Weltmeister Meteor vs Caprice?

[vaeel]

Im looking to buy my first accordion, im really exited, i have narrowed down my options to weltmeister caprice or meteor (both 80 bass). I have read that old welts arent as good as new ones; is the caprice considered one of the new ones (seems newer to me lol)? wich one is better?

i was looking at these:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Weltmeiste...799385?hash=item2857a00f99:g:5YIAAOSw1Zpa0J~-[/url]
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Very-Nice-...787664?hash=item2f18b21810:g:bykAAOSwvvBawcmm[/url]
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Piano-acco...793025?hash=item1a5ae03601:g:r4kAAOSwUkdZmpFt[/url]

Also, there are some really cheap italians 120 bass accordions, but they are compact, are these harder to play becuase of small keys, or would you recommend one?. As a side note, i know how to read music and play some piano

 

[jozz]

They are not that far apart although the Meteor has the early 90's grille and the Caprice the late 80's.

Without a thorough inspection there is no telling which one will be better preserved/maintained.

The wax one the Royal Standard one looks newest.

 

[vaeel]

Thanks, do you you think 80 bass is enough? i want something not so big, but still being able to play tunes in all keys. Wll i be missing something from a 120?

 

[Tor]

My experience is that if you want to play all folk keys, 72 bass is sufficient. 80 is a 96 missing the diminished chords, which aren't needed for folk, and are a bit trickier to reach accurately in the first place.

If you want to play classical, and are likely to find yourself playing in Db minor, then try for a 120 bass. That has enough bass repetition that you don't need to make a jump when going from Db major to Db minor, since the 120 bass goes all the way to Bbb (or A, if it's written in sharps) on the lower end. The added weight is trivial, because the notes all have to be there for a 72bass, or probably earlier.

 

[vaeel]

I want to play just popular songs (pop, rock, rap, etc.). And to a minor degree classical. Thats why i settled for an 80, i think has enough to play about everything (some things trickier tahn others). But then again i have never played and accordion so i might be wrong

 

[jozz]

I started out on a 80, and it got me along nicely. To me it's a sensible choice for a beginner who doesn't know yet where to specialize in.

 

[Tor]

An 80 should get you going for a good long while. More than long enough to know with certainty whether a box with more bass buttons is going to be of real use to you. I first started with a 72 bass box, and it served me very well for a good, long while.

 

[JeffJetton]

I have read that old welts arent as good as new ones; is the caprice considered one of the new ones

Im no expert, but I believe the Caprice and Meteor are both old (as in pre-unification) models. That doesnt mean theyre bad, necessarily. For that price, I think theyd be a worth a shot.

But 80-bass? Hmmm... it does depend on what you want to play, but I would find the lack of a true diminished row somewhat limiting. Id go with a 72-bass over an 80-bass for that reason. And note that the diminished row is also a minor 6th row. I wind up using it for the latter probably just as much (more?) than the former.

[Edited to add: It has been pointed out to me that, of course, if your 7th row is configured to double as a diminished row, it can also double as a minor 6th row. The same shift down one floor trick applies.]

 

[vaeel]

But 80-bass? Hmmm... it does depend on what you want to play, but I would find the lack of a true diminished row somewhat limiting. Id go with a 72-bass over an 80-bass for that reason. And note that the diminished row is also a minor 6th row. I wind up using it for the latter probably just as much (more?) than the former.

Just want to play popular songs (new trending stuff) and a little classical. Do you think ill need it for that?

 

[JeffJetton]

But 80-bass? Hmmm... it does depend on what you want to play, but I would find the lack of a true diminished row somewhat limiting. Id go with a 72-bass over an 80-bass for that reason. And note that the diminished row is also a minor 6th row. I wind up using it for the latter probably just as much (more?) than the former.

Just want to play popular songs (new trending stuff) and a little classical. Do you think ill need it for that?

Depends on the songs, but Id estimate the probability to be fairly low. I dont think anyones used a diminished chord in pop music since the Beatles. *

It does crop up in classical now and again. The beginning of Bachs Toccata in Dm spring to mind right away. But you could probably arrange around it. Remember, just because a piece calls for a certain chord, that doesnt mean you have to play it in the LH. The overall harmony is a combination of all the notes going on at that point, regardless of which hand is producing any particular one.

(And note that I corrected my earlier post... if the 7th row is voiced a certain way, it can double a diminished row exactly. The only drawback there is that certain arrangements that assume the 7th chord is voiced normally might then not work, but youre probably not going to run into that problem too often.)

* Edited to add: Wait... I think ABBA used them?