A Day On Wikipedia

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{{main|Accordion}}
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A ”’free-bass system”’ is a system of bass buttons on accordions, arranged to give the [[performer#music|performer]] greater access to playing melodies on the left-hand manual of the instrument, and to forming ones own chords. Various systems are in use.

Free-bass systems are a historically recent development in accordion technology. Various free-bass systems are in use. Versions are alleged to have been first introduced by the [[Hohner]] company in 1912. Some ”converter” accordions have a switch to convert between a Stradella bass/chord and a free-bass system. Accordions that use this principle of switching between two left-hand systems are not yet as popular in sales volume as the Stradella system.

Some systems consist of a rotated version or mirror image of one of the melody layouts used in [[Accordion#chromatic_button_accordion|chromatic button accordion]]s: others also exist.

[[Bill Palmer]]<ref>{{cite web |author=Bill Palmer |publisher=The Classical Free-Reed, Inc. |date=1949 |url=http://www.ksanti.net/free-reed/essays/palmerbach.html |title=The Free-Reed Journal – Should Accordionists Play Bach? by Bill Palmer |accessdate=2008-10-01 |format=html }}</ref> invented a ‘quint’ system which was later patented by Titano as used in their line of converter (or ‘[[quint]]’) bass accordions, which repeats the first two bass rows of the Stradella system one and two octaves higher, placed above the normal bass rows – visually, there appears little difference.

In the United States, [[Julio Guiletti]] was the manufacturer and promoter of a ‘bassetti’ free-bass accordion, from the 1950s onward.

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