Hey Dwight,

Wondered what opinion you had on the ' playability' of your Fr-18. Is it a heavy monster, is the bellows action light and friendly and not require arms like Dwayne Dopsie.
I know Johnny Ace, BN and others gave some feedback but your feedback would also be appreciated...particularly regarding the ease of handling of the instrument, and not the technical fingering stuff necessarily.

Reason I ask is that since my shoulder surgery I find I don't quite have the strength or endurance on the Cajun box. I'm also getting more interested in the versatility both diatonically and technically that a new generation 3 row gives.

Darryl,

I have the FR-18, and it weighs in at 12 lb. (compared to 18 lb. for Dino Baffetti 3-row). The bellows feels natural, and you can adjust several features including bellows sensitivity and how much audio compression is applied to the notes. At the extreme compression setting, all notes sound at the same volume, regardless of bellows speed/pressure. You will need patience to work through the manual and its many settings. It will call on your inner geek, but once you've figured it out, it's a satisfying instrument.

There's an FR-18 user's group at Link #2.

Russ

Hi Darryl,

I'm only just getting into it, and don't have another 3 row to compare it to.

It does seem lighter than other triple rows I've picked up in the past. Not as light as a cajun box though.

One thing about the playability of it that I don't like is that if you hit a button, it sounds. No margin of error. On an acoustic box, you at least have to commit and push the button. I'm getting more used to it though. Was annoying at first.

No thumbstrap, but, that's not particular to this instrument. Just have to adjust my muscle memory, and I'm new at it.

I have the bellows response fairly tight, so, I'd probably have problems going to a real accordion that might use more air.

I LOVE BEING ABLE TO CHANGE KEYS. For my vocals. Worth the price of admission. Whole reason I bought the box.

Like Russ mentions, digesting the manual takes a while. I found the language very slightly confusing in one spot.

Only thing I'd like on the straps is another strap to keep the main straps from separating and sliding off my shoulder, but, not a big deal actually.

I'm also going to investigate setting it up as a chromatic button accordion.

Which shoulder has the arthritis? Perhaps minimizing the bellows movement on this instrument would help.

Hey thanx guys. Great feedback.I'll browse through that FR-18 site shortly ,Russ.

My left shoulder is the problem ( I had clavicle bone partially excised and bursar clean up done ) and I solved that pain problem, partially ,for guitar playing, since the op., by using a padded lambswool sleeve on my guitar strap ( I'm right handed ). The downward pressure on the damaged area is way less and I'm getting through a gig a lot better.
BTW..I prefer to have the accordion strap fitted the same way as a guitar strap ie. behind and over the left shoulder. I did a gig or two early days and the right hand shoulder only strap position meant at times the strap slid off my right shoulde and I was trying to sing lead, find the strap, deal with the interruption, etc etc...said i'd never do that again.

BUT, I'm still bothered with the lateral and other type movement require to pull and push a Cajun box bellows ( I can only play in short bursts ). Guitar playing with the left arm slightly elevated for long periods in a set also gives me some discomfort.

So..for me...the FR-18 needs to be very friendly in the bellows effort department..that's the priority. I think I can counter the weight issue to a certain extent.
The thing with my post op. recovery is that the surgeon said in a few months I'll be as good as I'm ever going to be ...it may not be 100% but a LOT better than it was pre-op. Right now I'm shying away from Cajun box playing as I do lead vocals as well, and the discomfort and effort is distracting.

you can adjust the airflow regulator to where there is very little movement required.

Best to go try one out somewhere.

Just got my hands on one being curious .... it's a well made Midi controller typically Roland style with a hard to understand terminology as they use standard music related terms for something totally different. Why do they call a Keyboard -setup or -configuration a "tablature"; beats me. It's sound-wise nothing near an LMMH cajun handmade one row. It emulates a general type Tex-Mex Hohner, and does that reasonably well, but a real Hohner or Balfetti is what it is: a real live beast to beat around the bush, the FR18 to me is a quite useful general band thing, but a luxury class A kid's tool still.

Darryl: I found some Bon Cajuns (Red Pine), maple Martins and ditto Tim Reed accordions to be the lightest players as for weight and responsiveness. Maybe Bryan's Balsa Built Special is better at that.

