Here are pictures of Melodie accordion, made in Quebec by Sylvain Vezina in Montmagny. (link #1 above)

It has pearl buttons, all maple box and flappers (notice the absence of metal corners) and handmade bellows made by the builder (he learnt how from some Italian builder). Excellent action and very loud... Still have to have it tuned for Cajun music, though.

Don't mind the blue one, it is just my husband having fun with photo software...

Nicole

That's the same exact brand (even same color I believe) that was on "How it's Made" on the science channel. Enjoyed watching that segment.

Nic - thanks for putting that up! I very much admire the corner treatment and the bold redness of your collection.

Rejean Brunet (Le Vent du Nord) played my wife's venue last summer, and his box appeared to be the same, except clear finishes on the body and on the darker woods at the corners.

Steve Blais

nicole

There's no type of bellows strap to close the accordion? That's not good

That is another feature of the Melodies. You close it thanks to an internal hook. To open, you press the accordion: the hook falls down; to close, you put the accordion upside down and press. You can hear the hook putting itself in position.

I have a 1920's Global (unplayable) that has the same type contraption inside it.

Very clean looking without the metal corners. It looks like a harder wood laminated there, instead. It's difficult to tell exactly what it is from the oix. Ebony? Also, that internal bellows lock sounds like a cool idea. Does it create any rattling or noise while playing?

Steve

No noise at all.

Steve,
I have a Mélodie, also. The corners on mine are made from ebony and padouk. The internal hook makes no noise. I've played some Italian boxes with a similar mechanism, and the corner treatment can be seen on some Italian boxes as well. Nothing new under the sun!
-Andy

You bringing that with you to Balfa Camp?

Not the Melodie, but the Mouton. Because I'm flying in, I limit myself to one accordion, one fiddle, one suitcase, and that is already hard with airlines... Only one of these can come with me in the cabin, and that will be the Mouton, no doubt about it!
Otherwise, I'd love to take more with me...