Inherited my grandfather's Iorio & Sons accordion. Would like to learn more about it.

[Amanda.Piper]

Hello friends! It seems this might be the place to start my search for some info. My grandfather passed and left us his accordion. We believe he purchased it in England in the late 40s or early 50s. Please see the pics, including the original case. I am looking for resources or information on it (model, age, etc.) and suggestions for trusted places where I might get it restored. I'm in St. Charles, IL. It is very sentimental to me. Any information, tips, or resources would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Squeezebox Of Delights]

Hello Amanda!
That's a gorgeous box. It looks to me like it was built in the early-mid 30s or even late 20s, before most accordions went all shiny and black in the late 30s. It's interesting that you believe he bought it in England in the 40s or 50s - did he get it new or second hand? Early American accordions are very rare in the UK, and I can't imagine they'd have been much more common 70 years ago.
As for the model, it's often almost impossible to identify the exact model of these old boxes, but we can tell it was built by Iorio in New York, a company that I believe carried on production for several decades after yours was built. The diamante-encrusted 'HENRY' suggests that it may have been a custom model, but that might have also just been an option when ordering an instrument. I've seen several 30s American accordions with the players name emblazoned on the front. It's interesting that it is a 140 bass though. That's pretty unusual, as most accordions only go up to 120. I'll leave it to your more local members to advise you where to get it repaired, but good luck : )

 

[Tom]

Welcome Amanda! That’s a beautiful accordion and I wonder, are you planning to play it? Do you currently play accordion? In accordion years, it’s quite an old model so you may be looking at significant restoration, especially if it has been sitting unplayed for a while. You may consider “making it playable” rather than complete restoration. New straps would help too. Anyway, I would suggest a drive over to Romagnoli Accordions in Oak Lawn. I have not been there myself, so this info is second hand, but a friend of mine in the Chicago area goes there. There are others here too from the area. Ask questions here when you start working with it, we love to offer advice, even if it’s wrong. Good luck!!!!

 

[Amanda.Piper]

Hello Amanda!
That's a gorgeous box. It looks to me like it was built in the early-mid 30s or even late 20s, before most accordions went all shiny and black in the late 30s. It's interesting that you believe he bought it in England in the 40s or 50s - did he get it new or second hand? Early American accordions are very rare in the UK, and I can't imagine they'd have been much more common 70 years ago.
As for the model, it's often almost impossible to identify the exact model of these old boxes, but we can tell it was built by Iorio in New York, a company that I believe carried on production for several decades after yours was built. The diamante-encrusted 'HENRY' suggests that it may have been a custom model, but that might have also just been an option when ordering an instrument. I've seen several 30s American accordions with the players name emblazoned on the front. It's interesting that it is a 140 bass though. That's pretty unusual, as most accordions only go up to 120. I'll leave it to your more local members to advise you where to get it repaired, but good luck : )

Thank you for your reply! The timing on my part is only a guess based on comments he made, but I know for sure he didn't buy it in America in the 20s or 30s. He wasn't here yet. My grandfather was born in Poland in 1927, on the eastern border in what is now modern-day Belarus. After the Germans invaded he was sent to a work camp in Germany with his family and stayed there until 1945. He then went to England where he married my Grandmother and where my mother was born. They came to the U.S., directly to the Chicago area, in 1952 and he lived here until he died. I assumed he bought it in England and brought it with him but it's possible he bought it here after they arrived. If it really is that old then probably second-hand.

 

[Amanda.Piper]

Welcome Amanda! That’s a beautiful accordion and I wonder, are you planning to play it? Do you currently play accordion? In accordion years, it’s quite an old model so you may be looking at significant restoration, especially if it has been sitting unplayed for a while. You may consider “making it playable” rather than complete restoration. New straps would help too. Anyway, I would suggest a drive over to Romagnoli Accordions in Oak Lawn. I have not been there myself, so this info is second hand, but a friend of mine in the Chicago area goes there. There are others here too from the area. Ask questions here when you start working with it, we love to offer advice, even if it’s wrong. Good luck!!!!

Thank you for your reply! I do not play currently. My grandfather technically left it to my husband as he plays guitar and piano already and I think it was Grandpa's hope that he would learn. The last time it was played by my grandfather was in 2016. It's been sitting in my closet since he died in 2018. My cousin, who is also quite musical, has recently expressed interest in learning and asked if he could borrow it. I was concerned that it wasn't in good enough shape to play and didn't want it inadvertently damaged. So I started looking at some place to have it evaluated and possible restored or refurbished. Thank you for the suggestion for the company in Oak Lawn!

