Grill Drill...

[henry d]

I have a perhaps sixty year old Crown 3/5 41/120 with L/M in the chamber. 18 inch keyboard and about 19 pounds with a nicely finished interior (of course unless the straps fail and cause the thing to take a dive I'm unlikely to contemplate the polished mahogany blocks ETC except when repairing but I still appreciate it), and all is generally well but that the tone is so laid back that it would make Joe Cocker sound like Perry Como...

I figure that the main cause is the front grill which is a solid formed sheet of celluloid over aluminum (but for the switch bank poking through the lower portion). There is a Dallape-esque three inch opening at the upper portion of the grill running across most of the top but the entire lower three fourths of the front is covered.

It was originally miked up inside and may have been intended to be primarily played through speakers for all I know- but the stand alone acoustic performance is in tune and quite pleasant but , for me, just doesn't get it.

I've been contemplating a bit of opening things up with a jsigsaw and some brass screening/ grill fabric. Cosmetics aside (and I am passably competent at having visually acceptable cosmetics) what say ye to the notion?

 

[Ventura]

i would think the solid front was a special order

Guilietti made a few like that for Pro's , which, considering the Mics
of the period, is a reasonable way to protect somewhat against feedback
for guys that always played Amped up

certainly a closed design grill is gonna dampen your unplugged spirits though !

do you have an old accordion repair shop around you ? some of those
guys have a huge graveyard of old boxes for parts.. i would say try and find
a normal grille from a same sized similar model first

not too many 18" 3 reed TC designs.. they definitely shared body size
with other models from the same factories, and Crown was a jobber of course
so sourced like many other USA brand names from one of the the few available
private label manufacturers in Italy who could build a 3/4 size Pro stroller

i have a Private label Tonaveri ranger.. the reeds and touch of these
smaller pro strollers are really special, but Sonola owned that market segment
so the other brands with similar boxes are few and far between or regional

good luck

 

[henry d]

Thanks.

I'm actually in the process of scouting around for potential candidate grills. As I learned long ago, you can always cut things shorter; cutting them longer is a bit of a challenge... The same thought applies to opening up the grill.

It would probably be OK- no more than a mute- were it not for the cassotto. The combined effect is just a bit too much.

I figure I'll use it grill-less for a bit just to figure out how bright it is liable to get with a full open set up and then dial it back.

 

[henry d]

I'm going to have to come up with a grill from a junker that fits; I just can't bring myself to cut into the "stayed unscathed for over almost two thirds of a century" grill.

It does sound brighter without the grill- a bit over the top. A happy medium would probably be best. Ideal would be flappers (sordinos (sp?)) a la the old Scandallis and Frontalinis.

No intestinal fortitude I suppose...

 

[Dingo40]

Can you post a picture of how it is now, please?

 

[henry d]

Can you post a picture of how it is now, please?

Regrettably, no. Awash in old accordions, 19th century flutes and brass, I have not yet acquired a smart phone with camera.

I do have indoor plumbing- so I'm slowly adapting to the modern era...

(At some point I'll try to round up my daughter who is whole-hog in on these new-fangled gimcracks and then take and post a pic)