Ludovic

11. Left side silent reeds and leaky pad After having shortened the hand straps and all the notes at least a few times, a few issues pop up. 1) 4 different notes on the left side are either silent on sound very wheezy, almost like one of those cheap party whistles. 2) The pad for button 10 on the left side is leaky and a ghost note can be heard from it when either pulling or pushing from the bellows with no button pressed (avoid pushing or pulling on the bellows when no button is pressed, I'm only doing it because my bellows are very damaged and leak like a sieve anyway.) The right side of the instrument, on the other hand, is fairly free of issues (aside from missing 3 reeds, of course). Therefore, I marked which buttons produced silent notes, opened the left side of the instrument, identified which reed blocks to remove and tested every reed on these blocks by gently drawing air through the reeds with my mouth (zinc reed blocks taste terrible). Using the troubleshooting guide of the Concertina Maintenance Manual, I determined that the reeds were wheezy or silent due to touching the reed "frame" they sit in. Using the technique recommended in the manual, with a very sharp utility blade, I very gently scored the lip of the frame (this can very easily ruin your reeds or your reed frames, I only attempted it because the instrument is heavily damaged and not worth sending for a professional repair in the first place). After every pass, I tested the reeds again to see if the problem was solved. Almost every reed frame only took 1 pass, but one frame had corroded a bit on the inside and a few passes were needed. Once this was done, I reattached the reed blocks in their place and moved on to the leaky pad. When looked at closely, the leaky pad shoved a slight bow in the way it sat. Pressing it down gently while pulling or pulling the bellows stopped the ghost note from playing. Since I didn't have the materials on hand to make a new pad, I attempted a repair by carefully cutting the glue joint between the wooden pad and the wooden lever with a very sharp utility knife. I managed to separate the pad from the lever without damaging either of them. A few tests were done by simply sliding slightly the pad over the corresponding air hole while the button was pressed down, then releasing the button, so that the lever spring applied pressure to the pad once more. Pushing and pulling the bellows indicated that this fix was a success, as the ghost note was note heard even when putting more force into the bellows to counteract it's leakiness. I then applied a dab of PVA glue to the pad and gently released the button to bring the wooden lever in contact with the pad and glue. Once everything was set, I gave the instrument another test, and every note comes out clear (except the broken reeds, of course). The instrument is in E/B, as initially suspected. If anyone has the proper button layout for an E/B instrument, I would greatly appreciate sharing it with me The next step of this will be attempting to patch the bellows, which might turn out to be impossible, given their construction, but I figure it's worth trying. The image shows the tiny score line I made to fix the wheezing.

10. Button height fixes part 2 The new set of buttons has finished printing, so I take apart both faceplates to lay them flat and insert the 3d printed buttons in their holes. All of the buttons stand a little bit too high compared to the original ones, especially button 3a and 4a on the right side. The right side buttons feel a bit snug laterally in their button holes, which might indicate this row of buttons was played less often and so the button holes have less wear on them. Not wanting to bother measuring everything out, I eyeball and then trim the new buttons down to size using cutting plyers. The right side buttons ended up a bit wonky, but my eyeballing got better by the time I trimmed the left side. Should the unevenness of the right side buttons end up bothering me, I'll reprint another set to the correct size and slightly slimmer to account for the tighter fit of the button holes. I then glued down all of the new buttons using plastic glue, since I figured it would be better for the glue to bond more tightly with the plastic than with the wood, as it would leave less residue to remove off the levers should I ever need to change them out. When the glue will have dried, I'll probably shorten the strap and attempt test playing the instrument for the first time to determine what key it's actually in.

@Theo, thank you for the information on the leather spacers allowing some flex to the buttons. If the new ones are binding in the button hole, I'll shorten them back down and add spacers. Actually, it's because some reeds are broken and replacement will be nigh impossible to get that I'm attempting these repairs. (edit: I've learned about the existence of harmonikas.cz,which might have some suitable reeds for a reasonable amount). Considering this is the first instrument I'm trying to repair, I fully expect to mess up and irreparably damage something in the process and I'd much rather do so and learn from these mistakes on a cheap instrument that's already broken than on something more expensive. And if by some miracle I manage to actually fix this instrument back into a somewhat playable shape, then I'll look into replacing the broken reeds. @Stephen Chambers, thank you for the correction on the history of the manufacturer, I've edited that part in the original post.

