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Need Help: Note Played On Both In And Out On Bass C, Fully Serviced


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I just got my concertina back from a very very good dealer/repairer, one of the top in usa. not mentioning because i like them.

 

what do I do? the bass C sound about .3 seconds after I let the button go. and the other pull does the same thing (to a lesser extent, but still 85%. and with both push/pull, when I keep the bellows giving them air:

 

they both play normal if I keep it short and crisp, if I just play ommpah chords.

 

with push/pull they are still there and that lasts up to 2 seconds. playing something other than ompah

 

 

I'm just taking an educated guess. is this a simple spring I can fix on my own? ive done it before with a Rochelle

 

experts help :)

Edited by cryptastix
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Sounds like a tight felt bush around the button, or something has shifted due to a change of climate between where you live and where the concertina has just been returned from. Perhaps the pad is touching something on its way down... these things can happen and should not be any great cause for concern. Contact your repairer if in any doubt.

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I'm with Geoff on this.

 

I've never looked in side a Rochelle but this may well be something you can remedy without taking it apart. My first thought would be a tight bushing, especially since it was just serviced. Try moving the button around sideways, grasp it by the sides and swirl it around in the hole with a little side pressure all the way around. You are trying to compress the bushing a little to relieve the sliding friction against the button.

 

Even concertinas from the best makers sometimes display a tight bushing issue. To overcome it the makers advise the same action I've relayed to you.

 

There are other possible explanations for your problem, I've seen pads come loose and springs and lever arms mis-postion or get hung up to cause problems similar to this but tight bushings are the most common cause.

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I'm with Geoff on this.

 

I've never looked in side a Rochelle but this may well be something you can remedy without taking it apart. My first thought would be a tight bushing, especially since it was just serviced. Try moving the button around sideways, grasp it by the sides and swirl it around in the hole with a little side pressure all the way around. You are trying to compress the bushing a little to relieve the sliding friction against the button.

 

Even concertinas from the best makers sometimes display a tight bushing issue. To overcome it the makers advise the same action I've relayed to you.

 

There are other possible explanations for your problem, I've seen pads come loose and springs and lever arms mis-postion or get hung up to cause problems similar to this but tight bushings are the most common cause.

 

 

This is helping.... I moved the button around side to side.... maybe it is just friction, If I just keep playing/breaking it in and doing that, will it get better?

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If it's just a tight bushing and you give it a good side wiggle all around (a full 360 degrees) you should overcome the problem immediately. When I say "side wiggle" I mean firm pressure, not just a light touch, over all the points of the compass as you look down the button shaft. Your intent is to put side pressure on all of the bushing/button contact area to compress the bushing a little. That aside, playing the button will wear the bushing over time, but that's typically a several year process.

 

This is not a guaranteed fix-all for any possible button problem, but it will help resolve an issue with a button that is hanging up on a bushing that is a little too tight.

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This advice is exactly what I would use as a quick fix for any fully metal button and maybe for a fully plastic one using a little more care but I would caution anyone with a vintage Wheatstone or Lachenal that has had a bushing job not to do it. The wooden lower part of their composite buttons is fragile. It is not so hard to take the end off and use something else, a knitting needle perhaps, to compress the bush.

 

The best thing is a slightly tapered rod, this can be made from a dowel using a piece of sandpaper and a handheld electric drill.

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I use a tapered metal punch to burnish a fret work bushing. The punch can be heated if necessary. Burnish from the inside of the fret work. While you have the end off and the action box exposed take off the button and viewing with one eye (to eliminate parallax) check to make sure the lever arm bisects the button guide in hole in the action board.

Adjust as necessary.

 

Improper arm/button alignment is a major cause of sticking and slow buttons.

 

Greg

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  • 3 weeks later...

I agree with Greg on this, however there may also be a weak spring issue, but if the instrument has been serviced this should not be the case.

 

I think that your repairer should be advised, its how organisations improve and they will most likely appreciate the advice.

 

Another thought, Was the instrument re- bushed during servicing? furthermore, are the cross bushing through the keys too tight?? especially those keys with very short lever arms. If the x bushing is tight on the arm then the constrained angular movement can cause jamming.

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