My guess is a lot of it is tradition. Marc Savoy was saying that when he got started, he had trouble even selling an accordion that was clear finished to show the grain of premium woods because everyone associated "good" accordions with the Monarch and Sterling "tit noirs". I bet all that other stuff is done so that it doesnt look to radical from the tit noirs, but that probably isnt much of a big deal today.

Still being in the planning stages on the one I will build, I am looking at things like that to change the style a little, but still have that cajun look. The one thing I have definately decided is the stops will be down to play, not up (which will kill the handle thing). I think the knobs do dress it up. But on other cosmetics I am still weighing options. I also want to dress up the corner protectors somewhat closer to the Hohner Ariettes than the traditional ones.

This is a good time to see what design features folks would like to see on their accordion. Keeping in mind builders cant get far off what their jigs will accomodate, unless a person is willing to pay the difference in time if new jigs are needed. Nonc?

Shutting off the basson bank seems to be common for bluesy stuff like Pine Grove Blues. Wilson Savoy does that on his instructional DVD. Pretty effective.
I've seen some accordions with inlay instead of grooves on the frames - names fail me, but they are out there. It seems to me that it just comes down to traditon, like that etched pattern on the face place. No law saying it has to be there, though.
Steve

I use to push down the basson knob for a few songs, though these are not cajun songs.

Regarding the groves on the outer frame. None of the 9-nine button accordion I've seen has those groves. They are flat. Strange ..

My 9-button Martin has a crawfish decoration tape on the outer frame instead. It looks cool, but it's not as nice as real inlays or intarsia.

/Gunnar

My beautiful 'Cajun' box doesn't have the grooves, but has a lot more fancy inlay which more than makes up. One thing I don't like about grooves is that they disappear under the corners in an untidy way. I had an Italian built 'King' (same as Gabanelli?) where the grooves tapered out before they hit the corners. Much neater, and the box was presumeably not hand built. But it had brassy metal stop knobs. Not nice. I'm a traditionalist. Mostly.
Had another Italian one (not as nice ) where the stops were down to open. I can see why, but, again, I don't like it ( sorry, Bryan ). You expect a Hohner to have sloppy stops, but it seems to be a mark of build quality that they stay up.
Oh, come to think of it, the King had an internal arrangement where small springs engaged in indentations in the stop shafts, holding them in position, even if they became loose.

BJ

If I were designing my dream accordion, I would include the following.
- Gold plate or polished nickle silver for corners, clappers and buttons.
- The knobs would push down to open the reed banks.
- A selection of contrasting colors in the bellows.

Please keep in mind that I have been accused of being tastefully gaudy and I probably could not afford what I really like.

Good luck

If they can put a Crawfish, a diamond, or the Mexican Flag on a set of bellows, anything is possible. How about the Mardi Gras colors, gold, green and purple, alternating on the pleats? Be one of a kind, for a while, at least.
JB

I kinda like the knobs on the top, gives them that character that makes them unique. What I don't get is why the knobs are up in the on position. An intuitive button push is in for on, and if they were all down when playing they wouldn't stick out quite so much. Don't laugh, but my first beginner box was an Ariette and that has the knobs down when in play position. Seems more intuitive to me. But it's those knobs that scream out diatonic accordion that sets this kind of box apart from all others. I live WAY up river, and Cajun accordions are very rare here. There was an article in the Sunday paper a couple of weeks ago about an area small town with a community jam session of local musicians. My wife saw the article first, and there was a picture of a lady sitting there playing a Cajun diatonic. My wife yelled out "Look ! It's a Cajun accordion ! You can see the four knobs on the top ! "

'nuff said

Hal

John Roger never did use the groves on the outer frames because many times he was bookmatching the fine wood across the accordion frames all the way around the accordion and did not want to distract from that. Just one preference!

Thx. to each... I guess what I am attempting to point out here is: "Think outside the box braves"
Dare to establish yourself as an identity with your accordions and your music... it's cool.

So much of what we do (this includes many crafts), we do because that is the way it has always been done. Or, that is the way my mentor said it must be done. Not right and not wrong perhaps...just the way it is.

Kudos to the originality thinkers (you know who you are)... it's cool and I'm proud of ya.

Try this one on for size.
Once asked: What do you want to do with your music?
Ans: I want to learn to play just like you !
Well...I am me and nobody plays quite the way I play, that what makes me...ME. Play like you, because it is all good.. be who you are with your music.

Stylistic identity in building ... why not?
Stylistic identity in playing .. Hummmm it's a concept


Nonc Dave Mason

"Stylistic identity in playing .. Hummmm it's a concept".

Not a new one though. What we think of as traditional tunes are actually the stylistic identity of some folks older than us. Iry didnt play em the exactly the way he heard em, heck them old guys even mixed songs. Like you said, its all good.

Excellent questions Nonc D. When I start my journey in to the construction of these things, I asked myself the same. I am sure some of it is done for the sake of "because its the way its done". Other details appear to be done for the ease of construction like the age old discussion of butt joints versus mitres. I can clearly attest that it takes more time and effort to mitre corners and stop the grooves short of the corner guards. The 2 boxes I have going now both have the grooves that stop short of the corner guards but the next boxes will have some inlay detail versus the grooves. I have also done one box with knobs up and the other knobs down just to see what difference if any it would make to me.

The knobs in the down position to bring in the reed bank seems the more logical to me for a couple of reason:

1) the majority of boxes the stops stay in place due to friction, the more times you pull them up and push them down the more the parts wear and the friction decreases. If they are in the down position then they don't need to be closed to be put back in their box and you only need to pull them up to shut off a reed block.

2) For effect it's nicer to go from a thiner sound to a fuller sound and it's a **** sight easier to bring a bank of reeds in by pushing down rather than by pulling up whilst playing.

Personnally, I love the sound of just the 16' and 4' reeds - almost sounds like you're playing two instruments at once

My guess is that the knobs are pull for on and push for off is that Organs with stops work the same way. My mother-in-law has one of those antique reed organs that you pump with your feet, kinda like the way the old sewing machines worked. It has reeds and stops and is really kinda like a great big accordion. And, if you wanted certain reeds turned on, you pull out the stop.

This motif even shows up as the standard metaphor: "Pull out all the stops". It is not "Push in all the stops".

Which isn't to say that it can't be the other way, and there are some accordions that are built the other way. So the choice seems to be arbitrary. I'm just saying that is maybe where the convention may have come from.

-David