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Limex information

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nagant27

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Hi all. I Recently acquired another accordion that I bought for the acoustic accordion sound- that happens to have limex.
Once I figured that it works ive found that it’s pretty cool. It has 2 removable chips/drives as well. Is anyone familiar with how it works or how to find more sounds? It seems to have maybe 20 or so that I can find.
I have never played with limex so really know nothing other than what I have figured out by trial and error. I can’t seem to find anything that helps me get started.
My dad has a Roland so I’ve explored that a little and usually just like acoustic accordion, but I figured since I have it I might as well explore it
Thanks!
 
Nagant,
Our member George76 has a Colombo ( built by Bugari) accordion with a Limex midi built into it: perhaps he can give you some clues?🤔
BTW, George has a current post ("Rosalinda Waltz"), showing his Colombo with Limex in the I did that " forum: look it up!🙂 ( I was unable to open it just now).
Hang on ,
Here it is:

Rosalinda Waltz

I was 6 years old when Yankovic recorded this nice song in 1949. Second and Third parts by yours truly and Gary Pikal.
www.accordionists.info
 
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Ventura said:

LIMEX USA, LLC - Products

Since 1992, Limex has been a specialist for MIDI, microphones, sound modules, foot pedals wireless Midi/Audio systems, speakers with rechargeable batteries, Styrian harmonicas and accordions.
limexusa.com limexusa.com
Click to expand...
I looked at Limex a number of years ago and while it seems to be interesting and the product excellent it wasn't for me. There was the issue of getting the Limex installed in an existing acoustic accordion or purchasing a completely new accordion with that system already installed. This would also require an amplifier to use the digital sounds so it wasn't self contained like the Roland. I really liked the concept but decided on the Roland because unlike many of you don't have the skills to do it myself.

You should have a lot of fun with the Limex and I congratulate you on an amazing find. Enjoy!
 
Hi Nagant,

(Late update: I now notice that your Limex inquiry was an old post, but ezacc just posted a reply today, which made me think it was current. By now, perhaps you have had your Limex questions answered. I will leave my reply, in case it is useful to anyone.)

I also have a Limex system. Limex is popular in Europe, but not so popular in North America. They have had trouble maintaining dealers in the USA or Canada and a series of them have come and gone. The most recent one had the website www.limexusa.com but it is not working at this moment. I contacted him a few years ago, and he was very helpful. If he has closed up shop, that would be unfortunate. Where are you located?

The parent company is in Austria, and lists several dealers in Europe: https://www.limex.eu/en/

There have been a series of Limex models with various options. The current one is the MPRX system. There was an MPR4 and a MPR3 before that. Each version has many options available, as to the MIDI features, front panel controls, microphones, and internal sound modules. You can go to the "Support" page at the website and download manuals for your version and try to figure it out. You can try contacting the company or a dealer for assistance.

I have the MPR3 installed in 2009, without the internal sound module. If you have an MPR3, I might be able to help a little.

I have found the MPR3 to be a mixed bag. The electronics are very miniaturized and seem well designed, and mostly it works okay, but my unit has some deficiencies. In particular, the velocity sensitivity of the bass/chords does not work like it should. I suspect a lot of owners just use fixed velocity and bypass this problem. My installer (long out of business) called it an "organic" system that requires occasional maintenance. For example, sometimes a magnet holder on the bass side wiggles out of position and some notes will stop working. Then you have to move it back and recalibrate the sensors. The MIDI programming is complicated, lots of parameters to setup, if you use external sound modules like I do. If your instrument has internal sound, then some ready-to-use MIDI programs should have been provided.

I have no experience with the newer MPR4 or MPRX. Hopefully, they have fixed some of these problems.
 
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I just noticed these limex replies and sadly my limex has stopped working properly. I think it has something to do with the cords. When I plug it in the screen works fine, but there is a constant pulsing noise through the amp.
The plugs are strangely taped/spliced together and I think this is where the problem is. I can take a picture later.
If anyone is familiar with this maybe I could send the cords in the mail? I’m in ny state, USA.
 
