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This accordion fascinates me for some reason.

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Happy girl

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CRUCIANELLI musette ( SPECIAL MADE ) 120bass | in Radcliffe, Manchester | Gumtree

Fascinating because of its register range. I have asked the owner to elaborate , & on the face of it am surely tempted to purchase this as as a second instrument if it is not too heavy, but want to avoid going down the route of an impulse buy.

What is meant by 'Special Made' ? Would you consider it to be valued at the right price? Is it 'Special'?

Even if this is a superb opportunity, the fact remains that it is offered 100 miles away, so trying it out is out of the question; we all have to stay at home during the pandemic.

What do you think folks. am I barking mad to like this instrument?
 
Looks like a 3-voice MMM, not sure why there is a "closed" switch! Maybe the best thing would be to ask the seller what is so special about it :giggle:
 
Just guessing, but it could have been a special ( bespoke) order, or one of a very limited edition, as it's more or less musete only, though having 4 voices, so meant for a French or Scottish repertoire ?
I can see why your fascination with it: it's a very attractive instrument and the asking price ( can always pitch lower?) isn't outrageous, if in good playing order?
I have a similar type of instrument (Armando Bugari), also two degrees of wetness of musete, but many more coupler options as it's a LMMMH treble side.
 
The rectangular cutouts in the treble grille along with the "Closed" register suggests that the instrument had electronics in there at some point. That register would've been for disabling the reeds to let only the electronics play.

I wouldn't pay much attention to the "Specially made". It probably just means it was a custom order, like Dingo said. I would, however, be more concerned about the tuning here: If the register is explicitly labelled "Scottish" then that might suggest glass cutting sharpness.
 
A common late 50's early 60's 3/4 reed Italian box with machine made reeds.
The only thing I can see that's special about this one is the asking price.
In the US the fair market price would be 1/3 of what this owner is asking. And yes the electronics have been removed.
These early accordion/organ models within 10 to 15 years on them unfortunately had electronics that began to fail
and the replacement parts became obsolete and in order to restore these models to some use "electronic abortions"
were performed on them to perform as a useable acoustic model for use or sale. On this one it's laughable the names
of the voices it clams to have. You see on this one those 70+ old machine made reeds will have some minor tuning problems and I'm
quite sure that the use of those 3 sets of M reeds together have now a voice not unlike hearing someone "strangling a cat' .
 
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Thank you so much for all your input. Especially to Jim D. I have now heard enough & heard exactly what I wanted to know.

It is so good to have honest opinion of this kind, this forum is a very valuable source in many ways.

I will now continue my search.

The other thing I would like to add is that I did ask a reputable dealer (The Accordion Shop) about the possibility of a part exchange for my Bugari, & the response seems to be that I would need to spend a substantial amount of money, (Thousands of £s} on a new one to make it worthwhile for them. (MY interpretation, not their actual words!)

Fair enough.
 
The only thing I can see that's special about this one is the asking price.
In the US the fair market price would be 1/3 of what this owner is asking.
It does appear that in the UK secondhand accordion prices have risen quite substantially over the last few years - or maybe I should say "the asking prices of secondhand accordions have risen substantially" as although advertised at high prices I'm not sure these prices are achieved.

the possibility of a part exchange for my Bugari, & the response seems to be that I would need to spend a substantial amount of money, (Thousands of £s} on a new one to make it worthwhile for them.
With reference to my comment above, maybe sell you Bugari privately then shop around with cash in your pocket (y)
 
Yes Knobby, you are right: there are literally thousands of accordions for sale in the UK. It is a minefield & the uninitiated can easily become overwhelmed.

And yes, I have also seriously considered selling privately; it is the best plan, but I have no idea how to describe my instrument accurately & to its best advantage.

I seem to be confusing myself more than ever, but I am more than grateful for this forum & any assistance members can provide.
 
I think the people here would probably help you describe and price your instrument for sale, you may even find a buyer here. Good luck!
 
i do not believe it is actually a crucianelli, more like
a Frankenstein rebuild by some experimenter then
they chose a name to hang on it from available letters
in their parts pile
 
to Happy Girl

regarding the idea of a 3 reed true meusette lightweight accordion

meaning a medium sized nice playing comfortable box with
3 reedbanks of the same pitch (referred to as the M or midrange)
and therefore
M- (slightly lower pitch)
M (concert pitch)
M+ (slightly higher pitch)

this is a very desirable combination, and can be pleasing and useful
for many many songs and styles, as well as for strolling

they can be specified and ordered directly from several Italian sources
with reliable results, such as FisItalia

they can aLSO be Rebuilt from typical, student level LMM models
available on the used market, and then re-configured by
retrofitting the L reedset with another M taken from some
other parts accordion (you need to be a fixer-upper or
have a friend who likes to fix things in exchange for free breakfasts for life)

however, in the Used Italian accordion market, it is very very unusual to
ever find an M M M accordion that came from the factory that way,
as the market in the mid 20th century did not support that confguration

most old accordions you can find with M M M also have an L, and are
full size typical heavy old models... if you intend to always be sitting
down when you play, you may find one of these sufficient and manageable

there were some Scandalli Silvetta styled models made with the L M M M configuration
that are lighter weight than comparable models from other brands (if you can find one)

good luck in your search for your next accordion

ciao

Ventura
 
Thank you Ventura. I value this information.

UPDATE: have had an answer just now from my enquiry last Sunday about the Crucianelli. this is what the seller says:


Its 10,5kg it's a private sale just had it tuned from manfrini accordions in Birmingham fully working no leeks or air really loud and power musette sounds
I am sure you have your own thoughts about this response, but I much prefer to listen to members on this board. :)

 
Would be nice to have pictures of the inside

Pretty steep price for that butchered grill and blind buying.

I would let this one pass
 
after some research i found GLUG was right (in a way)
and i was wrong

in the USA while CRUMAR continued fore a time (pre-MIDI era)
to supply Organ-Accordions to the market, it was under other nameplates,
and of course the underlying accordions were from 3rd parties
( Duovox for example)

CRUMAR was the electronics division of Cruicianelli
(the Grandson headed up the division, he was a pretty good Bass Player actually)
they were separate from the Accordion works

God only knows who supplied the accordions after the fire.
in all Organ Accordions, much acoustically was sacrificed for the space
to install the electronics and switching, so what is left once those
parts are removed is typically a bloated boat anchor of an accordion
with a compromised reedset and boxy grille

and once again, to have an MMM Organ-Accordion just defies logic
but to salvage an otherwise unmarketable instrument, perhaps
some handy fellow re-built the reedsets using butchered reedblocks
from another unit (or three)

so (except for the price) it may be worth a play to assess it's worthiness
 
Has anybody noticed that the accordion in the 1st picture at the head of this thread is not the same accordion as that in the rest?
In the 1st picture there are no holes in the grille previously occupied by electronics as well as the fact that there are 6 rows of grille
holes while there are 7 rows in the later pictures.
 
Are you sure it isn't just the angle at which the 1st picture is taken that gives this impression?
 
Are you sure it isn't just the angle at which the 1st picture is taken that gives this impression?
I do not see any difference. Both images are from the same ad in any case. That is, unless there is yet another image I do not see in this thread...
 
On my screen there are a series of 6 pictures at the head of this thread. Pictures 1 and 5 contain a different accordion to that in the other 4 pictures.
The most striking difference (but not the only one) is in the square holes cut in the grille.
If we compare it to a crossword, ie. rows as horizontal and columns as vertical its very plain that one accordion has 6 holes in its columns and the other has 7. For those struggling to see this it would be a simple matter to blow up the image and number the holes.
 
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