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swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

Just how bad are the morelli and swampdog's "Cajun" accordions on ebay? I don't have money or time to buy anything good but I do love to play. I even have fun with my old leaky yard-sale 12-bass piano box. Is it sacreligious to ask if Cajun can be played on a (Chinese) 3-row button box advertised as "tex-mex"?
Might any of these last a few months or so?
Thanx, Total newbie

Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

i think they are good for the money, considering
that you can get the chinese boxes for as little
as $140 and the real ones cost $2-3k.

they definitely have all the same notes

my opinion runs counter to prevailing wisdom though.


oh wait, even i wouldn;t say to try and play
'cajun' on a cheap 3 row.

some zydeco maybe, some tex mex, yes.

and i think the chinese 1-rows are a lot junkier
than the chinese 3 rows, and their price/performance
factor is a lot lower. i;d tell you, don;t get a
chinese 1 row for over $150.


wle.

Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

about reliability..

i have seen and had about 6 chinese accordions,
most of them need some minor repair right out of the
box.

the 3 rows are pretty durable.

the one rows will have minor stuff come loose and
break if you use them a lot. or a reed might go out
of tune way early.

that is another reason to steer clear of the chinese
1 rows.

Re: Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

I got a Hohner Ariette Chinese made one row for 299 from musiciansfriend.com (see link) and it really wasn't half bad. It got one stuck reed after a few weeks but I sent it in to Hohner for warranty repair and got it back in a couple of weeks. No problems since. Keys are clunky and bellows not very responsive compared to my new Bon Cajun, but for a beginners instrument it is a cost effective way to start out. Construction quality not near to the real ones of course, but sound is pretty darn good. Really wet tuned though. Kinda got to like that tremolo. Considering asking Larry to wet tune my Bon Cajun when I send it in for tuning.

Hal

Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

If you asked three of us those questions, your bound to get four opinions as answers!

I also fall into the camp of "buy what yuou can afford, play what you like,and learn what to get the next time."

Many of us here started on an imported or used one-row box. One frequent poster here has a sound file posted of an imported box that sounds pleasing to most ears.

As for 'cajun on an imported three row-- you will play the melody, you will keep the time, you will even get the bass and chord going, but it won't sound 'cujun. You can play passable conjunto and norteno on an imported three however!

These are my Federal Reserve $0.02--everyone else can ante up as well.

Peace,
Griff

PS--play it like you stole it!

Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

The Morelli 3-rows are not that bad actually, though their bellows were to fume-y for me.

You'll get different opinions on playing cajun on a piano accordion or 3 row. 3-row is not tuned the same. Piano accordion is not tuned the same AND its dynamics would make it exceedlingly difficult to sound cajun if at all.

Re: Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

I have a cheap Chinese box sold under the Bestler name. It cost $96 on e-Bay (it is identical to the Morelli.) It sounds good and would suffice for a beginner as you are learning the keyboard, playing double, and playing slowly. But as you progress you can 'outplay' the box. Things I can play easily on my Bon Cajun are difficult on the Bestler. I bought this cheapy as a travel box but it would do as a learner box for not much money.
Leslie

Re: Re: Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

If ya got the bug to jump into this genre... and an accordion is topping your list of musical needs, dollars matter? Sure they do, lestwise for most folks.

Now then:
Eventually all things (accordion that is) seem to gravitate to owning a hand made real deal. I had one of those boxes made in China as a first accordion ...
So as Ms. Linda reminded me: "You get a grip on this and we will talk about that down the road, if you decide to stick with it." That was good advice 5 accordions ago. Ha. Now she says: "how many hand made accordions does it take before you feel like a happy man?" Hummmm let's see here I'm thinking. Ha

While in Texas, I had a ball playing one of those little Hero accordions that belongs to my Grand Daughter. Oh yeah, they play alright sure as the world they do... So while I am not an advocate of cheap accordions by any means, something/anything is better than nothing.

I say, just get started with what ever fits your pocket book, and then make the upgrade a part of your long range goals. Shucks, even a 25 dollar french harp can pack a whollup as a diatonic substitute, if that is what ya got to work with.

Nonc D

Re: Re: Re: Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

Nonc D, Your post is the best that I have seen on the subject of a beginners accordion.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

I think if you are going to invest your time learning to play cajun music, you should do it on a single row button accordion, not a 2 or 3 row. The bigger accordions are too cumbersome to get the cajun feel with them. That said, I actually started on a borrowed 2 row and progessed next to a single row Horner with no stops on the top. I definitely would not recommend a 3 row to start playing cajun.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

a 3 row has too many negatives for cajun music.

the low notes are missing.
it may have extra, confusing, notes at the top.
they are not as loud, so dynamics are hard to
get.
usually they are tuned way too wet.
too heavy.

and a cheap one has more problems.
tuning may be inconsistent from note to note.
no bottom octave, sound is thin.
volume/dynamics even more limited.

wle.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: swampdogs and morellis out of the ?

I don't agree that you can't play Cajun music on a triple-row. Of course you can. Having said that I will agree that the classic Cajun sound must be played on a Cajun accordion, however if all you have is a triple row you can certainly make it work,...and work pretty well. I am the accordionist in the North Louisiana band The Red River Playboys. I have 5 accordions on stage with me (Two Cajun, Two Triple-Row Diatonics, and one five Row Chromatic). The five row is a Morelli. I bought it because I had never played a chromatic but needed to learn to get certain notes and chords that a diatonic could not reach. Generally, the reeds aren't as good as the Italian reeds, but they're not beyond hope. I had to take the Morelli down and have it wet tuned to the max in order to get close to the sound a Gabbanelli has. But, it works for me and I'm starting to get much better on the chromatic. So, for under $600.00 I did pretty good. The Morelli isn't that bad for the money. They don't have all the rinestone glitz others have and I suspect this helps keep the price down.



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