My "New" Cordovox Super V

[ZacJM]

Its maybe 20 years old, hopefully, and just came in the mail from a friend of mine in Penn.
A very cool accordion.
Features:
Double Chambered(dbl the reeds to it comes off extra loud acoustically compared to other accordions)
Internally mic'd
Markers on the bass
30 lbs of awesomeness
Many different switches to play around with



The keyboard:


The Bass section:


Gonna mess around with it and hopefully get some footage up of it to show people how it sounds

[mark1]

Years ago I played in a group that had one of these. The guy that played it was an awesome player.The thing I remember most about it was that there was a preamp and an (amp??) with two twelves in it. Each one was in a cab about the size of a twin reverb and just about as heavy The pre amp ( I guess that was what it was ) had at least 50 tubes in it, or so it looked. One for each note?? Or one for each pin on those massive plugs. The sounds he could get out of it were fantastic! Kinda like an organ and an accordion in one

[ZacJM]

I haven't opened it up to check, the guy it got it from said there were just mics in it or something, don't think he was looking for tubes though. He said I can get a real bassy sound out of a guitar amp if I hook it up right, still trying to do that, very pleased with the thing so far though, its got some plug in spots on the front for different organ type registers and drum effects and such

[Sarah93003]

Nice!

[GattonFan]

I've knwn a couple of people who played these - the sounds were incredible. Huge, booming bass and organ-like sounds from an accordion-type instrument. Congratulations!

Dennis

[Mr. Bill]

I used to have one of those, but one day I left it in the back seat of my car and forgot to lock it. When I came back there were two! Thanks to Les Paul for that joke.

Cordovox made accordions that were also controllers for electronic organ circuits, so the guy that knew how to play the accordion could now also play the electronic organ. And yes, they did have two large suitcases of tubes and electronics that the accordion had to be plugged into to make them work. They made Leslie speaker cabinets to go with them, so sometimes you couldn't tell without looking if the band had a Hammond or a Cordovox. The guy in Garry Lewis and the Playboys used one. If you remember This Diamond Ring, the chimes at the beginning of the song was the Cordovox.

[Captain Crunch]

I must admit, I was expecting a V shaped guitar. This is much nicer surprise than that! I love some good accordion music. Not too much but every now and then, it just hits the musical spot!

[ZacJM]

I haven't opened it up yet, maybe I will soon and get some photos up of the internal works of it if people are interested? The guy I got it from said that the reeds are double chambered which just means theres double the stuff on the inside, its all acoustic in there and I think he said the reeds themselves were screwed into place rather then just held in with wax. Its got alot of plug in spots on the front and I found out that Cordovox made a special amp for these things that if you plugged in, there are alot more organ registers and other stuff to mess with. Right now it plays nicely through my guitar amp or PA system which is fine with me

Glad everyone thinks this is pretty cool, hopefully I can get some video up soon or something of it.

[Haole Jim]

That is so cool!

'Grew up in an area where there were a bunch of Italian and Czech kids and dads who played them. Gotta admit, they can do a gob of music. 'Still have a vinyl of Dick Contino doing "Moonglow" and "Tenderly" deliciously on one.

Enjoy!

[mostlyrite]

More like 40 years old! I've had a Cordovox for years (an earlier model than the Super V), and since I'm a Polack from Chicago, they are in my blood. When I was a teenybopper, my high school (St. Patrick's) spawned a band that initially called themselves "The Patsmen", which morphed into "New Colony Six". Their keyboard player, Chris Wolski, was my locker mate and he played a Cordovox. Chris was only 15; consequently he couldn't tour, and he was replaced by Craig Kemp (Greg Kempinski), the bass player's brother who lived around the corner from me on Belmont Avenue. Craig initially played a Cordovox (considered hip by people of the Polish Persuasion, but tragically unhip by everybody else) but switched to a Vox Continental in late '64.

You can hear the Cordovox on their first chart song, "I Confess". John West also played one in Gary Lewis' band, the Playboys. "This Diamond Ring" features one. The organ guts were reportedly Lowrey, which gives the Cordovox some commonality with the Gibson combo organ, which also had Lowrey home organ innards. All three companies (Cordovox, Gibson, Lowrey) were owned by CMI back then.

The Cordovox, because of its home organ genesis, had a very full, rich sound compared to the combo organs of its era ('63, '64). The earlier model had two Twin Reverb-sized cabinets. One was an amp similar to the Gibson G 101 and G 201 amp, with power supply for the keyboard, a 12" speaker and a midrange horn. Pretty impressive. An identical cabinet housed a tone generator that was all tubes. I think I counted something like 81 tubes in mine! Yep--they're heavy.

The accordion is a nice quality, and these were made by more than one supplier. Mine is a five-reed Scandalli; a top-line label. It can be played acoustically as well as electronically; the sounds can be mixed (the accordion has a built in 2-element pickup), and there was an outboard treble Leslie available optionally. It's a neat rig. I play mine from behind a curtain...