ID and newbie some questions for a Del Monti

[SquareBiscuit]

I got this from a family that was cleaning up and moving away.
Pic of accordian in question and a pic of the box it lives in.
So first of all, I don't know what kind of accordian this is. I tried searching Del Monti Carbonari and I got nothing. I guess I just want specifics (buttons, keys, bass, something something, etc) so I know what I'm looking for when I seek out lessons.
I'd like to get it looked at and probably repaired. I looked into a couple suggested places in AZ (Ziggie's and Campos) and one is currently closed, the other has some pretty poor reviews. Are there any other techs in the Phoenix area?
Can I take it apart and fix it myself, are there books or vids that walk you through the steps, or is it too delicate of an operation (I have little to no musical instrument repair experience)?
Finally, I'd like to learn how to play it. Do you think this accordian is worth the repair and decent to learn on? Or is there a simpler style of accordian that's easier for rhythmless newbies in their 50's to learn on, and work up to this one?
(Cross posted to an accordion group on reddit with no success so far).
Thank you in advance.

 

[Ben-jammin]

This is a twelve bass piano accordion. These were rented to students for the first handful of lessons so the instructor could show the parents the great progress their child was making so they would feel good about purchasing a more featured instrument. If it’s playable it might get you started but the 12 left hand buttons only gives you 6 bass notes and 6 major chords which can quickly become limiting. People that make a good showing on these do it more inspite of the instrument instead because of it.

The website “accordion revival.com” has some information on doing the work yourself. Most of the tasks aren’t too bad if you are solid at dyi and can take your time. It can be pretty time consuming, though there are a lot less parts on a 12 bass so could be a good instrument to learn repair on (and potentially make mistakes on)

I’m not familiar with the brand but probably Italian made. There were a ton of Italian accordion builders in the 50s that would put any brand name you wanted on them for your music school or store and pretty much all the 12 bass accordions were built solid but with the modest specifications that were appropriate for their purpose (as described above to only get a student past the initial stage of learning.)

Before you invest too much into it, it might be a good idea to see what your goals are, because most accordion methods I’ve seen require a larger accordion by the time you get to the second book (out of a total 8 or 10).

 

[SquareBiscuit]

Thank you! This is very helpful.
I do have the time and maybe the patience so I'll check out the accordian revival site. And yeah, maybe a better accordian is in my future if Im serious about it, and I think I am.