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E and A flat Bass buttons plain and not dimpled/grooved, etc

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wirralaccordion

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I have just bought myself another piano accordion which has a few things different to what I am used to. The main new ( to me ) features are
1) the doubling up of the 5th bass button row for use as either diminished chord or dominant seventh ( I opened another thread on this practice )
2) the use of a palm switch instead of seperate register switches for the bass
3) the bass E and the bass A flat buttons have no dimples, grooves, etc to make them easy to find. N.B. The bass C button has the normal dip in it as I have found to be the case on all other accordions I have ever seen.

I am struggling with feature 3. The question is how would you make these 2 X buttons easy to find whilst playing? Replacing them would be a little extreme!
 
In Anszaghi’s method he suggests the use of white sealing wax. Nowadays a dab of hot melt glue may perform the same function. In my experience it can be easily removed once it ceases to be useful. Even so, I would advise experiment before possibly damaging your nice new instrument.
 
I use my daughter's fingernail polish. Choice of colors or sparkles and removable.
 
I've heated a scalpel or thin knife real hot and melted a cross on the Ab and E bass buttons on more than one occaaion and never been problematic... Just go slowly
Hope that helps...
 
You can get 3mm rhinestones at Poundland - 1080 of them for (yes, you guessed it) £1.
 
I have just bought myself another piano accordion which has a few things different to what I am used to. The main new ( to me ) features are
1) the doubling up of the 5th bass button row for use as either diminished chord or dominant seventh ( I opened another thread on this practice )
2) the use of a palm switch instead of seperate register switches for the bass
3) the bass E and the bass A flat buttons have no dimples, grooves, etc to make them easy to find. N.B. The bass C button has the normal dip in it as I have found to be the case on all other accordions I have ever seen.

I am struggling with feature 3. The question is how would you make these 2 X buttons easy to find whilst playing? Replacing them would be a little extreme!
I grew up with accordions that had only the C bass dimpled. As a result, I learned to find the E and A-flat with no hints. But, I have to say that having those two marked adds to my confidence. I don't actually rely on them, but When I do find them with my fingers it is reassuring that I'm in or near where I want to be.
 
Wirralaccordion,
This is a perennial topic, there being several previous threads on this very topic containing many helpful suggestions ?
My own preference has been to mark the exact centre of the button in question by rotating the tip of a small, very sharp kitchen knife. Then, while having an assistant immobilse the button by gripping it gently though firmly with a pair of long-nosed pliers (tips masked with insulation tape) and using a hand-drill fitted with a 3/8 ths inch (9 mm) new (very sharp) drill bit, slowly and carefully drilling down into the button thus making a comfortably generous and easily felt dimple. I generally drill down leaving a one or 1.5 mm rim around the edge of the button untouched,
This makes for a neat, permanent solution.
Just make doubly sure you're working on the correct button ?
Do not attempt this If at all doubtful of your manual prowess!!?
This technique requires no disassembly of the accordion, and the whole process should take only a few minutes.
A contributor to an earlier thread on this subject
dispensed with the hand-drill by simply turning the drill bit only with his hand.
 
Last edited:
Wirralaccordion,
This is a perennial topic, there being several previous threads on this very topic containing many helpful suggestions ?
My own preference has been to mark the exact centre of the button in question by rotating the tip of a small, very sharp kitchen knife. Then, while having an assistant immobilse the button by gripping it gently though firmly with a pair of long-nosed pliers (tips masked with insulation tape) and using a hand-drill fitted with a 3/8 ths inch (9 mm) new (very sharp) drill bit, slowly and carefully drilling down into the button thus making a comfortably generous and easily felt dimple. I generally drill down leaving a one or 1.5 mm rim around the edge of the button untouched,
This makes for a neat, permanent solution.
Just make doubly sure you're working on the correct button ?
Do not attempt this If at all doubtful of your manual prowess!!?
This technique requires no disassembly of the accordion, and the whole process should take only a few minutes.
A contributor to an earlier thread on this subject
dispensed with the hand-drill by simply turning the drill bit only with his hand.
Just be careful with this one.... I've SEEN the result of digging a little too deep.... There's not as much plastic as you may think available above the metal rod inside... ?
 
because my teacher assigned "Temptation" to me as a youth, i kinda grew
past the lower and upper rhinestones, as the song requires multiple jumps
down to Db from C and upwards in the other direction for part of the bridge

i guess also because i liked the song and played it a lot over the years

eventually when i got the tube cordovox, it had only an indentation for C and
nothing no X no rhinestones on any other basses and i really never missed them
so I recommend you learn "Temptation" (fake book #1) and FUGHEDDABOUT
marking the Ab

another one that can help you just memorize the distances on Bass is "Hummingbird"
(Seals and Croft)
 
I suppose, nowadays, you could instant glue "rose cut" (having a flat base) Swarovski rhinestones directly on to the tops of the relevant "pistons ", or buttons: a very quick fix indeed!?
These may possibly be available individually from your local "bead shop"??
 
I would advise using a small piece of scotch tape, or as they refer to it on the other side of the pond, "Transparent Tape". It won't do any irreversible damage.
 
I also use rhinestones but use them in a somewhat different way. I glue one on the E and the other one on the Eb instead of the A. Somehow I find this more useful.
 
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