I've been putting this blog off for ages, so I hope I can remember what I originally wanted to say.
So, I play the accordion. Not the massive one with a million and four buttons; I hope to some day but it's a big investment and I'd rather go with something a little less valuable first. So I've got a small one.
I apologise to any accordion boffins I may be offending if I get this wrong, but I believe there are three sizes - a minature one like mine with seven buttons, a medium or 'eight-tone' with eight piano-style keys plus the black keys and a few of those mysterious tone-adjustment buttons on the other side, and finally the standard with a dozen keys and a hundred buttons that completely obscures your torso.
However, the bonus to the small ones is they are very portable - they're only about 6½" tall and light enough to juggle.
The plan is to upgrade to an eight-tone when I get a little better, which I'll treat with due respect. Since the one I've got now is cheap and basically just a toy, I thought I may as well have some fun customising it. I always liked those bands with instruments plastered with graffiti and bumper stickers, a little silent boast of how far they've travelled. So yeah. Fuck it, I'm going to mod my accordion.
I apologise in advance for all the flash glare in the photos. You'll just have to take my word for it when I say it looks good
Also sorry for the pics being so massive, they always look smaller on Irfanview.
It's difficult to find a photo from before, but here's one. Off-white buttons, red laquer coating... Needs a bit of variation. This project basically started when I thought 'That panel would look better black...'
I didn't really feel a step-by-step photo guide was necessary, but if anyone's curious as to what an accordion looks like with its guts removed, here it is.
For some reason or other, I'm not sure why, I decided it would be funny to have a demonically possesed accordion. You get all those Satanic gutairists, and at least an accordion is actually hollow. You could probably keep a hamster in there if you wanted. So there we go, the CHAOS ACCORDION is underway.
Step 1: The butterflies must die. Before, the speaker panel gaps (yep, definitely an official term) were in the shape of stylised butterflies. Not really very manly, is it? Luckily, I discovered that if you saw through the bar between the large wings, they become ANGRY FACES. Manly angry faces. So after a bit of sawing and filing, that's done.
Step 2: Spray panel black. Left a pretty cool stencil on the spray surface too. Pattern works best in contrast to a plain surface so the less red laquer left, the better.
Step 3: Give the valve dampers eyes. This was a bit of an impulsive thing. Originally it was just supposed to be an evil magical accordion, but when I pulled the fabric off the speaker and saw the valves showing through, I thought 'Why not go the whole hog and give it eyes?' So I did. If the light is coming from the side, when I press the appropriate key, the damper lifts up and an angry yellow eye glares at the audience. Plus if I wiggle all four it looks like they're fighting.
Step 4: New speaker fabric. I ruined the old silver stuff pulling it off the panel so I could spray it, so I bought some nice blue ribbon to replace it. (Note that these steps aren't really in chronological order, so there might be some discrepancies between the photos.)
Step 3: Carve runes into buttons. This grew out of the problem that they were a bit too smooth before for my liking - you want grip really. This wouldn't be a problem if it had big piano-style keys, but it doesn't, so it is. Also Chaos and magic and shit.
Step 4: Spray buttons black. The off-white was one colour too many. the palette needs drawing in a bit.
Step 5: Paint now-black buttons to look like stone runes. Who said Warhammer didn't teach me any practical skills? Drybrushed the black surface with two lighter shades of grey, then painted some watered-down blue into the cracks to give a little oozy-glowy look. I put my initials on the vent buttons, but that didn't really work out.
Step 8: New thumbstrap. This was purely practical. The old fake-leather one was tiny and starting to cut off blood to my thumb, plus it was starting to tear off, so I made a new hardwearing one out of an old backpack strap.
Step 9: Extend hand strap. Like a fat man's belt, I punched a new hole further down. Problem solved. Except that now it wouldn't fit around the case to hold it shut when not in use. So the logical solution was to connect the two furthest holes so the strap can slide along to fulfil both roles. And I am disproportionally proud of making a hole in a piece of fake leather.
Step 10: Oh, and now it has my name on it. Very important.
I also scrawled the words 'PUMP IT' across the bellows while tired. It seemed like good idea at the time.
I belong to the accordion now...
So that's MeechMunchie's Guide to Defacing Musical Instruments. But wait! There's more!
If anyone feels rep is in order, may I humbly gesture you towards
this post. It was only a matter of time really.
Thanks for reading.
