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There's a 36b Italian going cheap on eBay that looks slightly more interesting than average


MatthewVanitas

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/36-Button-Concertina-Made-in-Italy/193262685452?hash=item2cff5a8d0c%3Ag%3AT8wAAOSwoQdd-nZU&LH_ItemCondition=4|10

 

36b is kinda interesting, and though it's still the usual "Red MOTS". It's asking $215 +$25pp, which might not necessarily be bad for a slightly unusual variant, and usually these kind of Italians are pretty easy to clean up.

 

Does anyone recognize this model?

 

Just thought folks might find it interesting.

eBay 36b Italian.png

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Yes, over the years I've seen a number of these. 15 years ago the ButtonBox had one that Doug showed me. I tried it; a typical Italian instrument and pleasant enough if not meant for rapid or demanding play, and with the typical rubber-sleeve button attachment. That's about what they go for if they are in good playing condition.


Ken

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I had one of these for a while.  The sound was surprisingly weak for such a large instrument, and it took a lot of work to get any sound out of it.  I was happy to find someone who liked it enough to buy it from me.  I think my buying and selling prices were closer to $100 than $200, though this was several years ago.  They don't come onto the market often enough for there to be a standard price.

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Is it definitely by Stagi, Bastari, Rigoletto, or any of the other common Italian manufacturers? Or is it some other brand that basically bit their style but is technically a separate company?

 

I've never been clear on how many actual Italian brands there were making basically the same thing, or if it's just one factory stamping different badges on things. Or maybe it was a constant flow of companies making the same thing and buying each other, splitting, joining, etc in some glorious muddle. The only one of those still making hybrid concertinas in Italy to this day is Stagi, yes?

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Years ago someone on the newsgroup (remember that, old-timers?) posted a story about a visit to Italy where these are/were made. The name of the town (where accordions are the main product IIRC) escapes me right now. Before Stagi it was the Bastari factory, and my distinct impression is that it is, and was, one factory and all the other names are just badges added later. Honestly, these are nothing to get excited about - if you think it would look cool on a shelf in your house maybe you need one. I knew someone who kept one out as a decoy for burglars after someone broke in and took his two Lachenals. Me, I don't need any more instruments that I don't play (a sign of age I'm sure). Of course, like more anglo players than will admit it, I started on an Italian box because the alternatives before hybrids or Rochelles appeared cost about as much as a decent piano, and I had sticker shock like most newbies. Noel Hill played my first Stagi once - like lightning - and handed it back, saying "I started out on one like that. I wrecked it!"

 

Daniel is right about price - I'd consider myself lucky to sell a 20-b Italian instrument in a private sale for 75$ US.

 

Ken

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12 hours ago, Ken_Coles said:

Years ago someone on the newsgroup (remember that, old-timers?) posted a story about a visit to Italy where these are/were made. The name of the town (where accordions are the main product IIRC) escapes me right now. Before Stagi it was the Bastari factory, and my distinct impression is that it is, and was, one factory and all the other names are just badges added later.

 

This is mostly correct.  However, I have read (possibly in the 1983 article on Bastari in Mugwumps magazine - low-quality image here , from https://www.elderly.com/products/mugwumps-magazine-vol-7-no-3-august-september-1983 ) that there was one other Italian maker.  It may have been Frontalini, whose concertinas periodically come up for sale on eBay and look a bit different from the Bastari/Stagi models.  I have been told that the 36-button concertinas like the one in this thread were made by Bastari.

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20 hours ago, Daniel Hersh said:

It may have been Frontalini, whose concertinas periodically come up for sale on eBay and look a bit different from the Bastari/Stagi models

 

Funny you mention, I just picked up a Frontalini, intending to repair and flip it (not for profit, just to get it to a noob), but it's actually playing pretty fine so I just listed it as-is with a clear descriptions of the good/bad about it.

 

I kinda want to open it up and check how different it is inside, but I'm also lazy and hate having to align all the buttons just-so to get the end back on. As far as you know, is the action of a Frontalini the same "rubber gasket" linkages as a Stagi/Bastari, or might it actually be interesting inside and I should open it up and take photos for this forum?

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12 minutes ago, MatthewVanitas said:

 

Funny you mention, I just picked up a Frontalini, intending to repair and flip it (not for profit, just to get it to a noob), but it's actually playing pretty fine so I just listed it as-is with a clear descriptions of the good/bad about it.

 

I kinda want to open it up and check how different it is inside, but I'm also lazy and hate having to align all the buttons just-so to get the end back on. As far as you know, is the action of a Frontalini the same "rubber gasket" linkages as a Stagi/Bastari, or might it actually be interesting inside and I should open it up and take photos for this forum?

 

I'd like to see pictures myself, if you're willing to do that.

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21 minutes ago, Daniel Hersh said:

 

I'd like to see pictures myself, if you're willing to do that.

 

*sighs* Fiiiiiiiiiiine.

 

Huh, frick me, it's a riveted action, not rubber gaskets...

 

Shall I post the photo series in the Construction/Repaid subform? Any special requests for photos beyond just my guessing what folks want to see?

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27 minutes ago, MatthewVanitas said:

it's a riveted action, not rubber gaskets...

 

Shall I post the photo series in the Construction/Repaid subform? Any special requests for photos beyond just my guessing what folks want to see?

 

I'd say post it in Concertina History, perhaps with another post in Construction/Repair linking to that one.  Definitely the action and the reed blocks or pans, and maybe an interior shot of the extended bellows too.  And you might as well get straight-on exterior pics of the ends as well as extended and collapsed bellows while you're at it.

 

Thanks very much!

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