Hi. I thought I'd respond since I have owned a couple of Canadian built boxes. I now own two Martins, and completely enjoy them, in playing cajun music.

The two main builders that I have seen are from Quebec.
1) Messervier
2) Robert Boutet

There are many more, but I am not familiar with them. I owned a beautiful Boutet box, but eventually sold it back to him because I was ready to upgrade to a Louisiana box for playing cajun music.

There are a few primary differences that I have seen between my Canadian built boxes as opposed to my Louisiana built boxes.

1) I have found that both of my Canadian boxes and most others that I have seen were built with smaller outside dimensions. Length, width and depth were of smaller dimensions. The whole box was more compact, hence lighter. The buttons were the same, but the valves were of smaller dimensions. I have played Martins, Acadians, Millers, and found that my Boutet box had lighter, quicker action than any Louisiana box that I have played. One of my boxes had valves built out of hardwood, which I have yet to see on a Louisiana box. That feature was fine. The only reason I parted with that box was that the reeds were not of the highest quality, and I exclusively wanted to play cajun music. It was a faster, lighter, easier box to play than any Louisiana box that I have played. Don't get me wrong...... I love my Louisiana boxes, and will never part with them.

2) All the Canadian boxes that I have seen and owned, had a common feature. The edge on which you rest your thumb, were all built with a continuous round radius edge. Most Louisiana boxes that I have seen have a flat edge with rounded corners to rest your thumb on. Larry Miller even has a bevelled flat edge to rest your thumb on. I found the rounded edge very difficult to use at first. All beginners "wrastle" the box around way more than is required to play well, at first, and I found it extremely difficult to keep my thumb on the box while playing. Now, with a bit more experience, I don't think that, that would be such an issue.

3) Looking inside the boxes, Both of mine as well as most of the other Canadian boxes that I have seen were built with two sets of reeds. I have not seen any Louisiana boxes with less than 4 sets of reeds. Perhaps they are out there, especialy older ones. Also, None of the Canadian boxes that I have seen had stops, to close off one set of reeds.

4) All Canadian boxes that I have owned or observed were built with the end panels built out of solid wood. My Boutet had solid maple panels. Larry miller looked inside this box and found this feature odd. I suppose that Louisiana builders, in their experience have found that composite wood panels, are more durable, and are less suceptible to moisture problems and eventual cracking. The solid panel of course does change the sound, and I suppose, that , this is the sound that these builders want.

5) Looking at the reed blocks, both of my Quebec made boxes had reed blocks built of a thinner architecture. All wood pieces were thinner and seemed more compact. I suppose this also changes the sound, is lighter, and can be built more compact.

I am not an expert on squeeze box architecture, and judging from the latest discussion on this forum, on reed block construction, you will get some very good responses to your question. These are only a few observations.

Cheers.

I can't really help you much with your question about Canadian made single row accordions, because I have never seen or played one.

However, I can comment on my experiences and observations of single row accordion players in from Quebec in the late 1980's. What I observed at that time was that every Canadian musician that I saw play a single row accordion, they were ALL playing Acadians. It sounds like things have changed since then, or maybe it was just a coincidence that the musicians I saw and/or jammed with happened to be the ones with Acadians.

-David

Read an article a couple days ago written in 1976 (I'll post the link if I can find it again), and it mentioned Marc Savoy's customer base was local musicians and Canadian musicians. So it would make sense you saw a lot of Acadians in 1980. Don't know if that means that at the time, there were virtually no Canadian builders, or they were expensive, or both.
Here's a link that discusses the history of the accordion in Canada:
http://www.mnemo.qc.ca/html2/99(29)a.html
Only mentions a couiple somewhat modern builders. Can't seem to find any webpages by or about Canadian builders.
Interesting that the boxes tend to be smaller. Very curious about the reeds, especially any accordion Bb or lower, and how they would fit!