But if you have a left arm problem all diatonics will disappoint you; to obtain a proper & fast bellows technique you must be able to lift he bass side of the accordion up at all times, some 3Lbs (H114) and up to 6 or more (Roland FR18). Maybe a light piano accordion as a Hohner 48 bass Student or diatonic Erica is a good one for a starter? A H114 is pretty light too, but might need some more power on your left arm to obtain more air pressure going as with those Binci reeds. Ask Peer, he owns all acoustic types and plays 'em too. - Nout

Thanks Nout.

I've asked a local accordion distributor to get one in for approval...but I don't think they're trying very hard as they probably want to quit their existing non-digital 3 row stock at premium prices and margins first.

I play 2 Cajun boxes...a Jude Moreau Bon Temps with Salpas and a Master with Bincis. No prob. with either really, other than the work I need to put into the bass side/bellows action that's killing my shoulder.

I thought maybe the 'regulator' setting on the FR-18 ( which apparently can be set to minimal bellows action for the same sound ) would be the attraction for me..

Oh..and just to add some extra to the discussion.

The other accordion player in my band ( he plays Piano Accordion and Cajun box ) had a fall from a ladder a few months ago and badly shattered his wrist. Had steel plates and pins inserted and all that horrible stuff. He also now suffers from depleted mobility and strength in the leftwrist/arm.
Talk about walking wounded !!!

He's saying he wants to quit the Piano Accordion and is willing to share the venture into an FR-18 if it's suitable to play, as discussed.

I just want to lay my hands on one..I think I'd be able to tell in about 30 seconds if it was going to work for me.

If the FR-18 not suitable, we both might have to take up tap dancing as an alternative interest !!!!

i don;t see what the difference is, if you shattered your hand
diatonic isn;t going to be much different from piano or button chromatic
i mean you still have to do the same thing with your hand
[[though the span of an octave is less with diatonic, because of the missing notes, basically]]

plus learning something new
plus some ambiguous ' make diatonic sound chromatic'
i don;t see it
it;s too many things to overcome at once
just my 2c

wle

I was hit by a car some years back. Crazed yuppie
female dog came over 4 lanes and hit me from behind in an off ramp. My speed 45mph.. her speed was estimated at 80mph. I was riding an Italian Moto Morini Camel. Bike was totalled. It had 1300 miles.
Shattered my left wrist. 2 operations, pins, casting for 8 months, 2 years of therapy.
At the same time, the ball was broken off my right
humerus (sp) plus ripped up the rotator cuff. 2 surgeries, 8 months in casts, 2 years of therapy.

Yes, you can play the box after such injuries. However, the weight of the box is a consideration.
And, any technique or box configuration that will reduced the push-pull would be of benefit.

With a PA, or CBA, you won't have to do long pulls of the bellows because you play the same notes in either direction. Now, since I play neither instrument, I'm not sure how this will play out in the eventuality of holding long notes (not common in zydeco), but it's a thought.

Darryl,

If I remember correctly, there are 3 bellows tweaks on the FR-18: an adjustable air valve, a software setting for sensitivity, and a software setting for compression. The compression variable lets the instrument speak naturally or, at the other extreme, makes all notes the same volume regardless of amount of bellows movement.

I agree it doesn't sound like a Cajun accordion, but it has some good externally-mic'd 3-row and other diatonic box sounds. It's also a midi controller, which in theory lets you drive any midi-capable synthesizer with their wide range of sounds. If someone sampled a Cajun box very well, the FR-18 could control a synth into which that sample was loaded. Not that I'm aware of any pro-level Cajun accordion samples.

Russ

Yeah, thanx Russ and others. The weight distribution with the double strap harness combined with that in- between weight ( between a Cajun box and a Piano Accordion/Traditional 3 Row )probably means the weight would be tolerable at gigs..especially if I lambswool sleeve the harness.

Finger spread and reach is possibly not so much the issue either as Larry was suggesting.

The BIG issue is the lateral dynamics of the bellows action push and pull..

I've looked at some video of FR-18 demos. and the bellows action can be cut down to a minimal movement but still retain a big sound, as amplification is doing all that. Trouble is there's heaps of that awful Tex Mex Conjunto and European playing in those Ytube videos..drives me crazy...I hate that stuff...for me it's what gives accordions a bad name .

The Zydeco sound per Andre Thierry is great. He seems to get on OK with his FR-18..but then again he could play anything ! Johnny Ace plays great too.
Guess we wait to see if we can get our hands on one for a try out.....

I use an Erica for some songs. It is light, but is only MM. Lacks some guts by itself, but is ok when the band fills in.