Vintage Super Scandalli restoration sort-of-a-blog

[nou]

Hi to you all!
A quick backstory: after almost 15 years of my adventures in concertina world, learning both how to play on them (on and off, so way, way less in terms of actual play practice), and how to build them (I made a 66b Hayden duet for myself - naive I thought it would be cheaper and faster, than to order one and wait 4 years of queue; how wrong I was ) I finally decided, I need a free reed instrument with full range and sound options - an accordion.

But then the first problem arose - which system. The target genres are modern "street" french music like La Rue Ketanou, Tiersenn and classical music. Besides Hayden concertina, I also learn to play on a Janko piano, so my first thought was to buy used piano accordion and rebuild the treble side to Janko layout. But as I mentioned earlier - I need a full range instrument, and my biggest gripe with piano/Janko is octave span. Also, while technically Janko is an isomorphic layout, C- and B- systems have more capabilities, being fully 2D arrays. Leaning more towards B-system, I went hunting. But the only affordable and compelling option was listed as C-system. Since I have no experience in neither, I decided to give it a go anyway expecting to re-sell it if I didn't like C system ergonomics/logic, and ended with this beauty, bought for 400$:

There are no markings besides the logo Super Scandalli, but thanks to this very forum I gather, that it's from '50. It's LMM, has two thumb on/off registers, for L and M+, and one bass register (with 5 voices), and to my great surprise, it was listed wrong - it's in B-system! The second surprise was discovering, that M reeds are brass - I vastly prefer the sound of brass or zinc reeds over aluminum, so I was now confident, that I'm keeping it. The third and last surprise was discovering, that contrary to my earlier experiences with Stradella, Belgian layout is both more intuitive and comfortable for me to play. I especially like the third bass row.

It is in really great shape for ~70 years old box. Exterior, woodwork and the bellows are pretty much unscathed and it had been renovated at least once during its lifetime, presumably in the last two decades judging by the valves and wax condition. However it is, as expected, unplayable as-is and requires a complete overhaul. Yes, yes, I'm perfectly aware, that this is not financially viable. However, as I mentioned, I know a thing or two about building free reed instruments, have all of the necessary tooling and most of the necessary supplies, and treat this project as more of an accordion construction workshop, that in the end will still provide me with a full range B-system instrument for less than the available alternatives.

Now besides the basic restoration, the goal here is to add third register to the treble side, to increase sound options from the current four to the full six. I especially miss the bassoon option. I would also like to have on/off registers for all of the bass voices, but this may prove difficult. However, adding one more combination should be viable.

So, here we go!

 

[nou]

First, the treble side. I forgot to take pictures before disassembly. Currently, it looks like this:



The aluminum patch in the middle of the action is from the previous restoration. I decided to keep it for now, as I suspect I would have to come up with something similar if I don't want to do full wood restoration here. Old pad felt has been eaten by a lovely pantry moth, with the resulting mess flying all around the place. Regions inaccessible without full disassembly of the reed board were covered in a thick layer of dust. Springs tension had to be adjusted on some of the levers, ten or so of them required addressing jams and slow response, but nothing beyond basic cleaning and filing down swollen wood was necessary. Two springs had to be made new, one for the main action, one for the low register, which has separate levers on the back, engaged with a coupler. Buttons are in mixed shape, some worn more than others; one was replaced with a slightly smaller, modern one. Bumpers were pretty much gone. I intend to replace some with tactile raster ones, however it may be necessary to either replace all buttons or convert some original ones to raster myself, as modern buttons are lighter in tone. I'll decide when I see those options in full.

 

[Tom]

Cool project, good luck!

 

[debra]

Cool project. You already drew a lucky lottery ticket in finding that the buttons unscrewed and were not glued on.

 

[nou]

Cool project. You already drew a lucky lottery ticket in finding that the buttons unscrewed and were not glued on.

Oh, but they were glued on. A pair of pliers with protective leather was necessary for the first turn or two on most of them. Nothing too sturdy though, so no casaulties here. I suppose it is a lot worse on other boxes?

