Free-bass system

A free-bass system is a system of left-hand bass buttons on an accordion, arranged to give the performer greater ability to play melodies with the left-hand and form one's own chords. The left-hand buttonboard consists of single-note buttons with a range of three octaves or more, in contrast to the standard Stradella bass system, which offers a shorter range of single bass notes, plus preset major, minor, dominant seventh, and diminished chord buttons. (Pressing a single preset chord button sounds a three-note chord.) The term "free-bass system" refers to various left-hand manual systems that provide this functionality: The Stradella system does not have buttons for different octaves of the bass notes, which limits the types of melodies and basslines that can be performed with the left hand.

Two related layouts exist as mirror versions of the chromatic button accordion, these were marketed in the US by the Giulietti Accordion Company as "Bassetti".
The "quint" free-bass system invented by Willard Palmer – later patented by Titano, has extra bass rows to extend the existing bass arrangement of the Stradella system.
The quint version and chromatic-button versions were available in "converter" (or "transformer") models with a control to switch from standard Stradella to free-bass.
A piano-like layout exists that mirrors the right-hand keyboard of a piano accordion, with round buttons laid out like piano keys. This system is popular in Asian piano accordions, especially in Azeri garmon.
A hybrid Chromatic/Stradella system known as the Moschino free-bass system is available. The system arranges the left-hand buttons so chromatic arrangement of keys, adjoining Circle-of-Fifths, chord inversions, and alternate chord voicings are available to the player simultaneously. A famous accordion musician and proponent of the advantages of the Moschino free-bass system was George Secor, and links to a more detailed description of the system is included on his wikipedia page.
Other less popular arrangements exist, such as the Kuehl system.

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