The new "Ballone Burini" Vibrandoneon

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Viewing 8 posts - 31 through 38 (of 38 total)
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  • #2220
    Melodica-Me
    Participant

    The old and new versions do not use the stops. Two sets of reeds one for blowing and one for sucking. It would be cool if when you sucked it would be an octave higher.
    Melodica-Me

    #2225
    Quetscher
    Participant

    I was lucky and could compare the Vibrandoneon to the Eolina; you can find what I wrote about it here:

    Eolina information needed

    Greetings, Quetscher

    #2226
    Quetscher
    Participant

    Melodica-me,

    I want to get my Vibrandoneon serviced in the near future, so I got a few questions about your Vibrandoneon:

    What did it look like when it had been opened during the service? Was there much dirt inside? Was the wood swollen up or did it even have cracks? And what did you do against further damage? Did you lacquer it or seal it in another way? Did the problems you had with leakage return since?

    Thanks in advance, I’m very curious about your answers.

    Greetings, Quetscher

    #2227
    Jerry Ballard
    Participant

    Now that I look at the info sheet for Ballone, looks like the 37 key model will not be available in wood.
    If the blow/suck mechanisms persist, then I’ll have know much more about it. The whole reason I love the Vibrandoneon is the richness of the octaves together. If the trade off is range for octaves, then it’s a no go for me.

    Also, I realized that it shouldn’t be hard to make some sort of fan mechanism that seals over the mouthpiece connector to force air through the instrument. I’m not afraid of installing laptop fans in both chambers, but the unknown would be what that disruption to air flow would do to the sound.

    #2236
    Melodica-Me
    Participant

    Hello Quetscher, my Vibrandoneon was pretty dirty inside, I had not opened it for some time. There was no warpage in the wood but there was a small sign of mold in two areas, (1) approx. 30mm square, close to the moisture relief holes and (1) approx. 20 MM square next to the blow pipe connector interior chamber. These were removed with a little bleach then dried and a lacquer sealer was applied. There was a small leak caused by one of the reeds that needed to be re-seated just like an accordion. They brushed the interior clean and installed a new gasket seal. Replaced (1) reed that would not stay in tune, and tuned all the reeds to 440. The over all tuning was ok but between octaves there was some adjustments needed. The last thing i wanted was a faster action so they worked on the tensioners so it would allow for a faster response. Granted nowhere near the action of my Hammond Melodions but the difference was day and night. The Vibrandoneon has worked perfect since the repairs and I have no complaints to this date. The overall cost was $470.00 US dollars. By the way I live in the Los Angeles area in California and you would think that there would be many accordion repair shops here but there was only one near me that specialized in repairs, and they had a long waiting list. I was fortunate that the owner was very interested in my Vibrandoneon and moved me up the list because I had a session and needed it in a week. I hope this Helps you.

    Melodica-Me

    #2238
    Quetscher
    Participant

    Yeah, that’s a great help for me, thanks a lot!

    #2248
    Jerry Ballard
    Participant

    Does anyone know if the air tube from the BB would work on a Vibrandoneon Mark II?
    I like it a lot better, both looks and the fact that it has the built-in spit valve.

    #2251
    Quetscher
    Participant

    The Vibrandoneon tube has a different diamater from the BB’s; and the BB tube has to be attached to the case with a thread just like a showerhead is attached to a pipe.

    But why not build your own tube? A brass instrument maker might serve you well, and he could even add a spit valve to your tube…

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