I wondered how realistic they feel to play(bellows movement etc)and if there are any issues like reliability I should consider

[Plinky]

Hi Guys/Gals I'm thoroughly enjoying the accordion and most of the time have no problem practising but I'm often up very early while the little woman sleeps in and it's obviously impractical to practise at 6am.​

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I have a digital piano that I often play with headphones,so I'm thinking of getting a Roland FR-1X 72 Bass Compact V-Accordion that I could play with headphones on ​

I wondered how realistic they feel to play(bellows movement etc)and if there are any issues like reliability I should consider?
Many thanks for any information you may have

 

[Dingo40]

I wondered how realistic they feel to play(bellows movement etc)and if there are any issues like reliability I should consider?

Hi Plinky!

"I wondered how realistic they feel to play(bellows movement etc"

They feel like digital pseudo accordions, not analogue (ie " real") accordions.
Some people take to this like ducks to water, but others find it hard to adapt to and write reams of posts to the forum about it.
Don't expect too much "reality" and you'll be right!
On the other hand, many members appreciate the availability of the earphones and other options!!

and if there are any issues like reliability I should consider?""

There's issues galore, just like with even brand new analogue accordions: just that they tend to be different, and particular to digital instruments.
We have a whole section devoted to digital instruments here: it could pay you to peruse it.
My impression is, if you're not IT or computer tech savvy, digital accordion can be quite a steep learning curve, and there's not really any easy ride.
Second, although both systems experience issues of varying seriousness, the digital ones can be a lot more alarming to the novice user, especially as there may only be one or two professional service centres in the whole country.
Very few incidents can put an analogue accordion totally out of action for the time.
You can buy a reasonable to excellent analogue that will go for decades for the price of a digital!
As usual, you pay your money and take your pick!
But, hey, what would I know?

 

[breezybellows]

They are two different instruments. The bellows feel weird because the airflow is very different. I love my digital accordion. It has helped me get so much practice at night. Don't compare it with an acoustic accordion. There are many things that are common but it will never feel like an acoustic with real reeds. It can do a thousand more things that an acoustic can not.

All Rolands have free bass systems packed into them. That's a killer feature.

 

[Plinky]

Hi Plinky!

They feel like digital pseudo accordions, not analogue (ie " real") accordions.
Some people take to this like ducks to water, but others find it hard to adapt to and write reams of posts to the forum about it.
Don't expect too much "reality" and you'll be right!
On the other hand, many members appreciate the availability of the earphones and other options!!

There's issues galore, just like with even brand new analogue accordions: just that they tend to be different, and particular to digital instruments.
We have a whole section devoted to digital instruments here: it could pay you to peruse it.
My impression is, if you're not IT or computer tech savvy, digital accordion can be quite a steep learning curve, and there's not really any easy ride.
Second, although both systems experience issues of varying seriousness, the digital ones can be a lot more alarming to the novice user, especially as there may only be one or two professional service centres in the whole country.
Very few incidents can put an analogue accordion totally out of action for the time.
You can buy a reasonable to excellent analogue that will go for decades for the price of a digital!
As usual, you pay your money and take your pick!
But, hey, what would I know?

Hi dingo40 many thanks. I'm pretty good with digital stuff so it's more about playability. I'm not expecting an acoustic quality but something that gives the mechanical feel for practising would be great.​

They do stock them in Norwich so I think a visit to try one out is probably the best idea.
My Kawai digital piano has been excellent and i,m used to playing with headphones at unsociable hours LOL

 

[Rosie C]

My Kawai digital piano has been excellent and i,m used to playing with headphones at unsociable hours LOL

I love my Kawai! It took a long time for me to accept that my baby grand acoustic wasn't practical, but I eventually swapped it for a Kawai and I love it!

 

[jozz]

my FR1x is a gem and certainly playable
it had lots of expression after you get used to it

not really my thing for live playing, but that is not its purpose with me - it's more of a tool at the computer desk

 

[dak]

I wondered how realistic they feel to play(bellows movement etc)and if there are any issues like reliability I should consider?
Many thanks for any information you may have

They don't feel realistic but are intuitive to play when one is used to accordion. There will be some fine points of expression and articulation you cannot sensibly practice on them, but a lot you can. Reliability concerns mostly tend to be about the battery and bellows pressure sensor calibration. Of course you can wear down their bellows like with an acoustic instrument, and the keyboard can develop problems. Overall, there is less than can go wrong with an acoustic accordion, but when it does, it takes different skills and replacement parts to fix. And of course it buys you a lot of possibilities you don't have with an acoustic.

 

[tcabot]

For headphones playing they are phenomenal. They are also good for practising scales, arpeggios, playing etudes (that often lack any musical context), as I'm sure your family and neighbours do not want to listen to that at 6am every day.