The cord is just a 6-pin DIN cable. Can you check the continuity of each of the pins to see if there is any break in the connections? You could potentially obtain two DIN connectors and some 6-wire cable and make one up yourself if necessary (or ask someone handy with making custom cables). If you want a genuine Limex replacement cord, they should be available from a dealer or the parent company.

I contacted LimexUSA four years ago, and the manager Tim Schofield was very helpful solving a problem that I had, and he also had spare parts available. You can try contacting him at 1-800-884-7358 or midi@limexusa.com and see if he is still in business.

Update: I tried calling the number myself. I got an automated answering service, listened to some nice accordion music for a minute, then was prompted to leave a message. So, maybe he is still in business. I am aware that he has also done Hohner accordion service in the past.
 
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Ok. I’m putting a picture here to help see what I’m working with. I have really absolutely no knowledge on how this all works. If maybe there is a better way?
 

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So the tape you mentioned is not on the 6-pin DIN cable that attaches to the accordion, but the adapter cable that attaches to the other end. The adapter cable breaks out the various signals. There are three audio, one midi, and one power connector. The tape is on the audio connectors (phone jacks), suggesting there may have been an attempt to fix an intermittent broken wire in one or more of them. Note that the three audio connectors can be configured in various ways. The standard configuration would have all of the audio signals (microphones and sound card) on the gray and black jacks. The purple one can be configured to break out the vocal microphone (if you have one).

If wiggling or pushing on the wires going into the back of the jacks causes the sound to come and go, then you have some broken wires. If this is the case, or if wiggling does nothing, I would cut off the old jacks and solder on new ones. You could also try to obtain a new break out cable from a dealer.

I would encourage you to download the Limex manuals and study them if you want to learn how the system works.
 
Well, I also just picked up an accordion with the Limex MPR3 system on it and, wow, that thing is not very intuitive. :D

I've invested a couple of hours and found the basic manual for it in English (off of archives.org, which is scarey because thats for "old stuff"... lol), read some of it and got some basics down.

It sure is an odd duck in terms of how it is programmed, not super fond of it, but the sounds that I did find are interesting (no, digitally speaking its no FR-8X, but we didn't really buy it for the MIDI, that came as a free added plus to an awesome accordion!

To date, I've got down how to control the bass and treble mics (an impressive 10 mics on the treble, 3 on the bass side!), play with the volume and EQ and that's all I wanted at that time.

Next I will get in to some of the programming. Apparently they have a PC editor that should shed some light in to it's abilities. It does have integrated drums and a kind of arranger section, which is cool.

More to come later!
 
Dingo40 said:
Jerry,
Have you seen this video?
Something else:
Click to expand...
I've seen the first one... did you know that the accordion in that video is the very one that I own and picked up from the NEACM? :D :D

I'll check out the 2nd one momentarily... thank-you!
 
JerryPH said:
did you know that the accordion in that video is the very one that I own and picked up from the NEACM? :D :D
Click to expand...
Well, I thought it was the same model but now it's the very same instrument!😄
Very nice: what a coincidence!😀
 
Dingo40 said:
There's this as well:
Click to expand...
That one is going to take a bit of work… the YouTube translator is really bad… lol

I did find a couple of documents on the Limex Europe website, some I’ll translate, some are in English. One thing for sure, Limex is an amazing product, but they must love shooting themselves in the foot due to limited support and documentation. :)

Found a FACEBOOK site for LIMEX: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LimexMidi/
 
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The home company in Austria has been around for decades and seems to be doing well. All of their documentation used to be posted in English as well as German. It may be unintentional that the English versions are no longer on their website, because I do know that they exist. Part of the reason for this oversight may be that they have few English-speaking customers.

My impression is that Limex never seemed to become very popular in North America, even though a few dealers had been offering it since the 90s. There were several Limex dealers/installers in the USA and Canada that have come and gone over the years. After not having any dealers in the USA for several years, LimexUSA.com appeared a few years ago. This is/was operated by Tim Schofield, an experienced accordion repairman who has worked for Hohner. I contacted him four years ago, and he was very helpful with a problem I was having. However, I now question whether he still in business, because his website seems to have mostly incomplete placeholder pages. There is still a contact number, so try to give him a call if you need information.
 
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