I've ordered a Castagnari Kriss III (B/C) direct from Castagnari and i've been told that it'll come mid September. That's all fine but i get the impression that they might take longer than they say. Just wondering has any one else had any dealings direct with them. This is my first major purchase of an accordion as i've been playing one that was given to me from years ago. It's a horribly big thing with sticky out buttons the make is "Bandmaster" i've been told it's German! Do you think the Cass will improve my playing a lot in general?

I haven't seen a Kriss, and have no experience of the Bandmaster, but I play a Castagnari Lilly and Studio.

The airtightness of the bellows is wonderful, and the button action superb - two things you really need for accurate playing. I think a Castagnari will always help.

I've had a couple of problems on the Lilly with buttons sticking, especially in damp conditions, and with reeds sticking, probably due to dirt getting in, but the silent reeds are ones I don't use (up at the sqeaky end) so I haven't bothered to attend to them. The sticking button I moved to a rare note, so again it doesn't bother me. One day when I'm at a convention I might get a repairer to take a look.

The Studio was second hand, and has never given me any trouble.

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It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that schwing

Cheers Martin. There's two Castagnari Lilly's going on E-Bay at the moment for £940.00 Hobgoblin are selling them (er i mean £940 each). Is there a major difference between your two Castagnari's considering the Studio has super durall reeds and the Lilly has hand made? I mean is it really obvious to the ear?

The Lilly has a single reed for the melody end while the Studio has two reeds for a little damp tuning.

I usually play the Studio at work in an echoey stairwell, where the reverb means I don't get to hear the sound cleanly - it's my "practise" machine. However when I've played it outside, or in my own living room (with carpets and other soft furnishings) it doesn't have the same fullness of sound that I'd expect for two reeds. That may be because I'm used to hearing more reflected sound.

The Lilly is capable of being very loud, the small box doesn't soak up as much of the reed vibrations as a bigger heavier box would, so it's the ideal box for me to play for Morris dancing, which is almost always outdoors competing with crowd noise. The single reed sound is sometimes accused of a "honking" sound, but to me that's just the volume - it can be played quietly too. However the fellow who makes that accusation tried a Saltarelle Epsilon for a few months, and didn't like that any better. His usual box is a Dino Bafetti Black Pearl.

btw, I recommend you ask on Melnet, ands there are far more knowledgeable players there than me, and someone's probably got a Kriss.

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It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that schwing

Cheers Martin i'll give melnet a try.