Been thinking of getting one. Roland's baby V-Accordion. 12 lbs Demos sound pretty good, but no-one down here carries them (no-one over here carries ANYTHING but WS's and cheap arrangers ).

I've ruined a couple a semi-decent real 120 bass monsters trying to keep up with live band volumes, and don't want the hassle of a pickup and amp.

So... anybody given Roland's baby a tryout?

If you play accordion..you will love the Roland..

They are available in our area....Take a mini vacation and come up...we will show you how music stores should be operating...Oldtime stores (mom and pop)...Cintioli's ..Benny was the main importer of accordions into the USA...

Diki - have you tried John Gaunt's store in Clearwater? He's got a great place and he's a very nice guy. http://www.d1034804.domain.com/indexintro.html

An 850 mile round trip?

A bit excessive, IMO

Fran, you said "was". Did something happen to Benny? I would be very sad if it did. It would be like the end of an era in the Philly music community.

chas

That's a two-day drive for old guys like me. (Used to drive from Baltimore to Key West in one day when I was young.) C'mon up Diki. Fran can show you some of the best music stores in the country, Donny can show you all the eateries, and on the way back to the sunny south, I'll be more than happy to take you sailing for a day.

Cheers,

Gary

Benny is still kicking..I said "was" as the main importer of "accordions"..

http://www.americanmusical.com/ItemFiles/Flash/ROLFR1W.swf

I Want one!!!

I've never played any of the V accordions. I'd really like to get my hands on one just to see what it feels like, how the bellows work, if one feels disconnected from the instrument or not. I haven't convinced myself to buy one when I could spend the same money on a used but well loved real one.

I asked Roland if I could be a V-accordion dealer, they said they were in hi-demand over seas so not that many come in to this country so they are trying to control distribution.

So there is 1 guy in Jersey who covers new york to RI, so I cant sell them.

nice business plan

And I've been playing accordion since the mid 70's

------------------
www.AudioworksCT.com

Cory Pesaturo is a local guy, he's been getting a lot of press lately here in Rhode Island. 2 Weeks ago he opened for jazz guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli.

Good stuff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Pesaturo

Not a big accordian fan but that guy is an awesome player. Again, talent always comes before the gear.

chas

My main thing I'll need to see working well is the bellows... Cajun and Zydeco relies a LOT on rhythmical bouncing of the bellows, to get the 'chank-a-chank' that so defines their music.

I've seen a lot of traditional accordion playing on Roland's demos, but little in the Acadian vein...

...and how much Acadian style music are they playing east of the Atlantic? That answers it.

It wouldn't kill Roland economically, to put out a demo of some zydeco, tejunto, cajun country, being played on the FR-1. There is a quite sizable market in certain parts of the States for accordions BECAUSE of these types of music and you'll see top zydeco and tejunto musicians touring world-wide... if you don't educate yourself about it, well, that's like Americans ignoring Tango, or Balkan music or Parisian Musette, or all of the other accordion musics that are out there to be listened to...

To be honest, there's as much interest in Tango over here as there is Zydeco in Europe. You just have to open your ears and go find the stuff..!

Roland seem to have lost their way marketing things. If Zydeco is a fair chunk of the accordion market in the US, why would you try to sell an accordion over here with traditional accordion demos? Make some cajun, zydeco, tejunto and rock/pop/folk demos, and they'll sell a LOT better, IMO...

dble post ...
t.



[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 03-13-2010).]

And he can play with more than 2 octaves http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N6_1rUsNM4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq6Xr4-9z6w

and chas ... PLEASE spell it accordiOn ... ...
t.

Tony, I'm a terrible speller. I once spent $50.00 to spend the night in a WAREhouse.



chas

That's pretty cool, I'm curious... how much?

Yep, that Cory guy is sure fast!

One of the replies on YouTube:

the chap really works that " stomach steinway ".......

Never heard the old squeeze box called that before.


-mike

About $1500 street...

Shame no other color than white, though. Would prefer black, any day. Mind you, nice and showy onstage!