Paolo Soprani Professionale IV 41/120 LMMH with added MIDI

[JerryPH]

All in all, similar instruments are from 1300€ to 2000€ in the local market. And without the MIDI interface. So, if we put a value on it, let's say 300€, the acoustic instrument would be 700€. Yes, I am looking for a way to justify this

As someone that has been playing with MIDI instruments since the mid 80's I will tell you this... to get it on the accordion is very expensive, but for resale value, very very little, sometimes no value for the older units. MIDI is expensive to purchase and has near zero return value.

Sorry to mention this!

 

[Alan Sharkis]

" the volume pedal, which is part of the MIDI system, was on another place and the seller has not been able to get it on time "

this suggests that the system was not complete, and the seller
had to acquire a missing part.. Sometimes the accessories for
a MIDI system are specific to the model and series
(specs changed frequently at times)
so i wonder if the seller actually was able to know for sure
if the MIDI section even works or if this accessory is the correct one.

for inexpensive purchases, like your fix-it-up choice, we play with money
that we don't mind losing, and so the risk is acceptable

but for the more expensive purchases, unless you are quite wealthy
like some of the collectors here in the group, and also because of
your beginner level of experience, perhaps for the next few years
you should limit yourself to accordions within traveling distance..
otherwise you risk a lot of disappointment, which can sour your
love for the Accordion

did you notice another thread where someone was assuming
all kinds of things about a distant online purchase that were
based entirely on their vivid imagination and wishful thinking.. ?
that is a common side effect of not-enough-practical-experience
and the natural hope of finding a "gem" that the entire rest of the
world has overlooked

if there are no interesting offers in your local travel area, then
plan your vacations to places where some of us can help set
you up with visits to accordion clubs or shops, or once you
truly have an understanding of the kind of accordion you really
want (as a keeper) perhaps someone here you make friends with
might share one with you

for now enjoy your project and show us photo's of the inside and
with the grille off so

Several years ago I bought an acoustic accordion with midi — the Master Production Play Midi model. It came with a generic volume pedal with a hard-wired cable that has a standard 1/4” phone plug at the end. It plugs into the power/tone generator box, and yes, it controls the volume of the audio-out. But it also makes the appropriate CC messages at the midi-out connector.

Some years later, I bought an AxE-Cordion which is made by Master Production and has the same Play Midi system. This one also came with a generic volume pedal. But this pedal, instead of having a cable permanently attached, had two 1/4” jacks and two separate cables with 1/4” plugs at both ends. There were no hookup instructions, but I ran one cable drom the audio out of the box to the pedal and the second cable from the pedal to the amplifier. That worked OK, but then I got curious.

I took the pedal from the first system, plugged it into the pedal jack of the second power/tone generator box and set up a midi monitor from the midi out connector of that second box. Bingo! I was getting CCs that changed with the pedal settings!

So, that second box could work just like the first one from a midi standpoint and also like the first one from an audio standpoint.

I wonder, then, if a generic volume pedal can be wired up to substitute for one of those model-specific pedals that got lost. I guess a pinout and the appropriate cable and connectors would have to be sourced.

 

[Jose EB5AGV]

I am revisiting this thread because yesterday there was a change on this apparently dead end.

As I advance on my other accordions and find everything I have bought so far needs some love (i.e. work), mostly because I am buying cheap and with the intention to fix and learn, I miss an accordion I can actually enjoy playing. I know I will eventually have one, but it is still a long time process.

Let me explain what has happened: I paid for this one at the end of February. But the seller missed the delivery time, because he had not the complete MIDI kit, so I got my money back on 3rd March. He looked for the missing expression pedal and, after a couple weeks, mid March, had it ready. I asked for more pictures of the accordion while on a trip in Switzerland at that time. He promised them but time went on, accordion projects began to pile up, and I let this aside.

But a couple days ago I wrote the seller about what had happened, as I felt it was not my fault this it had ended that way. He told me he had completely forgotten and, finally, sent me these:











And here is all the kit, except for the included carrying bag:



So, yes, I am completely hooked on it

As things always happen with a reason, next 14th May will be my 57th birthday... And, how many times do you celebrate a 57th birthday?. Right, just once!. So my self gift can be seen in the previous pictures

More to come when I finally receive it!

 

[Jose EB5AGV]

Well, another short update... I have just paid for the accordion, for the second time

Let's hope this time it is shipped and (#WHISHFUL THINKING MODE ON) I get a nice instrument!

I will let you know when it finally arrives.

Meanwhile...