 

[Ikesaccordions]

In unrestored condition these often sell for around $200. Restoration would cost $2000 to $4000 if on the off-chance anyone could or would do it.
The fact that it is a custom job for "Henry" with140 bass by Iorio indicates all the components were Top quality.

 

[Amanda.Piper]

In unrestored condition these often sell for around $200. Restoration would cost $2000 to $4000 if on the off-chance anyone could or would do it.
The fact that it is a custom job for "Henry" with140 bass by Iorio indicates all the components were Top quality.

Thank you for that information. I had wondered what the significance of "Henry" was, and now I understand from your post and others that it was likely a custom build. My grandfather's name was Jan so I assume he bought it second hand, maybe even directly from Henry! I have no interest in selling it, but it is good to know that it likely had very good quality components to begin with. Unless anyone here suggests any different, I plan to take it to Romagnoli Accordions in Oak Lawn. I sent them a few pics and their initial review was that it "looks" like its in excellent condition... at least on the outside. The inside may be a different matter.

 

[Tom]

Thank you for that information. I had wondered what the significance of "Henry" was, and now I understand from your post and others that it was likely a custom build. My grandfather's name was Jan so I assume he bought it second hand, maybe even directly from Henry! I have no interest in selling it, but it is good to know that it likely had very good quality components to begin with. Unless anyone here suggests any different, I plan to take it to Romagnoli Accordions in Oak Lawn. I sent them a few pics and their initial review was that it "looks" like its in excellent condition... at least on the outside. The inside may be a different matter.

Good luck and please let us know how it goes!

 

[Amanda.Piper]

Good luck and please let us know how it goes!

I finally took it in to Romagnoli Accordions in Oak Lawn. They said it was in excellent condition for its age. They also believe it was made in the 20s and agreed with the components being "top quality" and likely custom made for a professional. They think it was serviced in the 50s because there was a microphone installed inside and because there was no noticeable deterioration. Other than being out of tune and needing new straps, they said it was in playable condition and had lots of life left in it. I had no idea accordions were so expensive to tune (they quoted $1200) but after seeing the inside, now I understand why. Thanks all for your help!

 

[Tom]

I finally took it in to Romagnoli Accordions in Oak Lawn. They said it was in excellent condition for its age. They also believe it was made in the 20s and agreed with the components being "top quality" and likely custom made for a professional. They think it was serviced in the 50s because there was a microphone installed inside and because there was no noticeable deterioration. Other than being out of tune and needing new straps, they said it was in playable condition and had lots of life left in it. I had no idea accordions were so expensive to tune (they quoted $1200) but after seeing the inside, now I understand why. Thanks all for your help!

Thank for the update! I’m glad to hear that the accordion is playable and in good shape. I guess it’s up to you whether to have it tuned up. Seems like a pretty significant investment on an instrument that old. You can still enjoy it even if it sounds a little weird….Good luck!

 

[Ikesaccordions]

Thank for the update! I’m glad to hear that the accordion is playable and in good shape. I guess it’s up to you whether to have it tuned up. Seems like a pretty significant investment on an instrument that old. You can still enjoy it even if it sounds a little weird….Good luck!

Your accordion does not need to be tuned unless it sounds bad to you. Pianos need to be tuned regularly but not accordions. Tuning the reeds themselves is likely to weaken them. Cleaning and re-setting the reeds on the carriers is risky if not done by someone with many years of experience, or factory trained.

 

[SteveBox]

I had no idea accordions were so expensive to tune (they quoted $1200)

Hi Amanda,
The tuner that I use charges by the hour, not the job. He will give you an estimate based on past experience, but it often comes out higher or lower, depending on the work he actually has to do, which is hard to predict. I had two accordions tuned a year ago, one was about $200 (less than expected), the other $560 (more than expected). The latter one had not been tuned for over 12 years, some valves needed replacing, and I had some extra musette added - a fair amount of work, but far from $1200.

The $1200 sounds high to me, if it is just for a tuning. Maybe that quote includes a lot of other repairs. For one example, accordions this age often need a lot of the valves replaced (little flaps of leather on each reed), which can be a lot of work. Bad valves cause an accordion to be less responsive by using too much air, and causing you to pump the bellows too much.

If you are inclined to get it serviced, you might want to talk to some other accordion repair shops to see what they could do for less. You may not need it to be fully restored, just good enough for you to play and enjoy it. If you think it really needs some work to make it playable, someone might be able to do a partial job for a lot less, fixing only the worst problems.

