Accordion reed quality is primarily categorized by how the reed is made and fitted, not by swapping between different metals as competing options.
The three manufacturing tiers
- Machine-made (a macchina): reed tongues are stamped by machine and riveted to the plate with looser tolerances. This wastes a small amount of air around each reed tongue and, over time and thousands of vibrations, the tongue can loosen from the plate.
- Tipo a mano ("hand-finished" style): tongues are still typically machine-stamped, but the reed is then fitted and finished by hand to tighter tolerances than a purely machine-made reed - quality here ranges from close to standard machine reeds up to nearly a-mano quality, depending on the maker.
- A mano (fully handmade): the entire reed is crafted, fitted and adjusted by hand to the tightest tolerances, minimizing wasted air and generally giving the most responsive, refined tone - reflected in a correspondingly higher price.
A materials point worth knowing
Reed plates are typically aluminum (higher-end instruments use a stronger aluminum alloy sometimes called duraluminium), while the reed tongue itself - and the rivet holding it to the plate - is steel. This is a combined system, not a "steel reeds vs. aluminum reeds" choice; plate alloy quality and rivet precision both affect tone and durability, alongside the manufacturing tier described above.
On a used instrument, reed type is rarely printed clearly in a listing, so it's worth asking the seller directly or having a technician inspect the reed blocks if reed quality significantly affects the price being asked.
