melodeon.net - reviews of melodeons A-G

Welcome to melodeon.net - where melodeon (box,squeezebox) players can find out all they need to know on: melodeons, diatonic accordions, accordeon diatonique, boxes, squeezeboxes, melodeon (box) players, melodeon (squeezebox) keyboard layouts, melodeon (box) models such as the hohner pokerwork vienna melodeon, castagnari lilly, tommy, mory, studio, saltarelle le bouebe, nuage, epsilon, connemara 2 and 3, mengascini, oakwood, hyde, bompezzo, delicia, weltmeister etc. melodeon players such as John Kirkpatrick, Andy Cutting, John Spiers, Kepa Junkera. Melodeon styles like English, english country dance, ceilidh, irish, cajun, tex-mex, french canadian (acadian, acadien), french and other melodeon (box, squeezebox) styles.

Castagnari Benny Custom 2.5 rows
2.5 rows, 2 voices.

No picture available.

Ever since discovering a lovely old clackety Hohner Liliput (one of the tiniest club accordions Hohner ever made), I dreamed of a featherweight G/C 2 1/2 row box with an "expensive" sound. This instrument remains my "dream come true" box - it weighs in at slightly less than 8 pounds, and is a pleasure to play and to listen to. I ordered it with only 6 buttons on the "accidental" 3rd row to make it as light as possible, and if I had it to do over again, I would probably opt for the full third row, as I'm sure that those few extra buttons don't add that much weight. This Benny has the 3rds taken out off all the chords, which adds flexibility, (especially when trying to play in Bb and other crazy keys).

After about 4 years of regular playing onstage and off, it's still right in tune. The only thing missing (of course) is the "bass-ier" of a larger box, but all in all, it brings me much joy!

ROBERT RESNIK, BURLINGTON, VERMONT, USA 22/07/2004

Castagnari Tommy
2 rows, 3 voices, New list price £1,895

I bought my Tommy from Hobgoblin in 1992. It was the first
Castagnari melodeon I ever owned. Over the years it has done stirling service, having been used in sessions and gigs, but has been used particularly for playing outdoors for dance teams. I've had it re-tuned once by Paul Flannery at the Music Room.

Mine is a D/G instrument. The open, stepped, keyboard is slightly smaller than a standard melodeon - the buttons are just fractionally closer together, but this doesn't give rise to any problems switching to and from standard sized instruments. There is one stop on the treble end to bring in the lower-octave third voice.

Plus points:
1. Good strong sound on the treble, both with the 2 voice and with the lower third voice added. Great for playing outdoors.
2. Very responsive, quick to speak. Punchy sound when required, but easy to play quietly too.
3. Very even response and sound from the lowest notes to the highest.
4. A nice lightweight box, easily portable.
5. Great workmanship and attention to detail, as you would expect from Castagnari. Mine still looks pretty much like new, despite its age and amount of use. Mechanically, it is excellent. The action is quiet and I've never had any trouble it.

Negative points: (not many at all!)

1. To keep the weight and size down, the LH basses have only 2 reeds instead of the more usual 3, hence sound is not as rich as could be obtained on a larger box. However, it is perfectly adequate for most purposes.
2. There is no stop to remove the 3rds from the chords. (This is a failing on many Castagnaris except the very expensive instruments. Saltarelle seem to be able to do it, so why not Castagnari?)
3. There is no adjustment facility on the LH wrist strap. (Maybe there is on new Tommys - I don't know). (Modern Tommys have a velcro adjuster on the left hand straps. ed. JS)

Overall, I would recommend a Tommy to anyone as a good general purpose instrument. Someone with very large hands just might have some trouble with the slightly smaller keyboard, but I doubt it.

STEVE D, SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND 03/07/2004

Dino Baffetti Black Pearl III
2 rows - 21 treble keys - 3 voice with 1 treble stop, 8 bass buttons.
New List Price (UK Nov 04) £975

This is a three voice box with 21 treble buttons, eight basses and a treble stop to control the low voice. The root note of the scale is on the fourth button and my box has low notes rather than accidentals.

I bought this box second hand about two and a half years ago and I have been very happy with it ever since. I don’t have much experience of playing a more expensive, better quality instrument but these are my thoughts.

