5, but it was supplied new with midi fitted, which has since been removed. The treble couplers on the rear on mine are three of their double function ones so that all the treble reeds can be switched off for midi. "Real" Vedette 5 just has 5 normal couplers on the rear (or had in 1970). 

My Maugein box with americain (8 cents) tuning is more "French" sounding.