I had a very old Roland and I had to open it up on several occasions to fix minor snags. It was first gen, 20 years old and very, very well-played though, and once fixed, the problems were not repeating. Nothing that can't be fixed with a bit of poking with a screwdriver & soldering iron and a fair bit of swearing. Reminded me of my old volvo, that was rock solid mechanically and would always get me from A to B, but always had multiple trivial little electric snags appearing now and then.

The bellows feeling is not "realistic". The sound response is not realistic, and if I learned a piece on the roland, I found that it took some time to get used to playing it on the acoustic box. Also, it's packed with different sound samples and presets, but most of them are barely palatable at best.

Would you be happy with the teeny-weeny range on the PA FR1x and its teeny-weeny size?

 

[Tom]

I have the fr4x that I use for quiet practice all the time. I say quiet, not silent, because I don’t use headphones. I simply turn the volume low enough that I can hear it, but others in the house are not bothered.

Tcabot has a good point. If you have the cash, the 4x gives you significant more range than the 1x but not that huge a size difference. I bought mine with the Dale Mathis sounds so I got a decent setup right away without the need to mess around with programming. It’s not anywhere near the same as an acoustic in sound, playability or feel, so as long as you expect that going in there’s no problem.

 

[breezybellows]

my FR1x is a gem and certainly playable
it had lots of expression after you get used to it

not really my thing for live playing, but that is not its purpose with me - it's more of a tool at the computer desk

The bellows action is different and feels weird, but nevertheless it lets you add so much expression. Its just that the technique is a little bit different. I love my Bugari Evo.

 

[Plinky]

"Would you be happy with the teeny-weeny range on the PA FR1x and its teeny-weeny size?" i,m still getting to grips with a 48 bass lol

 

[Alan Sharkis]

Long before I had my FR-4x, I had several acoustic accordions. I could close the door to whatever room I was in and not disturb a soul. Then, I bought a reed-less and, when necessary, used it with earphones. After that, I bought an acoustic accordion with MIDI, but it had no mutes, so I learned to lock up the bellows and control dynamics with a foot pedal. After that, came the AxE-Cordion with the same MIDI system as in my acoustic. Finally, the FR-4x came.

I keep my earphones handy.

 

[dak]

Long before I had my FR-4x, I had several acoustic accordions. I could close the door to whatever room I was in and not disturb a soul. Then, I bought a reed-less and, when necessary, used it with earphones. After that, I bought an acoustic accordion with MIDI, but it had no mutes, so I learned to lock up the bellows and control dynamics with a foot pedal. After that, came the AxE-Cordion with the same MIDI system as in my acoustic. Finally, the FR-4x came.

I keep my earphones handy.

I have an Excelsior with MIDI inside where I can register the treble to be silent (the 4 reed banks have separate switches) and there is a silent bass register. But it doesn't have a bellows pressure sensor. That sounds a bit pointless except for the use cases where you want one half of the instrument to be acoustic and the other to only be electronic (but not silent). Your acoustic probably was equipped with MIDI after its first sale?

 

[Thomas N]

I've had an FR-8x for 8 or 9 years now. I have thousands of hours playing it. To me - it's an acoustic accordion both in sound and feel.

But then I play my Excelsior 960, and yeah, they are quite different. The bellows are much harder to work, I tire easily, the sound resonates through your body rather than through a speaker or amplifier, etc.

I had a Petosa Millennium Reedless prior to the FR-8X and loved that accordion as well. I will always have a reedless accordion. I spend well over 90% of my time playing it.

If you're on the fence - get it. It will be awkward at first, but if you put the time into it and have an open mind it soon will be your go-to instrument. Well, at least it was in my case.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

I have an Excelsior with MIDI inside where I can register the treble to be silent (the 4 reed banks have separate switches) and there is a silent bass register. But it doesn't have a bellows pressure sensor. That sounds a bit pointless except for the use cases where you want one half of the instrument to be acoustic and the other to only be electronic (but not silent). Your acoustic probably was equipped with MIDI after its first sale?

My acoustic was a stock instrument at the factory in Vercelli. It was brand new. The factory sent it to Castelfidardo to get the MIDI and mikes installed. It was then sent back to the factory to be checked out, and then to my dealer who also checked it out. It took a couple of months from the time I ordered it until I got it.

 

[dak]

My acoustic was a stock instrument at the factory in Vercelli. It was brand new. The factory sent it to Castelfidardo to get the MIDI and mikes installed. It was then sent back to the factory to be checked out, and then to my dealer who also checked it out. It took a couple of months from the time I ordered it until I got it.

So they would have had an opportunity to make the registration fit better with the use as MIDI instrument, if not an order. Ok.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

The midi system that was installed, Master Play Midi, has 400 sounds and about 100 of them are sampled from various acoustic accordions. Finding one that works well with the registrations already in the acoustic in which it’s installed isn’t a problem. But if the accordion had mutes, I could use the bellows for expression with, for example, a clarinet sound. I’d still also have the ability to do pitch bends, since the midi unit has jacks for pitch bend and glide pedals.