Nigel Champion

It's also unusual having 10 (+1) buttons on one side and 15 (+1) on the other! Nigel

Earlier this year I was asked to investigate loss of air from a Wren concertina. I found muliple leaks through the gusset material! These were made of a plastic cloth with a plastic coating. Due the concertina being played, this coating had disintegrated and NONE of the gussets were airtight! I informed the owner that the only way to fix this was to completely replace the bellows. Since then, I have seen special paint that claims to adhere to such material but how effective it is is anyones guess. Please note that McNeela now offer the Wren 2 which may possibly use better gusset material. Good luck. Nigel

Try pushing and pulling the bellows vigorously while pressing the problem button AND 2 or 3 buttons close to it. I find this works more often than not. Nigel

Hi Mike. His name is Willie Crook with an R. Nigel

Thanks Roger. I was using this centred-spot idea to measure my positioning after reassembling the action box but, until Frank's technique, I felt I was going round in circles! Many thanks to all Nigel

Thanks very much, Frank. I was hoping there might be a way to avoid this effort as it needs to be done for both ends {sigh}. However, old concertinas are deserving of such care. I'll follow your excellent guidance but may add a couple of "wings" to reach the two screw holes securing the fretwork cover. All the Best Nigel

I'm replacing the pads in a Lachenal 48-key English concertina but aligning the pads is driving me crazy! Despite the embossed circles around the holes on this concertina being poorly-formed and in many instances not concentric, I've managed to get the pads sitting centrally over the holes. However, when I try to position a lever and its little leather bead on the pad, the tendency of the lever to flop sideways without the support of the bushed hole in the fretwork throws everything out-of-whack! I tried making cardboard jigs to hold each row of keys vertical but with limited success. I can see no way around the problem other than making a complete bushing board as used on metal ends. Does this mean it's time to replace the action plate due to excess wear in its holes? I've searched David Elliott's book and Concertina.Net for guidance on this all to no avail. Am I missing some crucial step? Any help appreciated. All the Best Nigel

Concertina.Net proves yet again to provide a wealth of information. Many thanks everyone for this discussion especially David Elliott (and Geoff Crabb in a related thread). What I thought was a Wheatstone 56-key Baritone because of its size ( 7 1/4 inch octagonal) proves to be a Tenor/Treble. Nigel

I have a 1928 octagonal Wheatstone Baritone/Treble English concertina needing some work on its leather valves. The highest 5 or 6 of notes have both their valves cut short exposing some of the opening. I believe this is original. Was it done to avoid excess pressure on such tiny "brass" reeds with those large bellows? All the Best Nigel

Many thanks for your expertise and knowledge. I do love those embossed screw-heads!

Hi, all. I'm intrigued by the style and design of this EC with its gold tooling and ornate adjuster screws. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience of these? Good health Nigel