Stephen Hawkins post_id=64600 time=1543273636 user_id=1440 said:
Hi Paul,
Country of manufacture is often misrepresented. This creates distrust and plain confusion.
I dont know which Italian makers are on the level, or which have accordions or their constituent parts made in China. This confusion causes doubt in my mind, especially as I have seen shipping manifests for accordion parts being routed through ports in South Korea & Vietnam.
...
Accordion manufacturers only make a few (but important) bits of the accordion themselves, like the box (treble and bass side) and the reed blocks. They source almost all other parts, and then fit them into the box. This is still a very laborious process as parts are often not ready to go in. For instance keys need the (aluminium) connection from keyboard towards pallet bent exactly the right way to fit. This is different for every key on the keyboard. Then the key top (made of celluloid) needs to be glued on in exactly the right position and needs to fit without touching neighboring keys and without leaving an ugly gap. Bass pistons also need to be bent exactly the right way and the tabs (that push the levers) need to be positioned correctly. Some manufacturers also still cut leathers themselves, and the felt for the pallets. It is a lot of manual precision work.
Many parts are sourced from a different company in Italy (like the bellows, the reed plates, the valves...) but many parts actually come from far away, a lot from china, like buttons, screws, bolts, bellow pins, bellow straps and not least of all sheets of celluloid. So its no wonder there are shipping manifests for accordion parts.
Especially in the lower range it is not a surprise to see accordions being made/assembled in countries like China because labor is a major part of the cost of an accordion. If you consider how much work it is to build say a 34/72 3 reed instrument and how much material goes into it versus a 41/120 4 reed instrument with cassotto and a mano reeds and you consider how much money these instruments are sold for it is clear that no money can be made on the 34/72 when built to the same standard in Italy but quite a bit can be made on the 41/120. The expensive models pay for keeping the lower end (beginner) models affordable. It is all about buyer lock-in. Once a buyer is happy starting out on a small accordion of brand X they are more likely to later go for an expensive model also from brand X.
Some Italian names are now being used for chinese import: E.Soprani is a good example. These accordions are made in China and then go to Italy for a final quality check before being shipped to dealers or customers. I have no idea how much work that final check still takes, but the final check on some real Italian accordions is also still a lot of work, more so in the larger factories than in smaller outfits.
Will we soon see more accordions made in China and sold under famous Italian brands? Who knows... but my prediction is that it is likely to happen, especially when companies start needing to do it in order to stay afloat.
