Saltarelle Ocean 12 bass A/D/G Melodeon

I've run out of superlatives - This is INCREDIBLE! - The first thing that strikes you about this box is the sheer quality. With beautiful European cherry casing and top quality reeds, this instrument has a lovely weight to it which makes it very controllable and expressive. The bass button spacing is the most natural I have felt on any melodeon and as an habitual 8 bass player, I found I could navigate around the 12 bass left hand very easily. The bellows is very smooth and can be used for a real range of playing styles from strong and rhythmic fror dancing to very delicate and pianissimo for song accompaniment.

The Bass side has a 3 coupler system giving the option of low bass and thirds on, low bass on and thirds off or low bass and thirds both off. The treble side has 5 couplers which give various permutations of concert, sharp and low octave reeds - The tuning is quite narrow and all of the voicings are eminently useable - I particularly like the bandoneon register on this box, coupled with the lightest of the left hand registers which is a stunning "song accompaniment" set up. the couplers are easy to reach and switching between voicings during play is simple and immediate.

This is quite simply one of the best instruments I have ever played.