JL Brunelle gave a great deal of info on the differences... Personally, I got to try an box made by Raynald Ouellette, from Montmagny in Quebec who is one of the well known builders. The box was a little smaller than my Bon Cajun or Acadian. I can't recall if the tuning was different. I think that on most canadian made, the stops (if they have because some don't) don't work, so you can't temper with your reeds.
I think one of the reasons as to why many Canadian players (they are mostly in Quebec)own a Louisiana made is because of the relative affordability and availability of the Cajun boxes.... I don't think you can find a decent quality Canadian-made below $2500 Cdn $ (over $2K US).
Maz

i`ve seen and played a Melodie a few times, it had 4 stops, and they were all working.
it was very fast

wilfred

As mentioned before, Canadian boxes can be expensive, both my boxes brand new sold for the same price as a Martin, at the time. I bought them both used for a lower price. Don't know if they have kept up with thw Louisana box prices lately ,since they have gone up considerably in the last year. My impression was that the louisiana boxes have gone up so much due to the falling US dollar. This would mean that Canadian box prices should not have changed much.

Steve,

Andy Homan from Vermont who post on this board, owns 2 or 3 Quebec made 1 row boxes.
He is eminently qualified to shed some light on the sugject.
He's also travelled on occasion to the province of Quebec and has visited there with some of the builders .

Claude.

Steve, hope these links helps somewhat.
You can "see" some photos of Marcel Messervier ( one of the many fine melodeon players in Quebec, also a builder). playing one of his boxes, and 2 musicians playing one rows, one of them is seen sporting one of his boxes.
Also un expose of Gagne and Freres business (Music Store) in Quebec City and the family long history with accordion making in Canada( way before 1960) .
Note also the photo of one of their boxes very early efforts.

Claude.

Claude, your link aren't working - not for me anyway.

Sorry, that should do it.

Claude.

Check the type of Music played in Quebec( link #3)as played by Mr. Raynald Ouellet using a Quebec made box "Melodie" trade mark.
Mr. Ouellet with his associate Mr. Vezina ( the actual builder, co-owns the compagny.
You can see a pic of the box at the top of the page, and lessun to some samples.
Mr.Ouellet also plays 3 rows accordion, and is a virtuoso at both.

Enjoy.

Claude.

ON the picture, showing Mr.R.Ouellet's box,( link#3) you'll notice that the keyboard sports 11 buttons and that the clappers are made of the same wood as the rest of the accordion, and the worksmanship is exquisite, No I wont mention one particular, crucial, in my wiew detail , ok David.
All the different Quebec boxes, that I've tried in Montmagny, Quebec, had all the stops working and were 4 reeders.
As a rule, at the time ,and I got the information from Mr. Vezina,himself is that"all" the Quebec box builders made their own bellows, and pretty much, everything else, except the reeds, witch are imported.
In the Montmagny music stores, I saw and tried 5 different builders made boxes, and they were all of different sizes, and most were made with fiddle back maple , all without exception, had the 4 stops usefull, and "all" were made with an eye for perfection .
Also some had interesting details like straps holders witch were "incorporated in the "design".
They "all" were much, much lighter in weight and looks then the LA boxes, and because they , unlike their La counterparts, are made by individuals using their own blueprints , and as such none of them, ressemble somehow the others, although they "all" are inmistakably 1 row boxes.
Are they "better" then The LA boxes?.
Theyr'e different, with a significantly faster and more agile keyboard action,and they are also somewhat lighter in weight, and also they are if you wish more elegant, perhaps not as "robust" or "squarrish" looking as their LA sisters, and I don't mean to be derogatory, in that respect, you'll have to forgive, 40 woodworking years, teaching and practicing, and I know that I have developed a more discernable eye then most, so, these comments are not to be construed as demeaning in any ways, I'll be just as true in my personnal assessments regarding Canadian woodworking products versus it's US counterparts.
I think the reason is that most LA builders get "Jobbers" to supply most of the parts for their boxes, and as such, use more of a commun "denominator", thus resulting in a more similar look in design.
So, are they better, I really don't care
, I use both, to play different types of Music.

Ok, ok, they are made for a different market,and i don't think they would "fly" for the Cajun market, for one thing, they don't have a " crawfish" on their bellows, and an LA made mark on their end plates.

Crazy Kannuukk .

Very interesting comments. Where do yo live Claude? Aren't you in NB (I'm in Halifax)? If I ever drive by, I'd love to drop in to see your boxes if you don't mind. I will certainly stop at that shop in Montmagny next time I drive to Mtl.
Maz

So, now you know guys. They tune different but play different music. They make wonderful little boxes which have very fast action which in turn is demanded because of the music they play. I would say it is more Irish sounding. Now as had been mentioned in earlier postings days ago. They have pretty well shut out Mark and other Louisiana builders.