On the forum for melodeon.com I see discussions of Italian instuments and get the impression that the Irish, Morris and other British folk musicians have a growing demand for instruments tuned for their music. The Italians seem to have the best reputation with them. Of course, there are some British hand builders and those guys are also adding to the demand for Cajun boxes.

So it might actually be possible that the flooding of the market with cheap Chinese instruments might actually be a good thing that is causing increased accordion awareness.

Those that were previously unable to burden the cost of a $1200+ accordion are starting on cheapo boxes and then moving up to "professional" boxes later.

Hmm, never thought of it that way before...

DP

Hello, I'm new here and the reason I ended up over here is I just got an elcheapo Chinese-made Morrelli ten button. I have NO idea how to play this thing yet, but it seems a good one to start off with. If I do manage to teach my old brain how to play, I may indeed find something a little nicer.
Rosie Ledet's gonna be playing down here this week and I'm gonna sit up real close and try to absorb something by osmosis, but I'm not sure if this accordion is tuned to zydeco or cajun style. How can I tell? It's in the "D" key, has four stops and two bass chord buttons. I play guitar somewhat and use alternate tunings. Do button accordions have alternate tunings as well?
Hmmm...Yas, it's lotta questions from the new guy, and probably should be in another thread but it's brand new world for me and I sure do want to learn.

David, I think there's a fierce competition from France (and other west european countries) where one can find good builders. Also the quality of Italian builders is not always good. And the prices of the top of the range (castagnari) are quite high.

Most European diatonic accordion players I met (and that's quite a lot!) don't play Chinese instruments (yet). And the ones that find themseves worth a better one than a beginners' hohner like a handmade (or a castagnari for the same price) .

People still want to have quality, so after they decide to continue playing they sell their cheap one and buy a good one. Like the cajun accordion players do!


Gus