Accordions

F, G or E, and whether a button box fits your band:

that is the choice that settles most button-box purchases. A three-row diatonic sounds one note as the bellows open and another as they close, and it is built in a fixed set of keys. F boxes (F, B flat, E flat) and G boxes (G, C, F) are the two most bands play in, E boxes (E, A, D) are less common, and two-tone boxes pair two of them so one instrument covers more of a set list. A box in the wrong key will not sit with the singer or with the twelve-string bass guitar behind it, which you will find among the guitars, so if you play with others, ask them before you buy. Hohner’s Panther is many players’ first serious box, the Corona II is what people who play for a living move up to, and Gabbanelli and Alacran come up in the same conversation. Register switches change which reeds sound on the treble side; a box without them is simpler and gives a repairer less to do.

Piano accordions and their basses:

work differently. The right hand plays a keyboard that sounds the same in both directions, so anyone who already plays piano or keyboard finds the melody side familiar. They are sized by the number of bass buttons under the left hand. A small student box is light enough for a child, while a full-size one has every bass and chord a classical piece or a dance-band set calls for, and makes itself felt on the shoulders by the end of a long night. Digital models from Roland play through an amplifier and have no reeds to tune, which is why some players keep one for gigs.

Beginner boxes, professional boxes and what holds their value:

a new three-row box at the beginner end lands around Q6,000 to Q7,000, and a professional one starts near Q14,000 and climbs with the finish and the switches. Second-hand, a Corona that holds air and plays in tune keeps much of its price, because working players want them and a well-built Hohner takes retuning and fresh gaskets for years. What pulls the figure down is the repair a buyer can hear: reeds that buzz, bellows that sigh, a button that sticks. A tired student piano accordion is the opposite case, since bringing it back can cost more than the box is worth.

The bellows and the bass side of a used accordion:

tell you most of what you need to know. Without touching a button or the air valve, try to pull the bellows open: they should barely give, and if they glide, air is escaping somewhere. Then work along the bass side. Each bass button should give its own note or chord, and after a careless repair some come back in the wrong place, which a player spots in seconds and a beginner never would. On a box with register switches, flick every one while holding a chord and listen for the sound to change. A tuner app on your phone settles whether a box sold in F really is in F, and whether any notes have drifted flat.

Selling a three-row button box to a band player:

goes faster when the listing leads with brand, model and key, and says whether it has register switches. Photograph the treble side, the bass side, the bellows stretched open and the maker’s badge. Record a short clip of a scale played pushing and pulling and a few bass chords, because a buyer will listen for buzz before deciding to make the trip. Say whether it has been tuned or regasketed and by whom, and whether the gig bag, shoulder straps and bass strap come with it. A player coming from Escuintla to try your Corona will want to strap it on and run through the songs their group plays, so have it out of the bag with the straps loosened before they arrive.