For your money the entry level Panther is an excellent beginner triple row. This is backed up by numerous testimonies on the Reyesaccordion.com forum. You can find them on eBay used as well, and have good resale value.

The less appealing part is that they only come in GCF ( not in FBbEb ) and only have 2 reeds per note, so you will not have the low note needed that many think necessary for a Zydeco sound.

The Corona III is tuned MMM so is not the three reed alternative for Zydeco ( there was one in FBbEb on eBay this week.. VERY rare to find in that key ). The MMM set up is musette used for Vallenato music mostly.

The Hohner folks have come out with a new economy model called the Compadre, available in all keys, but still only a 2 reed per note instrument.

In terms of learning ..you will find lots of helpful vids and an excellent Windows friendly ( free download ) programme on Reyesaccordions.com called Senior Maestro which gives scales in single notes, thirds and sixths ( with audio visual interface ).

If you end up liking a triple row..and want to play zydeco..you may want to consider a 3 or 4 reed per note instrument eventually with 5 or more registers.

In the meantime a Panther is excellent for learning and is much better than the other Chinese boxes on the market..

G.

I like my Panther. As Glenn stated, two reeds per note is a bit thin for Zydeco. It does well with a number of blues and jazz numbers. Queen Ida plays a Corona II, much the same as a Panther.

cRAIG

Glen as ususal pretty much said it all. GCF is a fine key to get and you have lots of options in keys to play in that configuration. First step is to go to Wilson Savoy's site above and get Corey Ledet's 3 row DVD. I think that the triple, whole it looks daunting is in many ways easier to learn than the single row. Corey's lesson on Zydeco Boogaloo gets you using all three rows and while he doesn't explain the theory it will become apparant once you start fooling round with it. That is really the fun thing with the triple. You always learn something on it every time you pick it up.

heheh.. yes.. triple row is easier than single row.. since you can think of playing on pull much of the time..and the chord possibilities are very satisfying.

I love zydeco mantra riffs on a single row.. but somehow they can sound more carefully executed on a triple row.. dunno why !

G.

Check out Claude's Dino Baffetti for sale. Now that's a fine triple row.

Yea you right. If I didn't already have a GCF I would have grabbed it. Somebody please give it a good home and play it!!!