mthatcher61

Not necessarily Guitar picks but Guitar pickguards are made from the same material. Some of it comes very close to tortoise shell. Getting it by the sheet is readily available at most guitar luthier supply houses. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Pickguards/Pickguard_materials.html

I finally got to it Blue Eyed Sailor. I can see how that would definitely hot rod the Stagi, but I can also see why Bob doesnt do it any more. Thats a lot of time and effort constructing those buttons. I wonder how much one of those actually was improved.

Sorry Blue Eyed Sailor. The link doesnt work for me. Is it a link to a place with replacement buttons? I would love to find a cheap full set of the buttons with the closed bottoms. Or a trick to get them to stay in place long enough for me to get the cover on would be nice. FWIW the reeds all seem to be in tune. It doesnt sound too bad.

So close but so far. I got almost all of them lined up and headed towards their respective holes when G#/Bb fell. I buttoned it up anyway out of sheer exasperation. I wish I had the other style buttons that had the bottoms filled in. Oh well, F and A aren't what they are cracked up to be.... I notice also the buttons are uneven and some tend to go crooked. I assume that has something to do with the length of the cut tubing. I will have to revisit the tubing. Mark

I am wondering if I would be introducing the devil into the mix if I taped off the bottom of my 'Legs' and then 'punched the arms through the tape. it would create a sort of gasket that would hold them in place. The only thing would be if debris fell off and ended up in the reeds. That might be more trouble than its worth. He is a picture of my open ended 'legs' is this not the norm for Bastari/Stagi buttons? You can also see in the middle button how some legs are cut un-even. One leg is noticeably thicker than the other.

Jake you correct. My legs are open at the bottom. I have to balance them in their correct position on the arm. The main benefit from the silicone tubing is it sticks (a little) to the metal arm and temporarily keeps the button from sliding out of position. I got one side on finally. I turned it around and came at it from the opposite side of the air button. A couple of the buttons are a little crooked but it looks and works, pretty well otherwise. 1 more side to go...

I think they are the right length Theo. The do stand up for a bit but, it doesn't take much for then to tip over or fall off. I know you don't want then sitting on the metal of the crotch and you done want the tubing to cover too much of the legs or it will fall off. I have cut as well as I can per Geo Salley's picture. I have come almost close a couple of times. When I am attempting to get the grill on I start with the air button, line up the 1st set of three and slowly try to maneuver the grill to line up to the rest and inevitably I one of the buttons further from the air button will fall off. I can see it is a matter of time and patience.

I got the blue line in this weekend and started trying to reattach the buttons onto the arms today. Are the legs supposed to squeeze or pinch onto the arms to hold them in place. Mine do not (nor can I see how the silicon tubing could ever pinch these little metal legs). The best I seem to be able to do is set them down on the arms. Once they are all in place ( and no stiff wind comes along) I try to get the grill back on and over the buttons then they all fall off. Is there a trick to get them all to stay in their desired positions until I can get the grill over them or is this just a time and effort, trial and error kind of thing? Thanks Mark

I have a 30b viceroy just like that with "broad Steel Reeds". Most of the buttons are missing. I read that the buttons are actually rolled paper with ivory colored plastic tops. I am tempted to put replacement buttons on it just to see if I can get it working again. I know they are just glued onto the tops of those wooden arms/levers. Is there a place where I could buy these or is there a cheap easy way to make some of my own? Maybe plastic dowels that are the same size and cut them down? Has anyone ever tried it before?

Thanks Theo, I'm almost confidant I can pull this off

Thanks Theo, I think I have finished the easy part. I have all the buttons off and cleaned up. I have 3/32 ID blue silicone tubing ordered and on its way. I just dont understand the principle of how to mount them back on the arms. I understand to cut a little sleeve/skirt that will go over the bottom legs of the button (but not all the way down to the 'feet'). How does that tubing hold the button onto the arm? Do I cut a slit in the tubing so that I can slide the button all the way down over the arm and the crotch in the tubing pinches the button onto the arm? Is that all that is necessary to attach the buttons to the arms? Also, now that they are all cleaned up I notice that some of the legs are slightly bent, and some legs are thicker than others. I am assuming that the legs should all be straight to start with so should I straighten any that appear bent? And as for the ones where some legs are thicker than others, is that just a Quality Control issue at Bastari/Stagi? Or, are the differing widths for specific arms on the concertina? Lastly, when I do re-attach the buttons to the arms, how do I align them so they will fit back into the holes on the grill? There are no holes in the action board that the posts of the buttons go into . I have to align them on the arms so they come out of the appropriate holes in the grill when I re-attach it. Maybe I should have thought about that when I was pulling them off Thanks again for any advice. Mark

Thanks Theo. Is that a normal property of rubber to deteriorate like that over time?

