Question about accordeons with Piccolo and Tremolo (MM) tunning..

[Edgar Acosta]

I hace an accordeon with Piccolo, i love it, is an Alessandrini accordeon, 120 bass. I love my accordeon but it has an inconvinient, the (MM) musette register almost does not have tremolo sound, it sounds like a more powerful clarinete, the tremolo is very small almost nothing. Let me know if i am right, accordeons with Piccolo mostly are not accordeons with Tremolo? am i right ? ... i want to have a second accordeon with tremolo.

 

[Dingo40]

I hace an accordeon with Piccolo,

Are you saying your accordion is three voices LMH ?
If so, it can't be a real tremolo as if would need to be LMM ( or LMMM, or LMMH) to be able to do that.
If it had LMMM, it could have at least two different tremolo effects.

 

[Ventura]

am i right ?

no

the MOST likely reason MM is tuned near unison is
because it is very expensive to keep many different musette
tunings in stock at a store or even at the manufacturer

they wait until the customer gives them an idea of the depth of
musette desired.. it is very easy to tune the M+ up for a qualified tuner
*and even for an amateur tuner)

if you buy/order another Alessandrini discuss with the dealer
(or the factory if you order direct) and they will gladly give
you exactly the tuning you want

that an accordion has a H reedset forces nothing regarding tuning,
as it will be tuned to the same standard as the L and M, only the M+
on an LMMH accordion is tuned differently, and that is purely
for a desired sound

there are exceptions of course, but they are also from someone's
personal idea or choice about sound

 

[breezybellows]

no

the MOST likely reason MM is tuned near unison is
because it is very expensive to keep many different musette
tunings in stock at a store or even at the manufacturer

they wait until the customer gives them an idea of the depth of
musette desired.. it is very easy to tune the M+ up for a qualified tuner
*and even for an amateur tuner)

if you buy/order another Alessandrini discuss with the dealer
(or the factory if you order direct) and they will gladly give
you exactly the tuning you want

that an accordion has a H reedset forces nothing regarding tuning,
as it will be tuned to the same standard as the L and M, only the M+
on an LMMH accordion is tuned differently, and that is purely
for a desired sound

there are exceptions of course, but they are also from someone's
personal idea or choice about sound

I've noticed that LMMH usually has a dry MM. Not very common to find anything more than 10 cents.

 

[Dingo40]

Near unison has become increasingly popular since the 1970s.

 

[Ventura]

Near unison has become increasingly popular since the 1970

i personally prefer it for playing lead lines, as i
love the richness of tone without losing clarity of voice

 

[debra]

I have no idea where some people's opinions on this subject originate from...
I have many friends with LMMH accordions and by default all of them come out of the factory with a reasonable amount of tremolo (like 12 to 18 cents, more if you order musette specifically) unless they are accordions with melody bass in which all except old Hohner Morino accordions come out dry-tuned.
The trend nowadays is for less tremolo than say 50 years ago. And when buying new a store may have some different tunings (on different accordions obviously) available for you to choose from because most people cannot simply express what they want. The tremolo tuning can always be changed but obviously it costs time and thus money to do so.

 

[Edgar Acosta]

I've noticed that LMMH usually has a dry MM. Not very common to find anything more than 10 cents.

This is also what i suspect, also i had in the past a the Hohner Cassoto, is LMMH. and is the same the MM is very dry with NO tremolo ( check videos in youtube). But there are some LMMH like Hohner Atlantic or the Hohner Favorit, that has more tremolo but not as much as one LLM or LLMM.

 

[kimric]

In the US ,vintage instruments tend to be on the dry side. This does not seem to be the case in Europe.

 

[tcabot]

Plenty of 5-voice LMMMH boxes with varying degree of wetness in the Ms. The H adds a little bit of brilliance to the three we-tuned Ms, but does not add that much to be honest. It does make a big difference between LM and LMH in the same box though.

LMMH is the default combo in eastern Europe I would have thought. But the preference for dry sound is not related to having the H reed.

The MM+ in LMMH will not sound as rich & smooth as M-MM+ at higher de-tunings, which might explain why you don't see a lot of LMMH musette boxes. And if the LMMH has an overpowering cassotto effect, then the musette is unlikely to have a good sound.
Makes sense to have LMMM or LMMMH for your musette box, and LMMH for your dry box (you're not seriously planning to only have one accordion, right?). You really want the 3 Ms.

Since you are in the Netherlands, have a look at used high-end Accordiolas (& re-badged Charron Freres). I really liked their musette sound (and I believe that's what they have been built for). Should be plenty of them around, and after a trip to a repairman for a service & tuning they should make a very sweet sounding box for not a lot of cash.

 

[debra]

...

Since you are in the Netherlands, have a look at used high-end Accordiolas (& re-badged Charron Freres). I really liked their musette sound (and I believe that's what they have been built for). Should be plenty of them around, and after a trip to a repairman for a service & tuning they should make a very sweet sounding box for not a lot of cash.

That's a good advice! There are lots of used Accordiola accordions on the market. (That should of course be a hint at how desirable they are, when so many people want to get rid of them...) When the hideous Amsterdam tuning (extremely wet) is replaced by a more modest tremolo these can become very nice accordions.