c.1900 Clarion Diatonic Cajun-style A Accordion

Here's a cool 3-stop Cajun-style, German-made diatonic accordion (well, technically, these are melodeons) in the (pretty rare) key of A. It's built very simply and only has two bass/chord buttons and a single row for the melody side. The "3-stop" refers to the 3 reedblocks for the treble side -- so when they're all "active" (each block can be engaged individually) each treble note has 3 reeds playing. Two of the reedblocks are tuned to the same pitch and the third (middle) block is an octave lower. This octaved treble is what gives Cajun-style accordions their signature tonality. When one disengages the lower octave reedblock the tone reverts to the same tone one hears on a typical button box.

Moving on -- I still have to rewax the reedblocks but aside from that, this fella is all ready to go. All the valves have been reglued which was mostly what this needed. Unlike newer accordions it has brass reeds (most have steel, now) which gives a slightly different tone.

On boxes like this the whole button/lever system is exposed on the outside.

Here are the stop controls.

It has cute tin hardware all over (as typical for this style).

This box was definitely made in Germany (this style is typically German) but I'm not sure by what factory. Just like with the fretted brands of yesteryear, the name on the box is very rarely the actual name of the factory that built it.

Cute bellows!