In discussing the three-row, eighteen-bass technology and its implications the other day, I had completely forgotten the free bass option. Instead of the usual chord-bass set up (in whatever configuration), the box has a greater number and wider variety of bass notes. Today, Italian diatonisto Mauro Savin pointed me to his YouTube site, whereon I found this version of “Greensleeves.”
L'Accordeonaire 
What a nice arrangement!
As far as the “free bass” goes — it looks like there are 5 switches for the left hand side of that accordion. My 3-row has 4 bass/chord switches, which allow me to play with the lowest bass tone on or off and with the thirds on or off.
On Mauro's G Verde 18 bass box, I wonder if the usual bass/chords are available and the fifth switch converts it to a free bass arrangement? I can imagine that if you could switch off the fundamentals of the thirdless chords, you'd be left with the fifths, and this would offer more possibilities to play bass lines rather than oom-pah bass/chords — since the many of the bass notes would be available in two octaves. (As opposed to one octave, which a chromatic arrangement of 12 bass buttons would (theoretically) offer.)
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Yeah, I was going to call you out on that free bass option. How could you?!
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