I honestly didn't think it sounded too great. Also, those old reeds guzzle gas, which I don't mind on something C or above, but the thought of low A, old German reeds makes me cringe.

Makes me glad I didn't win the first one to go up on Ebay. Looking at the size of those reeds, I think they were probably something lower, but can't be sure.

I have played this accordion. It is a pretty good accordion, and it is in the key of A. Keep in mind that it is not original. It has been refurbished by the owner which includes painting, stenciling, embossing, etc. I could be confusing this one with another accordion he owns, but I think either the keyboard, or the bass box are not original.

According to the listing it went for 1,500. Still a bit surprising considering how much the other went for.

John

Ganey, I'm glad you brought these details to light. Seller tries to pass it off as 95% original (I'm quoting his BS estimation). Obvious horse sh*t.

And Glenn, you are right, the inside needs help. From that tiny glimpse of the inside, you'd think "seller refurbished" would include new leathers, at the very least.

Crappy ass paint job, on the flapper rods, too. If it were me I'd remove the tarnish. It looks like crap.

Whomever bought it, I'm sorry to say, you're going to need new leathers on the reeds. Once they are replaced, the tuning changes, so you'll be paying for a tuning, also. Anyway, as bone dry as it's mostly tuned, it could use something different.

He's a pretty nice guy, I think it'd be worth asking him personally exactly what he did and his thoughts before judging him too harshly.

I really like the shape of those style valve rods.

I wonder how hard it would be to get a hold of some triangular material to make replicas of those valve rods. Seems like being triangular would also prevent it from potentially failing as easily as a round or square rod

John

Nice guy or not, that's not 95% original.

What were the Sterling/Monarch valve arms made of? Copper? Some of the old Hohner boxes I looked at were brass.

Pretty sure they're brass.

A guy I know has an old Eagle Brand accordion that's decked out in brass. It has brass corners and hardware, brass buttons, brass corners on all of the bellow folds, and even the half dowel rods for the flaps are covered in a thin brass sheet instead of the gold paint they were using on the Monarchs, Sterlings, and Globes.

John

First accordion that I built, I made triangle shaped rods out of Copper. It took some doing and some time. This shape is the original shape of the Sterling and Monarch instruments.