VERY RARE: Singleton Bi-Directional Reed Accordion (Michael Bridge)

[@giovanniablett1628]

Thanks Michael for the wonderful presentation and playing ..I remember seeing you many times at the Las Vegas Accordion Convention and attended many of your workshops ... Wonderful times !! Good luck in all you do Giovanni

[@ChrisEbbrsen]

I would have thought the reeds much bigger! You have educated me! Thank you!

[@bigsqueezyaccordionrepair8510]

This is fascinating. The lack of reed leathers is a huge advantage, as this is one of the main problem areas of an accordion, and the part that most often goes bad and requires costly replacing. Also, since any change in the leathers affects tuning, my guess is that this accordion would hold its tuning much longer than most. One weird thing in this video is when he says that the lowest set of bass reeds all being the same length is very rare and must be a cost saving measure. In fact, this is true of every accordion. The lowest set of bass reeds are always the same length, with the pitch being determined by the amount of weight added to the tip.

[@MichaelBridge]

Interesting -- you may have looked inside more accordions than I have, however my last two main instruments (Pigini and Scandalli convertors) both have bass reeds that grow slightly in size as they get deeper (in addition to the brass weights becoming larger). And yes, it would be great if this single bi-directional reed tech could be improved! The leathers being removed is a big advantage.

[@bigsqueezyaccordionrepair8510]

@@MichaelBridge Probably this is a difference with free reed accordions. On the hundreds of non-converter Stradella accordions I've worked on, the lowest reeds are the same length. Anyway, your playing is great, which is far more important.

[@salishseaquest7952]

WOW! As always, Michael can wow us with his musical prowess.

[@TLSWalters]

Wow, no valves needed!

[@IlyaKotyashkin]

That's great!

[@jeremyrusu9687]

I am curious why this didn't become standard in accordion manufacturing. It is a very interesting design. Obviously for diatonic button boxes with different notes on the push and the pole you need to read's, but otherwise this seems like it could be a viable option. I wonder what the drawbacks were, or what are the reasons why nobody ever took that on as a standard practice.

[@melodyinwhisper]

does this make the instrument lighter, needing half as many reeds?

[@MichaelBridge]

It's a bit lighter... These reed plates are still approximately the same size as normal reed plates that allow space for two reeds (probably because they were designed to fit existing reed blocks) but I am certain this could be made lighter by making narrower reed plates in the future. I see this accordion as representing a 'potentially' good idea that, with a lot of refinement, could be very important.

[@lospadrinosofficial]

Show the treble side, Please.