First, I hope these are piezoelectric microphones (photos below). If not, someone please reply as to what kind they are. There has been much discussion about micing an accordion--types of mics, placement of mics, external, internal, etc. By no means am I an expert on this and piezo microphones do not seem to be desired by many folks. However, I thought I would share my experience with the original internal piezo microphones that are in my Excelsior 960 accordion. I do not have any experience with other condenser, dynamic microphones, or other mics for comparison. However, I am very pleased with the sound quality of these piezo microphones (crisp, clear, no distortion); especially when used with the Bose L1 Compact and the TS4 Tonematch with built in selection for accordion preset (thanks to Paul). The sound was O.K. with the Excelsior output going directly to the line level input on the Bose L1, but when going first to the TS4 and then to the L1, the difference in sound quality was incredible. The sound was much richer, less tinny and had a real presence to it. I also liked the touch of reverb I added from the TS4.
This is a description of the mic configuration of my Excelsior. It would be simple to install on anyones accordion. Piezos are not expensive, do not require external power, do not take up much space and all the mics are installed on the treble half of the accordion, Three mics are installed under the GRILL for treble (good placement for all 41 keys) and one mic is mounted on the REED BLOCKS for bass response. I like this installation of the bass mic since it is not installed on the left, bass side, of the accordion. This would involve wires passing through the bellows and that would require tape or secured in some other fashion. After primary gain adjustments with the Bose L1 and TS4, there are two 500K potentiometers for fine tuning/trimming of the bass and treble. Once adjusted, I leave the Bose L1 and TS4 gain settings alone as there is plenty of treble/bass gain adjust with the 500K pots. Any amount of treble/bass blend is available right on the accordion.
These are pics of my 960 and a schematic of the electrical configuration if you would want to build it.
This is a description of the mic configuration of my Excelsior. It would be simple to install on anyones accordion. Piezos are not expensive, do not require external power, do not take up much space and all the mics are installed on the treble half of the accordion, Three mics are installed under the GRILL for treble (good placement for all 41 keys) and one mic is mounted on the REED BLOCKS for bass response. I like this installation of the bass mic since it is not installed on the left, bass side, of the accordion. This would involve wires passing through the bellows and that would require tape or secured in some other fashion. After primary gain adjustments with the Bose L1 and TS4, there are two 500K potentiometers for fine tuning/trimming of the bass and treble. Once adjusted, I leave the Bose L1 and TS4 gain settings alone as there is plenty of treble/bass gain adjust with the 500K pots. Any amount of treble/bass blend is available right on the accordion.
These are pics of my 960 and a schematic of the electrical configuration if you would want to build it.