Out of curiosity, here's a Corona II on Ebay (link 1). What's a III that's different?

I believe the III has 3 reeds per note. Glenn would certainly know.

Yup.Check out hohnerusa.

The Corona III is three reeds .. but with MMM set up NOT good for Cajun or Zydeco.. OK for English and Canadian folk.. but mostly for Colombian Vallenato music. Extremely shrill tremolo tuning.. piercing .. you can hear them by calling up vallenato on YouTube.

The Corona II is MM and the Hohner reeds are slightly tapered giving them that Hohner sound.. much different than the Italian reeds used in LA Cajun accordions.

Though, as previously mentioned there are Corona II players and Erica players in the History of Zydeco..( Big Hat, Queen Ida, Terrance ?, Boozoo, John DeLafose, ) as well as an instance of a Corso ( three reed two row ) used by john delafose.. often the three reed can be RE-TUNED to sound like a two reed.. they become a very powerful sounding two reed accordion ( Flaco Jimenez played a Corona III which was adjusted to sound like a Corona II in the late 80's .. early 90's during the Texas Tornado period )..

Don't go with a Corona III if you want to do CZ.

GLENN

Are there any triple rows between the Panther/CoronaII $300-$600 level, and the over $1,800 boxes, that are good for Zydeco?

Hohner Corona IIIR .. no longer produced.

I have one I'll sell for $950 shipping included.

GLENN

I'm not sure what the current price is, but I would consider the Gabbanelli model 101 a good in-between. Three rows with no switches. Nice instrument. Then, for about $2000 you could have Stormy Hyde in Australia hand-build you a fabulous two row, custom tuned, custom everything, delivery at the end of the year.

www.concertina.info/hydeaccordions/about.htm

A friend in Austin owns three of them, including a model made just for her called the "Texas Rose".
He even has a new line of Midi boxes.

The Aussie boxes are good folkie boxes.. never seen them do Cajun or Zydeco.. despite their quality and reputation.. ( which I do not doubt are excellent )..

the best cheapo three row on the market is a Panther..or Compadre ( both by Hohner )..

best three row with register..is an old Corona IIIR for blues and zydeco. It has a slow keyboard for any fast playing.. but when mic'ed it sounds wicked.

Several players on this forum have indulged in one and got the sound they wanted at a decent price..

A Gabb101 is still a two reed box..and IMHO is overpriced.

G.

I heard Gabanelli is Italian for "We saw you coming."