Just wondering if anyone has bought a box in Italy. Are there large savings to be made? I was hoping to see what's available in Castelfidardo. Are B/C boxes widely available? Preferably I want a 2 and a half row with 12 basses. Can anyone recommend a model? I like the Saltarelle or Serenellini sound.
Also, is it possible to buy direct from the manufacturers over there?
A comparison in price is hard to make unless we know where you're based John. If you're in the USA, then it would be cheaper, but your shipping costs will be considerable. If you're in England or Ireland, you could probably bring it back yourself on a cheap flight.
But you can buy direct from the manufacturers, yes, and you can order any box you like, with any combination of buttons and basses. But it's not cheap.
I live in Ireland, but I'm going to be in Italy for the next few months, about 150km north of Castelfidardo.
Can you tell me - would a B/C box with 2 and a half rows and 12 basses be hard to come by? I was hoping I wouldn't have to put in a special order. These boxes are very hard to come by in Ireland but I was hoping I'd pick one up easily enough in Italy. Any ideas on price of such a box?
I was thinking of visiting the nearby Serenellini factory - has anyone been there?
Some good links there dogbox, I'm not after a castagnari though. I'm not mad about the castagnari sound. Mind you, I'm sure they are very good accordions.
Serenellini do a 2½ row with 12 basses - the 273 deluxe - but I'd be surprised if they had a B/C model ready for you to try without notice. Send them a message via the further info. page at http://www.serenellini.com/
I bought a 273 six years ago directly from the factory, sent to me in Canada. Good price, good service. With TAM reeds it cost me €1700 but I'm sure the price is a good deal higher now. They are very good accordions, well built, and the people are pleasant to deal with.
One thing to keep in mind is that Italian Box makers like to make their boxes 'wet'. My tuner jokes about 'Irish tuning'.
From conversation with him, If the reeds are heavily worked, someone bringing the box to dry tuning may not be able to tighten the tuning. My first box was Italian wet tuned and I had it tightened, We had to replace several reedsthat were heavilily worked
Sandwich, the Serenellini 273 has two stops on the bass side: one to cut out the thirds, and one to cut out the low bass reed (giving you a light bass sound).
You won't get 12-11-5 though because that adds up to 28." 273" stands for 27 treble buttons and 3 voices. They aren't interested in doing specials, or at least they weren't when I asked about a getting a 233 with 12 basses instead of the standard 8.. Too busy filling orders for piano accordions, which are their bread and butter I would imagine.
Buying an Accordion in Italy
Buying an Accordion in Italy
Just wondering if anyone has bought a box in Italy. Are there large savings to be made? I was hoping to see what's available in Castelfidardo. Are B/C boxes widely available? Preferably I want a 2 and a half row with 12 basses. Can anyone recommend a model? I like the Saltarelle or Serenellini sound.
Also, is it possible to buy direct from the manufacturers over there?
Thanks,
John
# Posted on May 11th 2011 by sandwich
Re: Buying an Accordion in Italy
A comparison in price is hard to make unless we know where you're based John. If you're in the USA, then it would be cheaper, but your shipping costs will be considerable. If you're in England or Ireland, you could probably bring it back yourself on a cheap flight.
But you can buy direct from the manufacturers, yes, and you can order any box you like, with any combination of buttons and basses. But it's not cheap.
# Posted on May 12th 2011 by Dragut Reis
Re: Buying an Accordion in Italy
There have been a few threads about this on melodeon.net:
http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php/topic,2467.0.html
http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php/topic,550.0.html
# Posted on May 12th 2011 by dogbox
Re: Buying an Accordion in Italy
I live in Ireland, but I'm going to be in Italy for the next few months, about 150km north of Castelfidardo.
Can you tell me - would a B/C box with 2 and a half rows and 12 basses be hard to come by? I was hoping I wouldn't have to put in a special order. These boxes are very hard to come by in Ireland but I was hoping I'd pick one up easily enough in Italy. Any ideas on price of such a box?
I was thinking of visiting the nearby Serenellini factory - has anyone been there?
# Posted on May 12th 2011 by sandwich
Re: Buying an Accordion in Italy
Some good links there dogbox, I'm not after a castagnari though. I'm not mad about the castagnari sound. Mind you, I'm sure they are very good accordions.
# Posted on May 12th 2011 by sandwich
Re: Buying an Accordion in Italy
Serenellini do a 2½ row with 12 basses - the 273 deluxe - but I'd be surprised if they had a B/C model ready for you to try without notice. Send them a message via the further info. page at http://www.serenellini.com/
I bought a 273 six years ago directly from the factory, sent to me in Canada. Good price, good service. With TAM reeds it cost me €1700 but I'm sure the price is a good deal higher now. They are very good accordions, well built, and the people are pleasant to deal with.
# Posted on May 12th 2011 by Jeeves Tones
Re: Buying an Accordion in Italy
PS On the website the 273 is shown in a 10-9-8 configuration. But they also do 12-11-4, which is probably what you will want.
# Posted on May 12th 2011 by Jeeves Tones
Re: Buying an Accordion in Italy
Thanks for the info Jeeves. I would be looking for the 12-11-4 or even 12-11-5 if available.
One of the things I would like is a bass-stop to remove the third from the chords. Can you tell me if this serenellini model has such a feature?
# Posted on May 12th 2011 by sandwich
Re: Buying an Accordion in Italy
One thing to keep in mind is that Italian Box makers like to make their boxes 'wet'. My tuner jokes about 'Irish tuning'.
From conversation with him, If the reeds are heavily worked, someone bringing the box to dry tuning may not be able to tighten the tuning. My first box was Italian wet tuned and I had it tightened, We had to replace several reedsthat were heavilily worked
# Posted on May 13th 2011 by zippydw
Re: Buying an Accordion in Italy
Saltarelle is a french box. But I understand they outsource, so you may be getting Italian guts anyway
# Posted on May 13th 2011 by zippydw
Re: Buying an Accordion in Italy
Sandwich, the Serenellini 273 has two stops on the bass side: one to cut out the thirds, and one to cut out the low bass reed (giving you a light bass sound).
You won't get 12-11-5 though because that adds up to 28." 273" stands for 27 treble buttons and 3 voices. They aren't interested in doing specials, or at least they weren't when I asked about a getting a 233 with 12 basses instead of the standard 8.. Too busy filling orders for piano accordions, which are their bread and butter I would imagine.
# Posted on May 14th 2011 by Jeeves Tones