Soprani Napoli Trim

[JustinD]

Good Evening All,
I recently acquired a Soprani Napoli 120 bass accordion, that I’m working on restoring in my spare time. I’m guessing it was made in the 30’s. I’m looking for ideas on repairing the 3” of trim/pinstripe that’s missing on the front above the Soprani logo and bottom corner? It almost looks like guitar binding? It’s not painted, it’s raised. My thought was get a ivory piece of guitar binding and gold flake automotive pin stripe tape to go down the center of the binding. Any other thoughts or suggestions? I know it won’t be perfect and it will be impossible to match. Or is there a way to remove the whole piece from top to bottom with out damaging the celluloid underneath? and I’ll pinstripe where it was. I just like the look of a complete strip with out the middle missing. Thanks

 

[boxplayer4000]

JustinD, This repair is a 2-part process. The first part is to find a material to replace the missing part. I'm in the UK and I might use a 2-part putty material called 'milliput' though I appreciate this might not be available in the USA. However I'm sure there are similar products where you are. It's basically a putty in two parts, which when mixed it hardens. However it stays soft and pliable for a while while you mould it into shape.
The second part of the process requires quite a bit of artistic skill. Acrylic paints should be carefully mixed so that there is a perfect match between new and old before the new part is painted.
What a beautiful accordion you have. I have a Hohner from the same period but it is much plainer but still a pleasure to play.

 

[Glug]

I hadn't heard of milliput, looks quite handy though.
It can even repair an accordion under water (bottom of page):

Standard Yellow-Grey Milliput - For repairing water and fuel systems, filling dents, modelmaking and much more.

Standard Milliput is our general purpose grade - it has been used for many years for the toughest tasks.

www.milliput.com

 

[boxplayer4000]

Glug,
I haven't needed to use it's underwater capabilities but it sounds like a definite plus for the Scottish climate.

 

[JustinD]

JustinD, This repair is a 2-part process. The first part is to find a material to replace the missing part. I'm in the UK and I might use a 2-part putty material called 'milliput' though I appreciate this might not be available in the USA. However I'm sure there are similar products where you are. It's basically a putty in two parts, which when mixed it hardens. However it stays soft and pliable for a while while you mould it into shape.
The second part of the process requires quite a bit of artistic skill. Acrylic paints should be carefully mixed so that there is a perfect match between new and old before the new part is painted.
What a beautiful accordion you have. I have a Hohner from the same period but it is much plainer but still a pleasure to play.

Thanks for the idea boxplayer4000!
In America we have the JB Weld line of products which has a putty I can form and shape similar to Miliput. I also found Miliput on Amazon and can have it by Friday. I think this process will work slick, and I can use it to fill some of the damaged trim on the bottom. Great idea!! Thanks Again. I have two of these vintage accordions, the one pictured above and I have a early 30’s Italo-American 120 bass. I’ve always liked the looks and decorations on these old ones.

 

[jollyrogeraccordions]

Hi, I repaired the trim v similar to that (although it was all white) on the latest The Repair Shop episode (series 5 ep 27). i tried using celluloid but struggled to cut it straight. Then I bought a sheet of plastic building card on eBay (I think the 0.5mm) and cut a strip the right size from that, and attach with superglue. The repair itself wasn’t mentioned (like quite a lot of the work one puts in) but you can just about see it if you look carefully at the before and after (on the edge of the keyboard). At some point you might see this episode in the US on PBS.

 

[boxplayer4000]

jollyrogeraccordions.
I saw your work on television's The Repair Shop. The skills of the repairers there are quite something. The skills to re-assemble broken porcelain then age-paint the result to such a high standard is only one of the fascinating skills on the programme.
While I appreciated your work on the old accordion the programme skipped over much of your work there and concentrated on the replacement of the key top and the paint ageing of it, which of course relates to the original article in this thread.

 

[jollyrogeraccordions]

Yes, in fact I had to rebuild the keyboard. The pallets were plastic and shattered when I tried to remove them (they were soldered onto the arms), so I actually made a new set of pallets...I couldn't find any of the right size. The thing with the key colouring was quite funny. It looked ok until we got to the studio lights, and Will said something unprintable when I asked him what he thought (the studio producer was like...'stop...get a camera..'). I was saved by Will. He used clear shellac and pigments to get a match (he is a clever dude). Also I stripped and refurbished all the reeds (this was hinted at), and had to dismantle the bass machine and rebuild it, as it was totally jammed up. Also I made some repairs to the celulloid and trim. The bellows were bit of a nightmare, tbh.

 

[boxplayer4000]

Roger,
We didn't hear about all that other work on the TV.
Obviously those people on the Repair Shop programme will be well paid for the TV work but I wonder how they get on outside that environment
as, like with old accordions, is the time/labour costs spent any relation to the finished product? I suppose sentiment has no limits on cost.

 

[jollyrogeraccordions]

They are all experts in their fields. Half the time they are running their businesses, so It’s a constant exercise in spinning plates. The program makers have to balance the repair versus the human story. There is only so much they can show (it‘a about 8 mins per item). The organ maker repairs are like mine...they have to pick what to show and omit a lot. When you are in the barn you have two conflicting jobs. Trying to get the work done and making a program. It's about transformation and hope. You don’t always get to see all the ins and outs of the transformation.