On Thursday, February 15, 2018 at 1:00:37 AM UTC-5, Ike wrote:
that must be a successor
Post by Ike Milliganto the Michigan tradition of accordions such as General, And Zoppi.
The Detroit area had a fine accordion making culture.
hi Ike,
some research i did showed General to be specifically linked
to an export company in Italy that was set up specifically
to serve up General (and a few other names) as Private Brands
with principally Morbidioni, and also Minerva plus perhaps
a few more smaller regional factories behind the scenes or as
subcontractors during periods of high demand.
(including CEMEX for a brief oeriod)
GENERALFISA CASTELFIDARDO brand/marketing group active 1952 - 1975
so this was not unlike other cabals like Federfisa, though it appears
they enjoyed a longer period of success
Tonaveri and Spano were also built by Morbidoni.
other brands produced: Lo Duca, La Prima, Dega, Morbidoni, Lesmann organ acc.
Alberto Morbidoni active 1946 - 1999 apprenticeded with Settimo Soprani
The Dega Srl company (their incorporated company name)
was still active in accordion at the moment
Alberto Morbidoni passed away in December 1999, aged 85 years.
there is some brand confusion as Aldo Morbidoni settled in the USA
prior to WW2, eventually importing accordions (mostly from Moreschi)
under the Diamond brand name.. i believe in the NorthWest primarily, and which the Diamond Name was still in use as a rather well respected
Tuner/repairman still had a business in Seattle (who's name i can't
recall at the moment) that had inherited the Diamond USA line
Moreschi, founded in 1910
Giuseppe Moreschi & Figli in Castelfidardo was in operation between
1932 and 1976.. their subsidiary marketing arm was
Alpha Music Castelfidardo (active 1978 - 1998) which owned the
Elena Soprani and Moreschi Brands.
Pasco Italia Castelfidardo acquired the brands @ 1996
the "E. Soprani" name was always a construct to suck
off the fame of Paolo and Settimo, and you may recall they were
the first "brand" to bring the Korean and then Chinese
accordions into Italy, hanging E. Soprani on them, and also
marking them as "made in Italy"
and then finally, the last of the family tree:
Menghini and Morbidoni used identical badges - i believe when
Alberto passed away, the company closed and sold it's assets to Menghini
Morbidoni "Duke" and menghini "Master" are identical models
menghini was in Recanati until it took over the Morbidoni factory in CastleFi
which now houses SEM Suoni Menghini Scandalli Paolo Soprani
one final note: Arnaldo Mengascini and Elio Baldoni, founded Beltuna 1982
ciao
Ventura