The box is very well constructed and sturdy. It is quite a heavy box and personally I find it much easier to play sitting down than standing up, even with a second shoulder strap attached. The open, stepped keyboard seems reasonably fast to me and the overall tone is good. The reeds all respond well from the lowest pressures upwards and as far as I can tell all the reeds have remained in tune. However, with the low voice removed, the bass does seem to slightly overwhelm the treble especially on the G row but I have been told that this appears less noticeable to the listener than the player. The lack of the very top notes has not been a problem for me and to be honest I have not used most of the extra lower notes supplied (the low notes do not match any of the patterns elsewhere on this site). Therefore, you may find having accidentals more useful than the lower notes of the scale.

I don’t know how old it is or how much use it got from its previous owner(s) but it has been adapted to take microphones. There is evidence of some wear on the bellows but this has not appreciably worsened since I began using it. The box is not as air tight as it could be but the leakage is not excessive and does not affect my playing. The main mechanical problem is with the base buttons, some of which have a tendency to unscrew and fall out with use but using a lock nut compound this is easy to overcome. Apart from the minor scuffs and a slight crack in the base end plate the box is in excellent condition.

Overall I would say that this is a very good box to get if your budget does not stretch to an equivalent Salterelle or Castignari.

DARREN BOTTOMS, SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND 20/08/2004

Bernard Loffet "3-voix"
2 rows, 3 voices, New list price £1,299

I've owned this box for a little over a year now and continue to be very satisfied with its performance. I would personally classify this as a semi-pro model (several steps up from a beginner box, but not a Castagnari). This model has a stepped keyboard with a very responsive action, and the voices speak with very little pressure. This model comes with two registers (bassoon voice on the right and thirds on the left). Other niceties include very comfortable straps, adjustable left-hand strap, and textured keys (the 7 key in each row has a dimple).

What I enjoyed most about dealing with Bernard is the level of
customization he can accomodate as a smaller producer. I had him tune my A/D box demi-swing, but with one reed below 440 and the other above (i.e. 439 & 441) to give the perception of 440 with a VERY light tremolo. He is also very open to alternate keyboard layouts, etc. I received my box within one month.

Although I communicated with Bernard in French, his English is excellent. All the craftsmanship is superb (inside and out) and I highly endorse this model for what it is.

Bernard Loffet boxes are now available in the UK through Thrift Music.

joesqueezebox, OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA 07/07/2004

Bernard Loffet Le Pro
2.5 rows (21+6 buttons), 3 voices with 3 treble stops. 12 bass with 2 bass stops. New list price £1,799

About 4 years ago I was looking around on the net for a 2 and 1/2 row that I could order to play some French music. I looked at the Castignari and Saltarelle and a few others and then found B.Loffets web site. I found Bernad to be very pleasant and helpful in making my decisions as to key and tuning and had no problem at all with the financing and shipping of the box.

Reliability: I have only had this box for 4 years, but in that time I have never had any problems with it. The reeds and mechanics have held up very well, although, I admit that it does not get played every day and in fact not every week. I am not certain if it is my choice of straps or the placement of the brackets for attaching the straps, but the one problem I have had is the left strap (two strap system) causes wear on the bottom right of the bellows. I have managed to get around this by wrapping the spine of the first 5 ribs with aluminium masking tape in the last 2 inches of the rib where the strap makes contact. It is not very pretty, but as the only one who sees this is me (because most of the time it it is against my belly) I am not worried about it. The tape takes the wear and gets replaced if necessary so the bellows do not suffer.

Playability: I have found this box to be very playable for most French music that I have tried. The only draw back is that it is a bit heavy. Beyond that I have no complaints and would not trade the box for anything else that I have tried so far. It has a beautiful deep and mellow sound that is IMHO perfect for bourrées and French Waltzes.

As you can tell, I am not very technically knowledgable about melodeons. I play them and have fun. But I would not hesitate to recommend the Le Pro to anyone and if all of the rest of Bernards boxes are as nicely built then I would say that they are worth the purchase.

Bernard Loffet boxes are now available in the UK through Thrift Music.

RICHARD WILLIAMS, VANCOUVER, CANADA 04/07/04