To see how out of tune it is, you could take an electronic tuner (a free cell phone app) and play each note individually, on both the push and pull of the bellows, which uses different reeds. Chances are, many of the reeds are not off by that much.

 

[JerryPH]

Other than being out of tune and needing new straps, they said it was in playable condition and had lots of life left in it. I had no idea accordions were so expensive to tune (they quoted $1200) but after seeing the inside, now I understand why. Thanks all for your help!

In this case since it is not being played professionally but perhaps by someone learning, an option would be to do a spot tune, meaning that only the worst notes are adjusted, reducing the cost some. A full tune can take anywhere between 30-60 non-consecutive hours,

 

[Ikesaccordions]

Hi Amanda,
The tuner that I use charges by the hour, not the job. He will give you an estimate based on past experience, but it often comes out higher or lower, depending on the work he actually has to do, which is hard to predict. I had two accordions tuned a year ago, one was about $200 (less than expected), the other $560 (more than expected). The latter one had not been tuned for over 12 years, some valves needed replacing, and I had some extra musette added - a fair amount of work, but far from $1200.

The $1200 sounds high to me, if it is just for a tuning. Maybe that quote includes a lot of other repairs. For one example, accordions this age often need a lot of the valves replaced (little flaps of leather on each reed), which can be a lot of work. Bad valves cause an accordion to be less responsive by using too much air, and causing you to pump the bellows too much.

If you are inclined to get it serviced, you might want to talk to some other accordion repair shops to see what they could do for less. You may not need it to be fully restored, just good enough for you to play and enjoy it. If you think it really needs some work to make it playable, someone might be able to do a partial job for a lot less, fixing only the worst problems.

To see how out of tune it is, you could take an electronic tuner (a free cell phone app) and play each note individually, on both the push and pull of the bellows, which uses different reeds. Chances are, many of the reeds are not off by that much.

Trying to check an accordion with an electronic tuner is not something I recommend. If it's out of tune, that's obvious.

 

[JerryPH]

Now, I am no pro, but just for checking, I don't inherently think using an electronic tuner is a bad thing... and not that it is important but I doubt 1% of us or less could detect a 2-5 cent difference. For educational purposes, NOT to really tune with, I'd not deter someone from trying.

 

[Big Squeezy Accordions]

Now, I am no pro, but just for checking, I don't inherently think using an electronic tuner is a bad thing... and not that it is important but I doubt 1% of us or less could detect a 2-5 cent difference. For educational purposes, NOT to really tune with, I'd not deter someone from trying.

Where you really hear that 2-5 cent wrongness is in the dry octave registers. The higher you go, the more precision is required. In the highest piccolo notes, even less than a 1 cent deviation is very noticable when paired with a lower reed. But this will not bother everyone equally, of course.

 

[Ben-jammin]

FWIW

A tuning app can be good to give a user a metric of how out of tune an instrument is but only if they understand standard accordion tuning conventions. Using an app without the following knowledge will only provide a flawed conclusion.

1) instrument may not be to a 440 standard. So the tuning standard will need identified as part of the exercise.
2) Some reed sets should be in concert pitch and some sets might be detuned. It’s straightforward to verify the concert pitch ones. The detuned sets will be off by varying degrees over the range.
3)tuning for each note/reed set should involve checking bellows in vs bellows out. They don’t always match.

 

[Dingo40]

I had no idea accordions were so expensive to tune (they quoted $1200)

Although it seems a lot, really, when compared to, say what a plumber charges simply to clear a drain of tree roots (using a rodding machine for an hour), it becomes quite reasonable. (And it will last longer than a cleared drain).

 

[SteveBox]

Although it seems a lot, really, when compared to, say what a plumber charges ...

Funny you should compare accordion tuners to plumbers. A while back, I needed to get a new water heater installed. One plumber wanted a flat labor fee of $2000, regardless of the actual amount of work involved. Another plumber wanted $150/hr. I hired the per-hour plumber, and the bill was about half of what the first plumber would have charged.

I am suspicious of an accordion service where they quote a flat fee for a tuning or repair, especially if it seems rather high. How can they do an accurate estimate of how much work will be needed until they actually dig into it? I suspect they are quoting for a worst-case scenario, and one may do better with a per-hour repair service.

 

[Dingo40]

(they quoted $1200) but after seeing the inside, now I understand why. Thanks all for your help!

To be honest , after having followed a number of threads here dealing with tuning issues, I'm actually quite surprised that someone would actually offer to tune/service such an elderly 41/140 accordion for as little as $1,200, considering all of the potential technical issues and the need to run a commercially viable business !