Accordion purchase. What to look for when choosing an accordion?

There are dozens of various accordion models on the market and at least several dozen manufacturers offering their instruments. Such leading brands include, among others World Champion, Hohner, Scandals, Piggy, Paolo Soprani or Borsini. When making a choice, an accordion should, first of all, be sized according to our height. This is especially important if we buy an instrument for a child. The size is determined by the amount of bass and the most popular ones are: 60 bass, 80 bass, 96 bass and 120 bass. Of course, we can find accordions with both more and less bass. Then we not only need to like it visually, but most of all we should like its sound.

Number of choirs

When making your choice, pay attention to the number of choirs the instrument is equipped with. The more he has, the more he has accordion will have more sonic possibilities. The most popular are the four-choir instruments, but we also have two, three and five-choir instruments, and occasionally six-choir instruments. The weight of the instrument is also related to the number of choirs. The more we have, the wider the instrument is and the more it weighs. We can also find instruments called canal. This means that one or two choirs are in the so-called channel, where the sound passes through such an additional chamber that gives the sound a kind of more noble sound. So the weight of a 120 bass accordion can vary from 7 to 14 kg, which is of great importance, especially if we often intend to play standing up.

A new accordion or a used accordion?

The accordion is not a cheap instrument and its purchase is often associated with a considerable expense. Therefore, a large proportion of people are considering buying used accordion at second hand. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this, but this type of solution always involves some risk. Even a seemingly very well-presented accordion can turn out to be an unplanned moneybox for expenses. Only people who know the structure of the instrument very well and are able to thoroughly verify its actual condition can afford such a solution. You need to be especially careful about the so-called great opportunity, where the sellers often turn out to be ordinary traders who download some antiques and try to resuscitate them, and then in the advertisement we see phrases such as: “accordion after review in a professional service”, “instrument ready to play” , “The instrument does not require a financial contribution, 100% functional, ready to play”. You can also find an instrument that is, say, 30 years old and actually looks like new, because it was only used occasionally and spent most of its years in the attic. And you have to be careful about such occasions, because it is similar to a car that has been left in a barn for several decades. At the beginning, such an instrument can even play nicely for us, but after some time it may change, because, for example, the so-called flaps. This does not mean, however, that there is no chance of hitting a used instrument in good condition. If we find an instrument from a real musician who skilfully handled it, cared for it and serviced it properly, why not. Hitting such a gem, we can enjoy a great instrument for many years to come.

summarizing

First of all, we have to ask ourselves specifically what kind of music we are going to play. Will it be, for example, mainly French waltzes and folklore music, where in this case we should concentrate our search on the accordion in a musette costume. Or maybe our musical interest is focused on classical or jazz music, where the so-called high octave. In the case of five-choir accordions, our instrument will probably have the so-called high octave and musette, i.e. triple eight in choirs. It is also worth considering whether we will often play standing or just sitting, because weight also matters. If this is our first instrument that will be used for learning, we should especially make sure that it is really 100% functional, both mechanically, i.e. that all buttons and keys work smoothly, the bellows is tight, etc., as also in terms of typical music, that is, that the instrument tunes well in all choirs. However, people who are just starting their adventure with the accordion, I definitely recommend buying a new instrument. When buying a used one, you have to take into account the expenses, and accordion repairs are usually very expensive. With a missed purchase, the cost of repair can often significantly exceed the cost of purchasing such an instrument.