Restoring A Crosio Bandoneon

[paulbrennan]

Hey folks,

 

I was intrigued by this item on eBay (but didn't bid in the end). I think it's a Peguri layout or similar.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Beautiful-Post-war-152-MONOSONORIC-Bandoneon-by-Fratelli-Crosio-/161890310266?hash=item25b16a187a:g:7q8AAOSwkZhWS42h

 

At this price, I was thinking of it as an interesting project that would keep me busy and MAYBE would be playable one day. Note that I do not have any concertina building background!

 

So it needs to be tuned, which I cannot do (I think). I have heard that bandoneon tuners are difficult to find, accordion technicians cannot do this work, true? I live in Western Canada, so it's mostly accordions out here with wax reed blocks, etc. There may be some concertina tuners, probably elsewhere in Canada. What skill set would I be looking for in a tuner?

 

I notice that the reed plates are aluminum which is not optimal - maybe I get a zinc set made to match (from Harmonika I believe) but not sure if there are design issues in changing that material. It's only the plate, not the reed itself, correct? And they would still need to be fine tuned I presume.

 

Then there are other issues such as broken buttons (I've done that before) and bellows work. Maybe other issues?

 

Grateful to hear any opinions on the sanity of the project,

 

Thanks, Paul

[Stephen Selby]

These bandoneons are closely related to Chemnitzer concertinas. There are many players (mostly Polish and Czech) in the Canada and the US, so it should be possible to find a tuner.

 

I have a couple of similar instruments. If you get one like the one advertised, the reeds will need a major cleaning and all the valves will have to be replaced with modern accordion valves. The reed beds are held in place by L-shaped bent pins and there is a chamois seal underneath. These usually have to be replaced.

 

The mechanical bits are quite simple in construction and usually last quite well. If the bellows are in poor shape, it may be hard to find a replacement.

 

Note that gaining familiarity with the keyboard is a major challenge. See http://bandoneon.kaiser.me/Although the seller says it is not suitable for tango music, there is nothing to stop one playing tango music on it: however, it may not finger the way an Argentine lay-out bandoneon fingers.

[Stephen Chambers]

Note that gaining familiarity with the keyboard is a major challenge. See http://bandoneon.kaiser.me/Although the seller says it is not suitable for tango music, there is nothing to stop one playing tango music on it: however, it may not finger the way an Argentine lay-out bandoneon fingers.

 

If it is indeed Péguri system (which is pretty likely seeing that it's a Crosio) then the fingering is nothing to do with that of "an Argentine lay-out bandoneon" anyway. The system came about because of the tango craze in the 1920s, which forced the French musette accordion players to learn Bandoneon - but the "correct" fingering didn't suit them, so in in 1925/6 the accordion maker, repairer, player Charles Péguri designed a unisonoric, so-called, Chromatic Bandoneon that is based mechanically on a 142 voice bisonoric Bandoneon, but with the fingering of a continental chromatic accordion.

 

But they most certainly are "suitable for tango music" in France, if not "authentic" in Argentinian eyes. The superb French accordionist Daniel Colin is a also a master of playing tango music on the Péguri Bandoneon.

[paulbrennan]

Thanks folks! Yeah, I'm basically ok with the layout as I'm now playing a Geuns instrument with CBA layout. Most of it's the same (though it's ergonomically different I guess).