Siwa
& Figli Super Quattro Extra Model Accordion
Bass
Valves Decoupling Shift and Stereo Condenser Microphones
The
Super Quattro is the top of the line and most
demanded Siwa & Figli concert accordion. The Super Quattro was
inspired by some legendary accordions like the 1960's Scandalli
Super VI and the 1980's Guerrini President as well as 60 years of
combined experience of Ivan Stanojlovic at Siwa & Figli and
Guenadiy Lazarov at Accordion Gallery. Selecting a Siwa accordion
you partner with a team of musicians, craftsmen, and engineers
with knowledge of the time-tested accordion building practices
and access
to state of the art technology, a team enriched with
experience of restoring more than 1000 accordions and able to
combine the best features from all of them, a team with a vast
network of accordionists constantly providing their feedback. You
become part of a Community.
Many accordionists have joined our Siwa & Figli Community as
customers, featured artists, friends. We invite you to try the Super
Quattro and experience its tonal quality and character. It will
remind you of the finesse and richness of the 1960's Super VI treble
sound, enhanced with the 1980's Guerrini President deep and strong
bass sound. Yet, the Super Quattro has a character of its own. It
has been ergonomically optimized and is about 1.5 lb lighter than
the Guerrini with the center of gravity brought closer to the
performer's body. The mechanical and acoustic balance is impressive.
The overall efficiency is extraordinary. You can enjoy a vast
dynamic range and play from very soft to very loud and the
instrument will respond instantly to your creative artistic
demands. You have to experience the accordion and be aware of
how little effort it needs to reward you with its harmonic richness
and explosive response.
The Extra version of the Super Quattro model features a bass
valve decoupling shift positioned close to the air release
valve (see the pictures below). This shift doubles the bass/chords
sound combinations and allows for tuba bass effect, recording a bass
line using only the lowest two octaves of Bass and Tenor reeds, or
changing the accents in the bass section. As a bonus, the air
efficiency improves. Such a shift is standard on the top of the line
converter-bass accordions but very rare on a Stradella-only
accordions. This is the reason some people refer to this shift as
"bayan bass" shift. For a detailed technical explanation reed my
comments in the pictures section.
Here
is a summary of the features.
- Made
in Castelfidardo, Italy
- The best hand made double-riveted
reeds available - you will not believe this is a new accordion.
You don't have to "fight" it to get the sound out. Each reed
responds instantaneously in each reed combination with uniform
intensity on opening and closing of the bellows. The sound
is clear and rich. The accordion is tuned to perfection and you
will be amazed to experience the subtle overtones excited in the
treble section as you play the bass and vice versa. These Siwa
reeds combine the best features from Binci, Sabbatini, and
Guidobaldi reeds.
- Genuine leather reed valves
- 4/5
sets of reeds
- LMMH
reed configuration
- Concert
Tuning
- Double
Tone Chamber (LM)
-
41 keys, 19.25 " keyboard
- wooden keys with ivory finished key tops - smooth edges - a
delight to play
- 13
different treble switches - Bassoon (L), Bandonion (LM1), Accordion
(LM1M2), Sax (LM2), Harmonium (LM1H), Organ (LH), Musette (M1M2H),
Violin (M1M2), Flute (M2H), Oboe (M1H), Sopran (M2), Clarinet (M1),
and Piccolo (H)
- Palm master switch (doesn't repeat above the
keyboard) - 14 different treble sounds
- 120
ivory finished bass buttons
- 9
bass switches
- Bass valves
decoupling shift - doubles the bass/chords selections and allows
for tuba-bass effect. This feature is common on the high end
converter-bass concert accordions but is very rare on accordions
with the classic Stradella system (bass and preset chords). Listen
to the sound demo to hear the effect.
- Tone
chamber in the bass with low G reed configuration
- Very
ergonomic and efficient accordion
- Stereo
condenser microphones (7 treble + 3 bass) with feedback
suppression filters
- The
best quality accessories available today - bellows protector,
generously padded straps, and case with wheels and a second handle
Here is a link to a
shared folder with high resolution pictures and a SOUND SAMPLE.
Please, listen with headphones to fully appreciate the tonal
quality and character of the accordion:
Call 973-770-6877 with
any questions or to schedule your visit to the Accordion Gallery.








The two photographs below show the bass
valves decoupling shift located next to the air valve button.
This shift doubles the bass/chords sound
combinations and allows for tuba bass effect, recording a bass line
using only the lowest two octaves of Bass and Tenor reeds, or
changing the accents in the bass section. As a bonus, the air
efficiency improves.
The Stradella bass
mechanics is based on single notes sounding in the bass and counter-bass
rows and preset chords on the remaining 4 rows of chord buttons.
Consider a classic bass reed configuration with 5 sets of reeds: Bass
(B), Tenor (T), Contralto (C), Alto (A), and Soprano (S). There are 2
sets of valves for the 5 sets of bass reeds - a "bass valve" for the
Bass and Tenor reeds and a "chord valve" for the Contralto, Alto, and
Soprano reeds. Pressing a chord button opens only the chord valves
supplying air flow to the Contralto, Alto, and Soprano reeds. This
explains why you never hear the lowest two octaves reeds playing the the
chords. Pressing a bass or counter-bass button opens the bass valve
allowing air flow to these two lowest octave Bass and Tenor reeds. By
design the bass valve passively lifts the chord valve. This way,
in the bass and counter-bass buttons you hear all reeds enables by the
bass switches. If you wanted to have only the Bass reeds sound in the
bass row then you would have no sound at all when pressing a chord
button. This is the reason some accordions (Bell, Sano, Dallape ) have 1 or 2
switches allowing for this deep reeds sound in the first two bass rows
and no chord sounds. The "silent chords" challenge is resolved by
mechanically decoupling the bass valve and the chords valve. Then you
can have a tuba bass effect, use only the low reeds to record a bass
line, or simply change the accents in your music while still have chords
sounding the way they normally do.
Examples:
1. Bass-piano switch (BTC)
(A) Without valve decoupling: Bass = BTC,
Chords = C
(B) With valve decoupling: Bass = BT,
Chords = C
2. Organ switch (BS)
(A) Without valve decoupling: Bass = BS,
Chords = S
(B) With valve decoupling: Bass = B,
Chords = S










The bass
side features tone chambered reed block from the Bass reeds. This allows
for using low-G bass reed
configuration
with oversized reeds while
keeping instant response and excellent efficiency.



