Imperial Chicago Tone Chamber

Custom Made IMPERIAL CHICAGO Accordion

Dear Accordion Friends,

This is a very special accordion. It belonged to a fantastic and well recognized accordionists in the USA, Jerry King. When Jerry decided to switch to a lighter weight 37/96 accordion I was fortunate to purchase his Imperial. At that time Jerry was kind enough to send me a CD of his, recorded with this same instrument in duet with his father on acoustic guitar. This recording is one of my all-time favorites. This instrument has been extremely well made, maintained, and played. These reeds have entertained hundreds of thousands of people over the years. For a long time I was tempted to retune it dry and keep it. However, the current musette is so rich and beautiful it would make sense to keep it that way and not subject the reeds to invasive retuning. Finally I have decided it is time for this instrument to go live on stage again and I sincerely hope the new owner will truly appreciate the treasure they will get.

Made in USA, Serial Number 5623
Some of the best hand made reeds from the "Golden Age" of the Accordion manufacturing
4 treble sets of reeds - LM1M2H
Tuned to 440 Hz with M2 set +20 cents for a beautiful rich Musette sounds on the Violin and Musette switches
5 sets of bass reeds (Magnatera)
Double tone chamber (L-M1)
41 keys, 19.5" keyboard - walnut keys, white key tops with ssmooth edges - feels great. Please, note that some key tops have been repaired - definitely a professional job by a factory expert, barely visible.
11 treble switches: Bassoon (L), Accordion (LM1M2H), Oboe (M1), Organ (LH), Violin (M1M2), Master (LM1H), Musette (M1M2H), Harmonium (LM2H), Tuba (LM1), and Piccolo (H). The master switch has been set to the dry LM1H reed configuration, while the Accordion register activates all reeds. This was a custom design for Jerry and served his music style perfectly well.
Palm Master (LM1H)
120 bass with 5 bass registers
Amplified - On/Off switch, Volume controls for treble and bass, cable included
Large volume 17-fold black bellows
New bellow protector
Excellent compression
Very ergonomic design - notice how the key bed extends on both sides allowing for a compact body and professional full size keyboard ~ 26 lb.
Hard-shell case with lots of internal padding
Fantastic new Italian shoulder straps
Serviced in August 2010 and ready for another 50 years of trouble free performance

This accordion will make you sound better!

After taking the pictures I replaced the bellows protector and the shoulder straps with excellent quality
Italian accessories - see the picture under the serial number.

Accordion Gallery