I googled Corona IIIR. Quite a nice collection of boxes you have there Glenn. Are the post '70's Corona III Chinese made, thus less popular? Once I get my fingers moving to the right buttons on the Panther, I'll pick up a 3 reed per note box.
Craig

Craig..

Personally I would not bother with a NO register 3 reed box. The Corona III's with no registers sound totally different than the 5 register IIIR's .. that is a shared opinion.

the CORONA III is perfect for Colombian VALLENATO music or for UK Contra Dance.. it doesn't have the deep growl needed for Zydeco.

Strange to think that way.. but .. once you've heard them I am sure you will agree..

Hohner Chinese boxes are from the 90's on .. but the German III's don't cut it for Zydeco. 5 register IIIR's or IIIRS's do.. ( the IIIRS has LOWER VOLUME .. be warned )..

Good Luck ! GLENN

The lll is 3 clarinet reeds ( middle reeds) tuned
musette.. so there is quite a bit of tremolo
IF yiou dry the box out and retune the reeds closer in pitch.. the box will be louder

The III R came in two version.. 5 round switches ( the preferred model) and oblong switches.. ok but made later.. III R models were not made in China

The III R is still favored in Quebec and Nova Scotia
in GCF

The III R has one low reed and two middle reeds like a Corona II.. the switches will allow for a few combinations

These boxes are larger, heavier and therefore slower to move the bellows

The Quebec/Nova Scotia players are all
over the board so they still have the speed.. not from the bellows so much as the fingering

A Quebec friend of mine has several III R's in a few key systems.. they are heavily modified and retuned
he has recored with these and you cannot tell they are Coronas.. much better.

PS
Contra is a US term
in UK they go to "country" dances not "contra" dances
and they use ADG boxes or DG or Concertina

Thanks for the info.

THE IIIR with oblong buttons is actually an IIIRS .. which have less volume still ..and are an 80's morph of the IIIR.

III's ..yes, I've had several, dry tuned them and they sound like fuel injected Corona II's.. very loud. The Wet tuning on the factory standard version is the preferred tuning for Vallenato or Contra dance ( which I have heard said and seen written in the UK .. who knows why, if you claim they call it country dancing ? Maybe to coax in Americans..)

The IIIR is muffled in volume especially on the inner row.. it progressively loses volume from the outside to the inner row. I would not want to play fast music on one .. ( even though many Vallenato players still use them ).. I find them perfect for internal mic'ing and playing repetetive riffs ala zydeco..


G: