Hello there lads! It has been a while 
November last year I created a thread in the forum (here) seeking help to choose between two accordion models: the Classic 127 and the Super VI Extreme. First and foremost, I'd like again to thank the people who set aside some time to share their opinion, experience and knowledge on the matter. As someone who doesn't have much experience on the topic, I cannot begin to express how reassuring and heartwarming it was to have knowledgeable people helping me making a more informed decision. Goes to show why this forum is something truly special. From the bottom of my heart: thank you guys. It truly meant (and means) a lot.
During the discussion, I mentioned I was choosing between the two aforementioned models to replace my Excelsior. The Excelsior is a second-hand, 30+ years old Mod. 2000E R about which very little is know. Not even current day Excelsior have much information on it (I've shared all the information they gave me on the post linked above). It never received maintenance, and desperately needed one. Given the significant maintenance costs and my lack of knowledge on the model ("I know nothing about this accordion, would it be wise to invest so much money fixing it? Is it worth it?"), I thought that it'd be best to sell it and use the money that'd be spent on maintenance to buy a new accordion. After saying this, along came @Ventura to share his knowledge and opinion on the matter. And oh boy, what stroke of luck.
After more discussion, he helped to clear my doubts about my Excelsior's quality and that it most likely it was as good as the regular Mod. 940, albeit different in order to better suit the specific Brazilian environmental conditions. He also gave his verdict: "yes, fix up that Excelsior !". I ended up deciding to abide by this verdict and out I went searching for a professional that would do a good job. As luck would have it, after speaking with the Excelsior's previous owner, he recommended Paulo Júnior (PJ), a luthier from Brasília, which goes by "Menezes Acordeons" (his IG, in case a fellow Brazilian needs a professional, but has no reference). November last year I took the Excelsior there, listed everything that needed to be done and, due to other ongoing services, we scheduled the maintenance for March this year. The maintenance was concluded mid June (around 2 weeks ago), but I was only able to write this post today. I could spend paragraphs describing the results, but I'll instead just attach some pictures of the fixed up Excelsior and sum it all up with one single word: outstanding. The previous post has the pictures of how it was before the maintenance in case anyone wants to compare the before and after (the plugging of the holes on the reed blocks is the most satisfying of all). He went above and beyond what I was expecting, and truly did his best to deliver the best accordion possible. To say he succeeded would be the understatement of the decade.
@Ventura, thank you very much for all the information and advice. I can confidently say that this was the correct choice: I'm so glad that I've bet on the Excelsior. After both keyboard and bass were tuned to A 440Hz, the sound became so comfy and nice. No wonder so many jazz players choose Excelsior throughout the years. It's amazing to play on it. The maintenance made a world of difference: it's now very comfortable and responsive. I can barely recognize this accordion. It is wonderful. 1990's Excelsior was truly something special. I hope that they're as good now under Pigini.
Again, thank you all for all your help. Words cannot begin to describe how amazing this forum is. It allows people from all over the world to come together and learn/discuss about this nice sounding, way too cumbersome, overly complicated and appallingly expensive instrument. Cheers, m8s!
Pictures 1/4:
November last year I created a thread in the forum (here) seeking help to choose between two accordion models: the Classic 127 and the Super VI Extreme. First and foremost, I'd like again to thank the people who set aside some time to share their opinion, experience and knowledge on the matter. As someone who doesn't have much experience on the topic, I cannot begin to express how reassuring and heartwarming it was to have knowledgeable people helping me making a more informed decision. Goes to show why this forum is something truly special. From the bottom of my heart: thank you guys. It truly meant (and means) a lot.
During the discussion, I mentioned I was choosing between the two aforementioned models to replace my Excelsior. The Excelsior is a second-hand, 30+ years old Mod. 2000E R about which very little is know. Not even current day Excelsior have much information on it (I've shared all the information they gave me on the post linked above). It never received maintenance, and desperately needed one. Given the significant maintenance costs and my lack of knowledge on the model ("I know nothing about this accordion, would it be wise to invest so much money fixing it? Is it worth it?"), I thought that it'd be best to sell it and use the money that'd be spent on maintenance to buy a new accordion. After saying this, along came @Ventura to share his knowledge and opinion on the matter. And oh boy, what stroke of luck.
After more discussion, he helped to clear my doubts about my Excelsior's quality and that it most likely it was as good as the regular Mod. 940, albeit different in order to better suit the specific Brazilian environmental conditions. He also gave his verdict: "yes, fix up that Excelsior !". I ended up deciding to abide by this verdict and out I went searching for a professional that would do a good job. As luck would have it, after speaking with the Excelsior's previous owner, he recommended Paulo Júnior (PJ), a luthier from Brasília, which goes by "Menezes Acordeons" (his IG, in case a fellow Brazilian needs a professional, but has no reference). November last year I took the Excelsior there, listed everything that needed to be done and, due to other ongoing services, we scheduled the maintenance for March this year. The maintenance was concluded mid June (around 2 weeks ago), but I was only able to write this post today. I could spend paragraphs describing the results, but I'll instead just attach some pictures of the fixed up Excelsior and sum it all up with one single word: outstanding. The previous post has the pictures of how it was before the maintenance in case anyone wants to compare the before and after (the plugging of the holes on the reed blocks is the most satisfying of all). He went above and beyond what I was expecting, and truly did his best to deliver the best accordion possible. To say he succeeded would be the understatement of the decade.
@Ventura, thank you very much for all the information and advice. I can confidently say that this was the correct choice: I'm so glad that I've bet on the Excelsior. After both keyboard and bass were tuned to A 440Hz, the sound became so comfy and nice. No wonder so many jazz players choose Excelsior throughout the years. It's amazing to play on it. The maintenance made a world of difference: it's now very comfortable and responsive. I can barely recognize this accordion. It is wonderful. 1990's Excelsior was truly something special. I hope that they're as good now under Pigini.
Again, thank you all for all your help. Words cannot begin to describe how amazing this forum is. It allows people from all over the world to come together and learn/discuss about this nice sounding, way too cumbersome, overly complicated and appallingly expensive instrument. Cheers, m8s!
Pictures 1/4:
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