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Chromatic accordion with basses on the side (just like a bandoneon)

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ArtMustel

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I found this video of Wolmer Beltrami playing this strange accordion with the bass section on the left side, not on the front left. I guess it is an hybrid of accordion/bandoneon....does anyone know what is the origin of this accordion type? Although the brand is well known, Fratelli Crossio...I never saw one like this before.


And here, same but this time is an Excelsior:

 
I notice there are 2 different accordions in the 2nd video, the second being a "normal" bass layout and he looks much younger then.
Maybe he developed a wrist problem and found the "straight" layout easier. Just a guess :unsure:
 
You might be right. He was a great musician (passed in 1999). Now I wonder if these accordions were custom made for him.
 
This looks familiar, like this question has lived before.

Hear any reason to think the left side has anything inside, that it's anything more than some buttons?
 
This looks familiar, like this question has lived before.

Hear any reason to think the left side has anything inside, that it's anything more than some buttons?
Weirder things have happened. The first "train" video is overdubbed. (I was worried at the end when he almost tripped over the tracks. He seemed ok though, and at least the song kept playing ?). I don't know if I can hear him playing bass side on the other video?

Taking the bass reeds out saves a lot of weight. (There's players in the Native American "waila" tradition who take them out of their three-row diatonic boxes because they don't use them much, and traditional gigs could be ten hours long.)

Keeping a "dummy" keyboard on for looks would be a creative way to deal with it if playing the left hand becomes a problem. If so, I kind of appreciate the solution.
 
Ok, I understand you may want to have a dummy bass section if you play with a band and want to save some weight, but you can do that with any regular accordion. In this case the instrument bass section is not common, and I don't think it was made this way only to be a dummy.
 
That's an interesting concept. For me, I think straightening the wrist would be uncomfortable, but you can't argue with the results that he gets.
 
Actually, the very first chromatic button accordions used to have their bass buttons on the side just like that rather than having them on the left front side.
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