Excelsiola Magnante 740

[danp76]

Hi guys, I recently acquired a 740 Excelsiola. The bellows move quite easily, is this a sign of an internal air leak? I haven't pulled the pins yet, but I will look inside soon. Some of the bass notes are a big "gurgly" is this tuning or? And a few treble notes that change sound with bellow direction...thoughts?  Thank you guys! Also, how do I determine the age of this accordion? What reeds were used? thank you!

 

[JIM D.]

First of all your gurgly sound and the notes changing with the bellows is a reed leather problem.
Your Excelsiola is at the minimum is 60 years old and can up to be 80 years old. I can give you a more exact time
frame with a picture of the grill. A rule of thumb is that Excelsior's of that period had man made reeds. The Excelsiola
models had quality machine made reeds. There are exceptions as some Excelsiola's were ordered with hand made reeds.
Excelsior's and Excelsiola's were made with the same frames and hardwoods.
Now I posted this on another thread but again go here a give it a careful read -------
http://accordionrevival.com/ACCORDION_REPAIR1.php#Changing_Leathers

 

[danp76]

First of all your gurgly sound and the notes changing with the bellows is a reed leather problem.
Your Excelsiola is at the minimum is 60 years old and can up to be 80 years old. I can give you a more exact time
frame with a picture of the grill. A rule of thumb is that Excelsior's of that period had man made reeds. The Excelsiola
models had quality machine made reeds. There are exceptions as some Excelsiola's were ordered with hand made reeds.
Excelsior's and Excelsiola's were made with the same frames and hardwoods.
Now I posted this on another thread but again go here a give it a careful read -------
http://accordionrevival.com/ACCORDION_REPAIR1.php#Changing_Leathers

https://reverb.com/item/25925372-34...iola-740-magnante-piano-accordion-lmmm-41-120

It looks just like this accordion in the link

 

[JIM D.]

Late 1960 to 1975 if in fact if has these style shift coupler's. The shift machine on your pic' has couplers in a straight line. Earlier models had the shift machine
with an oval design couplers. The grill itself is the same from 1950 to 1980.

 

[danp76]

Late 1960 to 1975  if in fact if has these style shift coupler's. The shift machine on your pic' has couplers in a straight  line. Earlier models had the shift machine
with an oval design couplers.  The grill itself is the same from 1950 to 1980.

Thank you Jim! I need to do some repairs I believe, as the bellows require a lot of "movement" while playing and some of the notes are not "clean." I will pull the pins and take some photos. I wonder if I have hand made reeds?

 

[nagant27]

Post a pic of your reeds and we’ll see what everyone says.
I think you will like this accordion. I have the 740 excelsiola as well and Jim did some excellent work on it a few years back. It’s a great accordion. I love the feel of it, not bulky, and it just fits me. Plays smooth. The sound is superb. The one on liberty belliows says LMMM, I think usually they are LMMH. Yours probably is that too. Maybe the air leaking making the bellows so easy is the leathers as well. Good luck, great accordion in my opinion.

 

[danp76]

Post a pic of your reeds and we’ll see what everyone says.  
I think you will like this accordion.  I have the 740 excelsiola as well and Jim did some excellent work on it a few years back.  It’s a great accordion.  I love the feel of it, not bulky, and it just fits me.   Plays smooth.   The sound is superb.  The one on liberty belliows says LMMM, I think usually they are LMMH.  Yours probably is that too.  Maybe the air leaking making the bellows so easy is the leathers as well.  Good luck, great accordion in my opinion.

Thank you Nagant 27! I will pull the pins and take a look! I'm missing the grill pin on the bottom of the grill, not sure where to get one? Does yours have hand made reeds? What's the difference between the Magnante 740 and the 940? more reeds blocks?

 

[danp76]

I tried to add photos, but for some reason it says they are too large to load? Not sure how to post them.

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[JIM D.]

Ya Dan;
Got your call - hope to see you shorty.
Also got your pic's - The best, a 1970's vintage.