 

[nou]

Ok, pads are done. Compound levers can only be mounted after re-installing the action plate, so they remain separate for now. Main pads are the same thickness as originals, but those small square pads on top (for the L voice) were just thin leather, without felt backing. I've replaced them with the thinnest felted leather I could source for better seal and action noise reduction, but I now have to adjust 62 coupler levers for their new height. But that's tomorrow's headache

 

[debra]

Oh, but they were glued on. A pair of pliers with protective leather was necessary for the first turn or two on most of them. Nothing too sturdy though, so no casaulties here. I suppose it is a lot worse on other boxes?

While there might have been a bit of glue your the stems for your buttons have a hole so the buttons were screw-in.
It is worse with some manufacturers like Pigini, who just glue on the buttons (no screw involved). I dread the moment where (on my Pigini bass accordion) I might some time in the future need to get the buttons off...

 

[debra]

Ok, pads are done. Compound levers can only be mounted after re-installing the action plate, so they remain separate for now. Main pads are the same thickness as originals, but those small square pads on top (for the L voice) were just thin leather, without felt backing. I've replaced them with the thinnest felted leather I could source for better seal and action noise reduction, but I now have to adjust 62 coupler levers for their new height. But that's tomorrow's headache

Interesting to see the felt pads under the buttons on the inside. Modern accordions use felt rings directly under the buttons. I might look into adding extra felt under the mechanism to reduce keyboard noise...

 

[nou]

Interesting to see the felt pads under the buttons on the inside. Modern accordions use felt rings directly under the buttons. I might look into adding extra felt under the mechanism to reduce keyboard noise...

I think you missinterpreted the small squares as under the button dampeners. Those are secondary levers for the low register. Buttons are felted normally, just as you described.

From my limited experience with accordions (this is my second one), the main sources of action noise are unbushed lever axles and lever guides. On this one here, also the compound levers joints, two coupler interfaces and the whole secondary levers assembly, with creaking springs and another set of unbushed axles. It’s loud. Fortunately the reeds even solo are louder, but I’ll have a hard time getting used to it after my pretty much noiseless concertina action.

I’ll post another picture today with some clear view on how this coupler and secondary levers look like.

 

[nou]

While there might have been a bit of glue your the stems for your buttons have a hole so the buttons were screw-in.
It is worse with some manufacturers like Pigini, who just glue on the buttons (no screw involved). I dread the moment where (on my Pigini bass accordion) I might some time in the future need to get the buttons off...

Ah, I understand now. Bizarre. I’m already amazed how accordions are designed with very limited regard to maintenance and repair requirements. If any of the secondary levers’ springs would break, or any of the levers, entire treble casing would have to be butchered, as lever axle goes through everything, including the casing. I had to disassemble all innards of the reed chamber completely just to get access to main springs and those secondary pads, which required ripping off some glued on guides and stops. Some terrible engineering here…

 

[tcabot]

Congrats.
I started on Belgian bass and I preferred it to Stradella. Only switched to French when I got a Roland.

Accordions are boxes full of compromises. A lot of stuff packed into very tight space with little regard for maintenance.
I guess, if you paid an equal amount of money for, say, a new car, you would not expect it to work 60 years later, would you? perhaps, 15 years and then you'd consider the resource spent. So accordions are not too bad, even if you assume that they were never designed to have major repairs done to them.

 

[nou]

Congrats.
I started on Belgian bass and I preferred it to Stradella. Only switched to French when I got a Roland.

Accordions are boxes full of compromises. A lot of stuff packed into very tight space with little regard for maintenance.
I guess, if you paid an equal amount of money for, say, a new car, you would not expect it to work 60 years later, would you? perhaps, 15 years and then you'd consider the resource spent. So accordions are not too bad, even if you assume that they were never designed to have major repairs done to them.

Thank you! I don't know if this feature comes only with Belgian bass or is it also available on some Stradella instruments, but a thing I like the most is stepped construction of the keyboard. It makes it so much more ergonomic than flat keyboard.

