treewind -

There are a lot of fully chromatic instruments whose "drivers" resisted the equal tempered thing for quite a while, and continue to do so.

The comment about "whether squeezeboxes can be tuned" was meant as a friendly jest. The fact is that the fundamental note of a free reed can be quite readily and accurately tuned, but the harmonics produced by a free reed, as in a squeezebox, harmonica, or reed organ, are not harmonically related to the fundamental in the simple "ratio of integers" way one might expect from simple analyses of strings and air columns.

When any "simple" instrument plays, for example, a D, one expects the "hear" a first harmonic at d and a second harmonic at a. Another "just" tuned instrument playing an A or a either is precisely "in sync" with, or at least has its own harmonics exactly synchronised with, the harmonic content of the first player's note. This is what gives a chord in "just intonation" its "full and mellow resonance," which is so appealing.

Unfortunately, a resonant bar, such as a squeezebox free reed, does not produce linearly related harmonics, so it is NOT possible to play two different "real notes" that share the frequencies of the harmonics of a free reed. It is thus NOT possible to play or sing a "justly intoned" chord to accordian (or reed organ) accompaniment.

Apparently this is seldom a problem, as reed instruments survive and prosper. Congratulate yourself on your selection of a "much richer toned" instrument than those simple gittars and such, and enjoy.

John