How much would you invest in having an accordion professionally "overhauled"?

[EuroFolker]

Let's say it's a non-professional model from a less known brand.

Still, it's a full size, Made in Italy accordion, it looks and feels great and sounds very pleasant -

minus the fact that it's out of tune here and there on the piano keyboard side.

The bass side sounds perfect to my ears, and the tuning app agrees.

The bellows may have a very minor air leak (or leaks) but I am not experienced enough to tell for sure.

I picked it up from the original owner (it's from the seventies) for $500. If I invest in an overhaul / tune up so it performs like new, I'd keep it forever.

(Starting a collection kind of thing).

In your esteemed opinion, (up to) what amount should I spend on servicing the accordion described above?

 

[kimric]

It is impossible to say without inspecting it how much it will cost. That being said it is helpful to know that the average 2 reed 120 bass student instrument sold for $325 to $550 in the 1950's ,adjusting for inflation makes that around $3000 -$5000 in todays dollars.
One of these basic student model instruments can take anywhere from 5 to 25 hrs (rough average) to get up to speed again. It seems like a lot but it is like trying to get a car to pass it's emissions test that has not been serviced since the 80's.
It will almost never cost anywhere near the cost of the instrument new, and there is often no modern equivelent of the instrument (4 reed Scandalli with a 17.5" keyboard!) and if same instrument was available it would probably cost several times the overhaul cost.

I currently have a customers 96 year old Guirrini in the shop for overhaul and it is going to be about $4200 to rebuild. Keep in mind that this rebuild will take me about 4 times the time it takes to do a teardown on the Boeing jet engine we have at my friends place.

 

[JerryPH]

It all depends on your attachment to the accordion. There are accordions in my collection that I would not bat an eye to invest thousands and thousands of dollars in to, if it was needed, but then there are models where I would be less inclined to invest money in to at all.

I have an idea about accordion repairs and the one thing that I have learned is that anything and everything that you do is always going to be mostly intricate and very time intensive. If you don't have those skills, you should be paying someone that has those skills a fair wage to do that work.

The two main schools of thought are your level of sentimentality (no limits), or your acceptance of it's retail value and desire to not exceed it's intrinsic value (very precise budgeted investment if it is worth it and zero investment if the value of the repair exceeds the value of the box).

I think that is going to be the harder question to ask honestly... what's it worth to you?

 

[EuroFolker]

I think that is going to be the harder question to ask honestly... what's it worth to you?

I’ve only had it for weeks so no attachment, and it’s usable as is. It’s solid. Once I have the new one I’ll see if I really need a 2nd perfectly working accordion.

 

[Ventura]

Hello EF

well you can also look at it piece by piece

as you describe it, likely the one single thing that will
make it good for another 50 years more than any other
is a new bellows

old bellows leak.. those once supple thin kidskin corners
dry and get stiff.. the tape and cardboard start pulling apart

they don't cost all that much nowadays, and can be ordered
direct from Europe at a reasonable price. You can send just
the dimensions and they send you one, which then needs to
be fitted by a repairman.. but if you send them your
old bellows complete, they attach the new ones to your old frame
for you. Then you just clean off the old bellows gasket with
a skinny screwdriver, peel and stick fresh gasket tape on (they will
supply), pop the new bellows on and stick the pins back in the old holes

voila

now once you look inside you will also see for yourself if the wax is ok
or dried out and cracking and if the leather flappy thingies are stiff and
out of sorts or still supple and nice

now you can read back old discussions to learn how to work on those
issues a little at a time yourself, or farm that job out to a Pro.
Maybe you won't need to do those things for another 5 or 10 years

looking closely at the keys, how easily they move,if the pads
are still good and seal nicely.. well maybe that doesn't need to be
worked on for another 10 or 15 years (unless the bugs have eaten the
felts to pieces)

so investing in something that is fairly decent to start with is not
such a steep investment, if you can spread it over time while
playing the heck out of it most every day

 

[Ventura]

and there is often no modern equivelent of the instrument (4 reed Scandalli with a 17.5" keyboard!) and if same instrument was available it would probably cost several times the overhaul cost.

oh yes.. Kimric, i have one of those 3/4 size 4 reed Scandalli's
(the blue and cream series)
and while it is far from my most valuable or best accordion, it will likely be the one they
bury me with. It is so lightweight, so bold, so damn reliable, and it has been
my go-to box of choice for all those times i strolled the corridors of those huge
Nursing homes in this region throughout the years. I consider myself very
lucky to have tripped over it and brought it home when i was young..

The last comparable i knew of was a Pancordion model Faither Deffner
collaborated on with Pigini, and marketed here in the States through the
turn of the century.. it too was a very handy, lightweight box and the
one i played when it was introduced sounded and felt great. One member
of the Club has one and as he got older, he sold all his big boxes off and just
kept this nice compact Pan..

 

[EuroFolker]

Life's very busy these days, I can just barely squeeze in the accordion hobby into the schedule...

Venturing into the repair aspect of it just won't happen.

I've done crazier things in life than spending thousands to have a $500 instrument fixed so it's not completely out of question.

But finding someone who'd be willing to competently fix the minor issues, for under a grand (2x the price paid), would be ideal.

Either way, I'll share the developments & outcome with this fine community.

 

[JerryPH]

Life's very busy these days, I can just barely squeeze in the accordion hobby into the schedule...

Welcome to my life... 10-11 hour work days and then taking care of the family... finding practice time is NOT easy.

But finding someone who'd be willing to competently fix the minor issues, for under a grand (2x the price paid), would be ideal.