I recently got a non-working Bastari 30b on ebay. I want to try my hand at getting it up and working. First thing I noticed was the buttons have what looks like hard black melted plastic on them. I read they are supposed to (or can)be attached to the levers with blue silicone tubing. I assume that I should take all the buttons off the levers and somehow get that black gunk off of them so I may re-attach them with 3/32 ID Blue silicone tubing (as per a post written a long time ago by George Salley) Can anybody give me a little direction as to how I can get that stuff off? Also what is that stuff? Is this original attaching material or is it some later persons botched attempt? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is a learning experience for me. Thanks Mark

I dont have a pic of me and my concertina yet so this will have to do. I am the one on the left. Mark Thatcher

I dont have a pic of me and my concertina yet so this will have to do. I am the one on the left. Mark Thatcher

Boer Blues? Cajun?

Winder slide is such a great tune. Lays out quite nicely the way Rayna plays it on the Anglo CG.

Flat-pick guitar, mandolin, fiddle, dabbled in claw hammer banjo and anglo concertina. Fiddle Tune repertoire led me to IrTrad which led me to the Anglo.

The problem has been there since I got the concertina a couple of years ago. I have just avoided these keys but lately I have been hitting the Bertram Levy books pretty hard and its forced me to deal with the problem. I took the top off again and followed the advice as best I could. I checked and there didnt appear to be any slop in the bushings. Everything appeared tight or snug where it was supposed to be. I agree with what Geoffrey said and it looks like the pads could have been re-centered. I know that would have taken a while to order , then recieve the necessary piece/parts from David Leese. So I took the chance and bent the arm of just the most offensive pad (c/d the 13th button). I was careful and anchored the arm just fwd of the pivot post with a pair or pliers. I bent the end just a little bit away from the 14th pad and put the concertina back together again. I was worried that I might run into what Chris mentioned and the pad might not seal adequately again but I was in luck. It seems to have fixed the problem and there is no more leaky pad. Thank you everyone for your advice. I know that someday I should re-do the pads so they are more centered but right now its working, and I'm a firm believer in, 'if it works, dont fix it'! Thanks again Mark

Thanks guys for the ideas. I am interested in all possibilities. Right now I am leaning towards bending the arms a little ways 'out' from each other, with an eye to covering up those outlines of circles on the pad board. But, before I do I feel I should really take a hard look at the bushings too. If they are indeed worn open, and there is slop where the key's go into the plate, pushing the keys away from each other, which would cause the pads to move towards each other, what would be the remedy for that? Fill in the key holes on the plate? The posts are tight, there is no slop in them. I assumed that if there was any slop where the keys went into the plate they would still be held into place by the metal grill that they poke out of. I appreciate any and all help.

Help please. I have a 50's Wheatstone C/G Anglo. Whenever I am playing C/D and E/G on the G row RH (buttons 13 and 14 respectively), invariable one of the pads gets caught up on the adjacent pad. If the E/G is on top of the C/D then the E/G sounds on draw or push. If I push the D note then the C/D pad is now hung up on the E/G pad. Enclosed are pictures of the pads that keep crossing over each other. Is there an easy fix? I was tempted to bend the action levers just a little away from each other in the hopes that the pads would seat properly after activation instead of getting caught up on each other. I think it prudent to ask here first before I do anything other than a visual inspection. Does anyone have any suggestions, cautions, warnings notes? Thanks Mark Thatcher

I plan on going. I'll be coming up from North New Jersey via the Tappan Zee.

Paul Hardy's Christmas Book is fantastic. I just downloaded it and it has all my favorite tunes. Thank you Paul!

Hi due to a new Job we are moving to Northern New Jersey and I have finally found a house in Ringwood New Jersey to live. We will be moving in a couple of weeks. Does anybody know any concertina players in the area or Irish sessions? Looking fwd to the move, we really like the look of Ringwood. Thanks Mark Thatcher

Thanks Bruce, I am looking forward to this tutor! Mark