See my previous post. I will make quality reeds and see what can be done about making bellows. I paid $890 for a new Le Capitaine, custom built, in a case, shipped from La to MD. It took a year, but I practiced on a $150 box. It built up some muscles!
I orderd it 11/03 and received it 1/05. It is holding up without flaw. There's a picture of it over at the yahoo picture gallery or I can send you one. I hang my head, it has butt joints. It plays and sounds great!

It is ACADIAN not ARCADIAN, and I am a Larry Miller man, BON CAJUN. Marc has been building since 1960. I guess thats why his name come up so much. I have an Acadian, but I prefer my BON CAJUN.

I love Larry's boxes.. well made and superb prices ( like Jude's ).. .. I know other players and builders who don't share my opinion, but that doesn't matter .

Marc's name comes up because he taught several other major builders.. generously sharing his blueprints and secrets... There are equally good or better accordions now. I found a newly made poly coated ( not varnish ) Acadian once which I thought was far inferior to the older boxes in many ways.

Oh.. I think that Arcadian spelling was no error.. just irony..

G.

i don;t care about joints, but it;s funny
i was just looking at my larry miller
bon cajun and my dick richard/point noir -
they both have BUTT JOINTS!

there should be a song about that..

the butt thang

too late actually
check horace trahan;s zydeco cd
great cd too

wle.

I guess as long as it makes great sounding Authentic, Cajun music, it shouldn't matter what it looks like or who built it.

Ecellent observations.

I mean it could be an HA114,or a Regal, or even an Ariette, that is if you're playing by yourself,and if your tuning is dead on Cajun, but you would not go on stage with any one of those,would you?, that would not be authentic enough .

C.

I agree that tuning, reed quality ( and quantity ) as well as playing ability go way beyond the brand name game or "looks" in making Cajun music .

Any comments about piano accordion Cajun music then ??..

Glenn

ultimately, seems like the title of that country gospel song hits the nail on the head: "The touch of the master's hand". Doesnt' matter how fine the instrument if you don't know how to make it sing; and it doesn't matter how low grade -- if you know what you doing you'll make it sing. Of course,if you combine a quality instrument with quality hands....

Cajungreeneyes,

Do you really prefer your Bon Cajun to the Acadian? That really surprises me. I'm really partial to the keyboard and sound of my Acadian C box, though I understand that every box -- regardless of the builder -- has its own feel.

I don't want to gush too much over my own "brand", but I've always thought of Marc as a true innovator in the art of accordion-building. His boxes have a playability that I find unmatched elsewhere.

Granted, "feel" is very subjective, but I think that the reputation of Acadians as being the "standard" is very well deserved.

The quality of Quebecois boxes is also extremely high, particularly in terms of craftsmanship, but their keyboards have a very different feel (more of an Irish style).