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Inherited my Grandads accordion!!!

icepug

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Hello everyone. This is my first post on this forum so I thought I would introduce myself. I’m Peter from Bedfordshire, England.

My Grandad, bless his soul. Died 16 years ago and his beloved accordion has been in limbo since then whilst the family decided who got the family heirloom. As luck would have it, I was deemed to be the new custodian of this piece of family history.

My Grandad busked his way from Glasgow to London in the 40’s. Settled down and had his family. As his young family where growing up, to make a few extra pounds he would frequently busk on the streets or play in the local bars/clubs of the west end. He was also the musical accompaniment of a comic duo name the Luna Boys in the 50’s.

So here I am, 2022 with an accordion I would most definitely like to do justice by learning how to play it. As you can imagine, this is all very new to myself. I have some musical knowledge but no knowledge of the accordion other than my memories of my Grandad getting it out at New Year’s Eve and any other acceptable moment and giving us all a tune. Memories of my Nan singing along with him to some highland jig of one sort or another.

Me and my Aunt recently visited Allodi accordions in London so Emilio could have a good look and tell us what kind of condition it is in. Thankfully, other than a few adjustments, he said the accordion is in magnificent condition so I should have no worries in playing it. Turns out my Grandad knew his dad Bruno Allodi so the connection was quite magical.

As you can see from the photos, It’s a Ranco accordion. Purchased in 1956 for £166. My knowledge is next to nothing so anything you can tell me about this instrument would be greatly helpful. Feel free to bombard me with any information you may have whether about the instrument directly or on how to play it.

Many thanks for taking time to read this thread and I hope to at least be able to get a decent sounding tune out of it one day soon. B689192F-1D61-4811-8B74-5BD55C036C3A.jpeg0A9039A6-A639-4C5D-B04F-9A1027DB3647.jpeg29D4AA1E-9B02-42E8-8A1F-F70408D9BECD.jpegFD7CB0C7-59F2-4574-B285-3AF9C5FBF54E.jpeg
 

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Welcome Peter!🙂
A great story about your granddad and the accordion, which is by one of the "name " makers. Luckily, (for its age) it's in good condition.
Hope you have many happy hours playing it!🙂
 
Welcome, Peter! Handsome instrument! Classy lines. I'm estimating £166 in 1956 is about £1700 today, or around $2000 US...

Its register switch symbols suggest it to be a 4-reed, but it's surprising to see only 4 settings. If the switches are to be believed at face value, the settings are LMH, LMMH, MH, and M... but I doubt it! It's more likely an LMM with no bassoon setting (MM, LMM, LM, M)... but you'd have to either record yourself playing each setting, or take photographs of the reedblocks, to know for sure.

If you want to open it, you can do so with no risk of harm, by pulling the bellows pins around the treble end straight out, and sticking them in a block of foam or cardboard so they can go back into the same holes later.
 
How exciting! Ranco was definitely one of the better known makers.
If Allodi has checked it, I wouldn't rush to open it up. Sleeping dogs etc.
From the button colours, it looks like a C system.
There is a lot of learning material on Youtube. For your C system, avoid Russian players who are likely to play a different system.
A modern tutor book will help with recordings - if you can't find a teacher (or even if you can).
You will quickly find that there are more piano accordions around than button but don't let that get you down.
 
Wecome from me too.

Richard Galliano and his father Lucien have published a workbook on playing the Piano Accordion and the Chromatic Button Accordion - C griff which yours seems to be.

"The Complete Accordion Method" published by Hal Leonard ISBN: 978-1-5400-3495-3 which includes a link to applicable sound files.
 
People frequently post here (and elsewhere) with inherited accordions, usually wanting to know how much they might be able to sell it for. My advice is usually that they should just learn to play it, but I suspect few do. So it's refreshing to see someone who has that idea right from the start!
 
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