To Musette or Not Musette.

[Markordion]

Well we will keep looking on here as well in case anything newey but good value pops up.

But flippin Covid in the UK its totally out of control !!!

So its making things much harder.

Maybe a recentish Weltmeister Achat 72 or similar may show up.

Its a job though as so many variables and different set ups etc.

Many Thanks all,

PS slightly Scottishey is OK.

 

[NickC]

Two instruments, even of the same make and model, can have a different tuning. So, there isn't a standard tuning for every Beltuna instrument, for example. They can be ordered with the customer's preference of tuning, etc. So, when they show up used, there will be different tunings, reed combinations and reed quality.

I don't know the true and accurate definition of the word 'musette', but in my experience, it has been used in a variety of ways. If I were inquiring about an instrument and the dealer told me it was musette tuned, I would ask how many cents. The Liberty Bellows link that Glug provided is a good place to start for different tunings.

I, personally, prefer a wider musette for the music that I am playing. As Tom said, it's all personal taste.

 

[Markordion]

What would a wider mustette be Nick 15/ 18 etc ?

22 for instance is quite high ? yes.

Wish I had the money to just buy our son a brand new Italian job with Mother of Pearl Keys.

If only.

But I have to say the Starone 96 at Thomann looks amzing for the money, under £500 delivered. ( £485 ).

I suppose a lot of us may be getting to around the used or Chinesey end of things this year..

 

[NickC]

Beltuna was on my brain from seeing one in the Liberty Bellows video.

I'm not sure what the exact tuning on my accordion is. Probably in the low 20's. I would consider 22 cents to be pretty wet for most styles. It all depends on the genre. In the right context, it can sound good, but I wouldn't go that high for jazz, tango, classical, etc.

 

[Pipemajor]

I like musette for some songs but generally prefer a dry tuning. My wife who sings hates musette, she says it is like singing with someone who is off key.

I would guess your wife sings with a vibrato which isn't much different to musette. Otherwise it would just be talking in different keys!!

 

[Ben-jammin]

I have a Startone 96 bass LMM. I can measure the mussette at some point. The big issues I see with this accordion is the reed response speed and the mussette tuning is not even on all notes. The reed response is definitely a limiting factor, the more experienced the player the more this will become an issue. The “standard” tuned reeds appear (L and M) tuned to true relative pitch. But they must not care so much about accuracy of tuning on the M+ reeds) some are close to unity and some are pretty wet. Besides the quality of components the other thing about these accordions that people are critical of is the difference in resistance between the white and black keys. For me this is a minor thing, it’s noticeable but not as big of a hinderance as the reed response. The only real way to solve the reed response issue is to upgrade the reeds, which might not make economic sense when compared with the cost of another accordion that’s ready to go with better reeds. I have a few accordions that were mechanically damaged but have good reeds and I plan to swap out the factory ones on my starttone.

 

[Markordion]

I know on our Startone on most things is fine but reed response can be an issue sometimes.

Good to know going to say a 96 Startone would not help that.

I do have to say I`ve heard many " proper " Accordions that do not sound as good as our Startone. ( to my wonky ear !!! )

I do wonder how long it takes for the reeds to settle and work fully, run in, if you will !!!

I wonder if we could get reeds for the Startone at some point.

Is it something a low end twiddler could cope with do you think ? popping different reeds in to a Chinese one.

Has anyone played or felt !!! the reed response on a Black Diamiond or Stephanneli with thier European reeds ?

Our old Arietta is definately more towards the musette than the Startone, but not by such a long way. No idea of its actual tuning,

 

[Ben-jammin]

The reed response is a matter of construction tolerance and will not change significantly as the instrument gets more playing time. It’s cheaper for them to build with larger tolerances and sacrifice performance to cut cost.

Swapping out reeds and waxing in new reeds isn’t very challenging, though there are several hundred reeds to do, so can be time cosuming. The challenge then becomes tuning and voicing all the new reeds, which requires more experience to do properly and also takes loads of time.

 

[Markordion]

Enough said, well keep looking for an Italian or newish Weltmesiter etc at some point.

Thanks.

 

[Waldo]

It's possible to get an idea of the musette tuning using a tuning app that shows more than just the first note.
eg. Bill Farmer Tuner (https://billthefarmer.github.io/ctuner/) in 'multiple results mode' (Windows / Apple / Linux / Android and FREE).

In musette register you need to play the A above middle C (ie. A4) and see what the first two notes are tuned to - that's the A and the off tuned A.

Glug, For us computer challenged, What is the procedure to download this tuner? Where is the "Download" button?

 

[Glug]

It helps a lot if you've done it before
That page has the download links in the first paragraph - the links are underlined.

Windows: https://github.com/billthefarmer/ctuner/releases
Click on SetupTuner-108.exe to download it.

Android: https://f-droid.org/packages/org.billthefarmer.tuner/
Click on "Download APK" in the Version 1.46 bit