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Ummm. anyone know about accordions?

ShredderMaximus

ShredderMaximus

Jan 10, 2007
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Close enough to San Fran
#1
So my Grandma is selling her old accordion, but she has no idea on a price, and neither do I. Is there anyone here that may know? I know its a bit of a stretch, but I thought I would give it a try. She got it when she was 14 or so back in 1955, and all I know is that it is a Titano. No serial/model numbers on the thing. It is in pristine condition and even the Titano case is in magnificent shape.

Any ideas anyone? Really not expecting much. Heres some pics, really is a beautiful instrument.

IMG_20140516_172208_080.jpg

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#2
$200-400 You'd need to have someone physically look at it who knows a bit more. That's one of their intermediate models.

No offense but somehow there seems there should be a joke in "grandma's got a squeezebox"...riffing on Momma's Got A Squeezebox" by the Who.
 
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#3
Sure looks a million dollars! These old ones are much more likely to be valuable, especially if they are mechanically/musically intact. Go shopping for one. That'll give you a better idea where you're at with it. I hope you get megabucks!
 
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#4
:D
Thanks Ed, and no offense taken, lol!
And while I agree with you Tom, I guess its just not as expensive as it looks. The ones I saw on ebay didnt mention age though, so I don't know if thats a factor or not. She can't really play it much due to arthritis :( but she played a little ditty for me and it sounded great. Shes says she hasn't played for years and years since her brother made fun of her for playing it too, lol, but :(, so its just been sitting in the corner of her closet for forever. Thanks for the replies guys!
 
#5
There are several factor beyond condition - those three larger toggle-buttons are for switching registers/keys - kind of like a detuner for large sections of it. Some Have none of those, some have 2,3 up to 7. Then there is condition,color and that other personal stuff. Probably at top end the best you could hope for is $500. At low end someone might off a similar one for $100-150. BAck when your grandmother was that age it was actually considered a very cool instrument. Titano put out albums with their Titano Girls(hot!) and Titano Guys(handsome!). Some people can really crank on them but it's a funky sound, more like a sound effect today. My sister used to give piano lessons to these blind twins who had accordions - f'n amazing what they could do. Tease grandma a little...ask her if she wanted to be a Titano Girl, she'll remember and laugh for sure.
!B9ZdpqgEWk~$(KGrHqR,!igEzNvSe,jtBM5rWlyO!Q~~_12.jpg
 
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#6
I saw one for sale a couple weeks ago locally, same name but not quite as fancy and had a black pearl veneer on it instead of the white like yours. I thought about trying to get a look at it because it was in such good shape for it's age but it was about an hour away and when I tried to call the owner I got VM, left a msg and never got a reply so I figured it must have already sold. He was asking $200.00 for his.
 
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#8
Matthew_84 said:
Really? I looked at that and thought it could be worth at least a thousand or more... But I guess I'm used to bass prices now...

Maybe I should take up the accordion! I'm half German, so I can pull my grandpa's lederhosen out of the closet, and have a ripping good time
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Dude, my Uncle in Germany sent a pair for each of us boys. We HAD to wear them for a few occasions and pictures. They make no sense to me, a bazillion zippers on something you wear while drinking beer?
 
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#10
Well we decided to let it go for 250. We weren't looking to make a mint off it, but just trying to make sure we weren't doing anything stupid, if you know what I mean.

My grandma met another little old lady who plays for her church, so she's gonna be taking it. So I hope nobody was thinking this was some undercover FS thread. Its already got a good home lined up.

And again, thanks everyone, especially you Ed, I really wasn't planning on getting so much great information!
 
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#11
ShredderMaximus said:
Well we decided to let it go for 250. We weren't looking to make a mint off it, but just trying to make sure we weren't doing anything stupid, if you know what I mean.

My grandma met another little old lady who plays for her church, so she's gonna be taking it. So I hope nobody was thinking this was some undercover FS thread. Its already got a good home lined up.

And again, thanks everyone, especially you Ed, I really wasn't planning on getting so much great information!
Click to expand...
Wow, I was largely punting off bits and pieces I knew and a bit of online refresher and addendum. I actually got curious too. Who knew?
 
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#12
edpal said:
Wow, I was largely punting off bits and pieces I knew and a bit of online refresher and addendum. I actually got curious too. Who knew?
Click to expand...
Well after a quick look through the 'bay, the prices you were saying and what I saw were lining up pretty well, so I just decided we'd go for it. My grandma was just looking more to making sure it was going to a good home, and it is.

What's funny though is she asked me if I wanted it, and as cool as it would be to own, it'd never be anything but a decoration, so I passed. :D
 
#14
Lovely story. And a happy ending too. Thanks y'all!

I couldn't think of a better outcome, unless…

…it turned out that your grandma somehow shook off her arthritis and returned to the stage to great acclaim and became the most enduring and successful Titano Girl in the history of piano-accordion music, with number one hits on five continents. Now, that would've been cool. :D

Congratulations on a brilliant result.
 
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#16
Tom Bomb said:
Lovely story. And a happy ending too. Thanks y'all!

I couldn't think of a better outcome, unless…

…it turned out that your grandma somehow shook off her arthritis and returned to the stage to great acclaim and became the most enduring and successful Titano Girl in the history of piano-accordion music, with number one hits on five continents. Now, that would've been cool. :D

Congratulations on a brilliant result.
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Yeah, it was kinda bittersweet watching her play. Once she strapped it on and started playing for me a bit, she really lit up, but it didn't take long before her fingers started really started hurting.

She used to play it in a big polka band and did a bunch of concerts, and even used to play glockenspiel in parades, which I thought was super cool too.

Anyways, I showed her this thread and she said you're all sweethearts and appreciates the help. :D

Oh, and she said she never heard of the Titano Trio, but sounded like something right up her alley.
 
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#18
My fave accordion joke, or more precisely, a polka joke.

This polka band gets a job playing a new years eve party and are a roaring hit with the crowd. So much so the club owner books them for the next new years party on the spot.

Upon hearing the news the band leader exclaims "Great!! Can we just leave the equipment then?"
 
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#19
fhm555 said:
My fave accordion joke, or more precisely, a polka joke.

This polka band gets a job playing a new years eve party and are a roaring hit with the crowd. So much so the club owner books them for the next new years party on the spot.

Upon hearing the news the band leader exclaims "Great!! Can we just leave the equipment then?"
Click to expand...

Ouch, I take offense to that :P
 

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