Coming from the concertina world, where many of them are older than 100 years old, and having dabbed into pianos and few other serviceable instruments a little, yes, I do find it weird, that in order to service an accordion you have to destroy and rebuild some parts of it. Mostly because e.g. action assembly could very much be made in a serviceable way with little to no additional complexity or labour. For example - axles. You could simply divide them into octave subassemblies or something similar and mount them on a common block with screws instead of cutting a bunch of grooves in a block of wood and drive a single common axle all the way through making it one with the casing. It would require very little alteration to what I saw inside this box to make it fully serviceable from the outside of the action instead of only be serviceable from the inside, with no effect on the durability of the thing. I don't expect items to never get worn out/broken, but this borders on planned obsolescence/single serving type of engineering. This box was serviced at least once before, but the repairer only worked from the outside, so e.g. improvised a makeshift spring mount under the keyboard for one lever.

I do admire the overall ingenuity of the thing and I understand, that my gripes with this particular box are not universal to all other models and brands. It's just that annoying feeling of it being made "almost right"

 

[debra]

Thank you! I don't know if this feature comes only with Belgian bass or is it also available on some Stradella instruments, but a thing I like the most is stepped construction of the keyboard. It makes it so much more ergonomic than flat keyboard.

...

The stepped construction is not a property of the Belgian bass. It is a construction that is not found commonly on accordions, but some convertor accordions have it because it makes the use of the melody bass more ergonomic (it makes it possible to use the thumb on rows other than the first, but that is still not comfortable).

 

[nou]

The stepped construction is not a property of the Belgian bass. It is a construction that is not found commonly on accordions, but some convertor accordions have it because it makes the use of the melody bass more ergonomic (it makes it possible to use the thumb on rows other than the first, but that is still not comfortable).

Thank you for this explanation. I can't find it right now, but not long before I bought this box I saw a video where this benefit of stepped construction for free bass was explained. My immediate thoughts were "ok, so if this is a thing, I could probably rebuild an accordion this way, as it looks way easier on the wrist". And indeed it feels very comfortable and makes bass navigation easier for me, just another happy coincidence with this Scandalli. Any reason why this is not more widely adopted? It doesn't look like much added complexity.

 

[nou]

This is the coupler and secondary levers I mentioned earlier. Not yet adjusted to the new pad thickness, I first have to re-install the reed plate. A lot of noise generating and resistance increasing machinery here.

 

[tcabot]

It's been on all Belgian bass boxes that I've seen and it is very common on French bass boxes.

 

[dak]

Thank you! I don't know if this feature comes only with Belgian bass or is it also available on some Stradella instruments, but a thing I like the most is stepped construction of the keyboard. It makes it so much more ergonomic than flat keyboard.

Next question?

 

[debra]

It's been on all Belgian bass boxes that I've seen and it is very common on French bass boxes.

It's common on all accordions that have "mushroom" bass buttons instead of straight buttons.
When you get a Belgian bass accordion with straight buttons the bass will most likely not be stepped.
Most manufacturers will let you choose between "international" and "Belgian" bass on non-convertor accordions,
and the layout is the only difference (so the Belgian option will not give you a stepped bass).
(You can get the "Belgian" bass also on a convertor accordion but it will come with international diagonal keyboard
and just the Belgian layout, i.e. reversed top to bottom.)

 

[nou]

It's common on all accordions that have "mushroom" bass buttons instead of straight buttons.
When you get a Belgian bass accordion with straight buttons the bass will most likely not be stepped.
Most manufacturers will let you choose between "international" and "Belgian" bass on non-convertor accordions,
and the layout is the only difference (so the Belgian option will not give you a stepped bass).
(You can get the "Belgian" bass also on a convertor accordion but it will come with international diagonal keyboard
and just the Belgian layout, i.e. reversed top to bottom.)

Just out of pure academic interest. When looking around for both used and new accordions, the impression was, that stepped bass was more popular back in the day and is way less common on modern boxes. Is this observation true or just an effect of a limited sample?

 

[dak]

Just out of pure academic interest. When looking around for both used and new accordions, the impression was, that stepped bass was more popular back in the day and is way less common on modern boxes. Is this observation true or just an effect of a limited sample?

In contrast to Paul, I think the correlation of "stepped bass" to "mushroom buttons" is 100%, both being really synonymous. They are "more popular" as people may explicitly want them while I have not seen someone explicitly not wanting them so far. But I don't know how many people will express a strong preference to the degree where producing them makes sense: after all, straight buttons are easier to fit and remove.