Crucianelli

[RandomJohnny]

I came across this Crucianelli but I can't find any information regarding type, age and so on. Can anyone tell me something more about it? It must be over 50 years old since they stopped producing in 1970...

 

[Soulsaver]

I know little about button accordions... but it's a beauty... and looks HUGE!

 

[debra]

I know little about button accordions... but its a beauty... and looks HUGE!

I have often seen Crucianelli button boxes and they always looked huge to me. They are especially thick, which means your left hand has to reach quite far to reach the bass buttons. Maybe someone here knows why they are so thick...

 

[RandomJohnny]

It's a bit thick indeed but I'm getting used to it. It's not very high though. The sound is amazing It has cassotto, 4 reeds and 5 voices. It weighs about 13 kilograms. It feels like a Rolls Royce . Her's one more picture

 

[JIM D.]

In the past all Crucianelli (PANcordion) models Ive seen or worked on were PA versions.
However If I needed info on this one I would contact a dealer that services the button box models of Crucianelli (PANcordion).
In the US -- http://www.bussomusic.com/catalog/
On the other side of the pond -- http://scotlandaccordions.co.uk/

 

[TomBR]

It feels like a Rolls Royce.

It has that look! Its a terrific looking machine.
The keyboard looks quite far forward in a bayan-ish sort of way, does it feel like that to play? Is it B or C system?

 

[RandomJohnny]

It's a B-system. I'm not familiar with Bayan style playing so I can't tell you if it feels similar. I'm not an advanced player so I'll keep practicing and this accordion will reveil it's possibilities the coming years. It's a bit like my shoes are to big and I have to grow into the right size. It's an instrument for life
Practicing by the way with a Hohner Fortuna...

 

[Glenn]

Looks to be in great condition and a real beauty. How did you “come across” such a machine?

 

[RandomJohnny]

There's this guy in a small village in Brabant (Milheeze) who has many accordions in a shed in his backyard... I bought the Crucianelli from him.

 

[Glenn]

The guys I know with sheds in their garden only have old paint pots and mowers in them.

 

[yc360]

My morino n and morino d artiste are also really thick, hard for me to get used to. My Victoria and borsini are perfect, day and night in comparison. All are c system 120 bass. Morino does have more buttons

 

[RandomJohnny]

The guys I know with sheds in their garden only have old paint pots and mowers in them.

This was definitely no gardner. He told me his grandfather used to repair accordions in the lowlands. It ran in the family.
This is how it looks inside his shed in the garden.

 

[yc360]

Gees, no such neighbors in this neck of woods. Sad! :hb :hb :hb :hb :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

 

[Geronimo]

My morino n and morino d artiste are also really thick, hard for me to get used to. My Victoria and borsini are perfect, day and night in comparison. All are c system 120 bass. Morino does have more buttons

The 4-reed Morino Artiste models of the D series have six treble reed blocks all in the same plane. That makes for 12 half reed blocks organized as 4 reed sets for 3 button rows. The 1½ reed blocks for the L reed are behind the keyboard with separate round pallets: so while the location behind the keyboard makes them sound darker, Morino turned that disadvantage into an advantage, giving a cassotto-like sound for the L reed set. Excelsior dropped that mechanism when they produced the 4-reed instruments of the Morino Artiste N series: instead they have one button row sounding darker than the others. Ugh.

Here is a video of the innards of my Morino Artiste VID (no sound yet).
<YOUTUBE id=1xQryQixETc url=>[media]</YOUTUBE>

Now if you dont use that space behind the keyboard (intentionally or involuntarily) for a separate tone color, youll either get it where you dont want it, or youll put in a full cassotto enclosure there and/or you have to break the half-reed-block/reed-set-buttonrow relation and/or youll just not use that space and instead make your instrument higher.

It would be interesting to see how the Crucianelli with its rather large behind-keyboard space organizes reed sets.

 

[wout]

How funny i have been there as well his name is jan right? Almost bought an accordiola there.

 

[debra]

Its a bit thick indeed but Im getting used to it. Its not very high though. The sound is amazing It has cassotto, 4 reeds and 5 voices. It weighs about 13 kilograms. It feels like a Rolls Royce . Hers one more picture

In PA the equivalent to this would have been the Crucianelli Baton. An amazing instrument with very nice sound. If this CBA is anything like it Rolls Royce sounds like an appropriate label (within the Cricianelli brand).

 

[RandomJohnny]

How funny i have been there as well his name is jan right? Almost bought an accordiola there.

Yes indeed; first name Jan!

I will upload some fotos of the interior of the Crucianelli.

 

[RandomJohnny]

It looks like this on the inside..
PS it's weight is 11.2 kilogram. I thought it was about 13 but I was wrong.

 

[Geronimo]

Well, you missed the treble reed blocks, but never mind: they should be six. This has a five-reed bass and looks like it would be sporting a déclassement (quasi-cassotto for a single reed set). It has a bit more than four octaves of range, the register machine underneath has only 5 registers (if I had to guess, L, M, MMM, LMMM, LM), suggesting that it doesn't have a piccolo reed.

Its key levers are all straight, making for good feel and action. If its disposition is akin to my main instrument, all M are outside of the "cassotto" (which isn't really a cassotto, making tuning jobs simpler and thus likely cheaper): that allows for a very balanced three-reed tremolo (depending of course on taste and tuner).

Its range is a bit smaller than that of mine, meaning that you won't get the choice of octavated L instead of M for the same kind of range (which may be desirable because you can then choose whether to use cassotto or not by picking M or L).

Basically, it is a Morino Artiste IVD with newer mechanics but without the constructive deficiencies of the Excelsior-built later Artiste series (ok, but no bass cassotto either). This looks like a construction warranting very good reeds and careful balancing of sound.

At 11kg, certainly looks like a keeper. Good catch, I'd say.

 

[RandomJohnny]

Thanks for the explanation Geronimo
I'm very content with it. The sound is great :b