Where are you loacted in Canada?

 

[EuroFolker]

Hi JerryPH,

Southern Alberta.

 

[JerryPH]

You are kind of in the middle. I don't know of any accordion repairers in Alberta, but a fast google found me this:

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I don't know their reputation.

I know of a couple in BC that are supposed to be good too.

I live in Montreal, but my accordion repair guy is in Burlington Ontario and is both very experienced and very good.

 

[debra]

You could take the accordion to Edwin Ericson in Buck Lake (South-West of Edmonton). He is a very trustworthy repairer and can give you an estimate of what needs to be repaired. (The cost of the inspection is subtracted from the repair costs when you decide to get it repaired.)

 

[EuroFolker]

You could take the accordion to Edwin Ericson in Buck Lake (South-West of Edmonton). He is a very trustworthy repairer and can give you an estimate of what needs to be repaired. (The cost of the inspection is subtracted from the repair costs when you decide to get it repaired.)

I've heard of him, It is interesting that you know about him, and can recommend him, given that you live in Europe? He must have a good reputation.

 

[debra]

I've heard of him, It is interesting that you know about him, and can recommend him, given that you live in Europe? He must have a good reputation.

Edwin and I did the four modules of the Accordion Craft Academy in Castelfidardo, Italy together. Even though Edwin had already been repairing accordions for 40 years he claims to still have learned a lot in ACA. He is a very nice and honest person. Highly recommended!

 

[EuroFolker]

Edwin and I did the four modules of the Accordion Craft Academy in Castelfidardo, Italy together. Even though Edwin had already been repairing accordions for 40 years he claims to still have learned a lot in ACA. He is a very nice and honest person. Highly recommended!

Fantastic, thanks for that info!

 

[Korana]

It is impossible to say without inspecting it how much it will cost. That being said it is helpful to know that the average 2 reed 120 bass student instrument sold for $325 to $550 in the 1950's ,adjusting for inflation makes that around $3000 -$5000 in todays dollars.
One of these basic student model instruments can take anywhere from 5 to 25 hrs (rough average) to get up to speed again. It seems like a lot but it is like trying to get a car to pass it's emissions test that has not been serviced since the 80's.
It will almost never cost anywhere near the cost of the instrument new, and there is often no modern equivelent of the instrument (4 reed Scandalli with a 17.5" keyboard!) and if same instrument was available it would probably cost several times the overhaul cost.

I currently have a customers 96 year old Guirrini in the shop for overhaul and it is going to be about $4200 to rebuild. Keep in mind that this rebuild will take me about 4 times the time it takes to do a teardown on the Boeing jet engine we have at my friends place.

$4200 is way too much for rebuild for that money you can buy brand new accordion. 96 old accordion is not worth to restore it dose not have any play value no matter how rare it is.

 

[JerryPH]

$4200 is way too much for rebuild for that money you can buy brand new accordion. 96 old accordion is not worth to restore it dose not have any play value no matter how rare it is.

I would agree with one exception... if there was some sentimental reason attached to that accordion. I own a Hohner Morino VI N, value somewhere between $6500-$8500 in Canada. If it was tossed off a stage, I would not even bat an eye to toss $10,000 or more to have that accordion made new again.

 

[Ventura]

$4200 is way too much for rebuild for that money you can buy brand new accordion. 96 old accordion is not worth to restore it dose not have any play value no matter how rare it is.

not too much for a Guerrini that was built in San Francisco

 

[OuijaBoard]

]]]Keep in mind that this rebuild will take me about 4 times the time it takes to do a teardown on the Boeing jet engine we have at my friends place.[[[

Is it going into your AMC Pacer ?

 

[debra]

I would agree with one exception... if there was some sentimental reason attached to that accordion. I own a Hohner Morino VI N, value somewhere between $6500-$8500 in Canada. If it was tossed off a stage, I would not even bat an eye to toss $10,000 or more to have that accordion made new again.

You must be very fortunate in Canada. Around here it's hard to sell a Hohner Morino VI N for much more than 2000 euro. Nobody wants these humongous beasts with MIII instead of a convertor, with only a choice between M and MMM (no register with MM)...
Logic dictates that a VI N should be worth a lot more than a Morino IV N or V N (no melody bass) but the reality of supply versus demand dictates otherwise.
Obviously there is potential sale value and there is sentimental value, or value associated with something being essentially irreplaceable.
Prices for accordion repair are staggering (but so are prices for new accordions)... But of course when you just consider how many hours a repair or even just a tuning job costs and you multiply by say 50 per hour (dollar or euro) which is a "normal" rate nowadays for labour that is in higher demand than there is supply... A complete tuning job is going over 500 now (counting 10 hours of work, which is about half of what it takes me to do it)...
On the upside of all this, for the $10.000 you are considering to be willing to pay to get your accordion made new again you can easily buy 3 or 4 here that are in good condition...

 

[JerryPH]

You must be very fortunate in Canada. Around here it's hard to sell a Hohner Morino VI N for much more than 2000 euro. Nobody wants these humongous beasts with MIII instead of a convertor, with only a choice between M and MMM (no register with MM)...

On the upside of all this, for the $10.000 you are considering to be willing to pay to get your accordion made new again you can easily buy 3 or 4 here that are in good condition...

Yes my friend who does repair and sell accordions has now sold 2 and that is the range they went for. As for the ones in good condition in the Netherlands... there is no sentimental value for those accordions to me. Those were not the instruments that my own parents carried from Trossingen to Canada for me.

Sentimentality is expensive at times, that was the point I was trying to make!