9. Button height fixes and mistakes I find the recess of the top row of buttons to be quite annoying, and seems to be simple to solve, so I'll begin the actual fixes there. I start remove one button from the top row and find an appropriate leather punch size. I also pick out a piece of leather (about 5-6mm thick) out of my scraps box and punch out 10 pellets that will serve as spacer to raise the buttons up. I remove all the buttons from the top row. Since they have leftover glue, I soak them in 100% acetone to remove the glue (BIG MISTAKE, DO NOT COPY). While the buttons are soaking, I carefully scrape what is left of the glue from the levers with a sharp utility knife. Meanwhile, the acetone the buttons are soaking in has turned black and opaque, which is a sign something is wrong. I pull out the buttons from the acetone. The buttons are sticky and have started merging together. Instead of solid plastic like I first thought, they seem to be made from a cardboard center dipped in a plastic coating, which has melted in the acetone. The buttons are ruined. I measure an intact button and model it in CAD. They are 13mm tall and 8mm in diameter. In CAD, I increase the height of the button to 20mm, this way I won't have to use spacers when gluing them back on. I then send the files to my 3d printer. And that's all for today.

8. Closing and second tests i close back both sides of the instrument and open the bellows. Both of the notes that played when no button was pushed on the left side have stopped playing, indicating at least some amount of success, however, a new note from the left side has started playing on the pull only, so a valve might have gotten stuck or displaced. I re-open the left side and trace the issue back to the pull reed on button 10. Neither the pull or push note has a leather valve. Pressing the pad down with my finger while pulling on the bellows silences the note, and the note plays when not pressing the pad down and pulling the bellows, which indicates that the pad is leaking and will need to be replaced.

7. Bellows inside The gussets on the insides of the bellows are taped up with black tape in multiple places, making the feel sticky to open when closed fully (picture in part 3).

6. Action board and buttons (left side) Both the levers of the action and the pads is made of wood, the pads are rectangular and a thin layer of felt or chamois serves as their seal. All the springs are present, made of metal and functional. The pad from button 7 is made from a different wood, so a repair has been previously done to it. All 15 buttons are present and identical. The top row of buttons appears recessed into the faceplate because the lever they are glued on is significantly shorter than that of the other 2 rows.

5. Opening the left side The screws holding the right side are fairly rusty and difficult to turn without stripping the head. Once the left faceplate is removed, the reed blocks from both sides are visible, as well as the inside of the bellows. The action board on both sides is taped to the faceplate with black tape. The reed block corresponding to the top row of buttons is misaligned with it's chambers, which might be the reason some notes play without any button being pressed. I mark the "bottom" side of all 3 reed blocks with a marker and remove them by gently turning the bent nail holding them in place sideways. All of the "inside" leather valves in the top row are very damaged and will need to be replaced. A remains of a spider's egg sac are present in the chamber of the middle row. I gently run a sheet of printer paper underneath every unbroken reed to attempt to un-jam them and reset them in their proper place before removing the black tape and separating the faceplate and action board. One of the middle row reeds seems to be jammed by some sort of white dried paint, which I remove gently. I glue the ripped off valves from the top row back into place with cyano-acrylate glue (krazy glue) to be able to test the instrument later, although I know I should replace them instead. I replace the reed blocks facing their original chambers, making sure the line them up properly with the seal.

4. Action board and buttons (right side) Both the levers of the action and the pads is made of wood, the pads are rectangular and a thin layer of felt or chamois serves as their seal. All the springs are present, made of metal and functional. All 15 buttons are present and identical. The top row of buttons appears recessed into the faceplate because the lever they are glued on is significantly shorter than that of the other 2 rows.

3. Opening the right side The screws holding the right side are fairly rusty and difficult to turn without stripping the head. Once the right faceplate is removed, the reed blocks from both sides are visible, as well as the inside of the bellows. The action board on both sides is taped to the faceplate with black tape. I mark the "bottom" side of all 3 reed blocks with a marker and remove them by gently turning the bent nail holding them in place sideways. The right side reed blocks has some black tape covering one of the reeds, which when removed, shows that the reed is broken off. 2 other reeds are also broken off, and I tape them up with green masking tape (this indicates that this instrument is basically beyond saving, since the reeds are riveted on the block and I have neither spare reeds or the means to drill them out). Of the 3 reed blocks, only the bottom has unbroken reeds. Specks of rust are visible on most of the unbroken reeds. Not all of the reeds have a leather valve, although I don't know if it's intentional or not, but no trace of glue is present where a valve might have been. All of the seals for the reed chambers are made of waxed or oiled string. I gently run a sheet of printer paper underneath every unbroken reed to attempt to un-jam them and reset them in their proper place before removing the black tape and separating the faceplate and action board.

2. First tests and diagnosing the first issues Opening and closing the bellows is as easy when holding down the air button as when not, indicating serious air leaks. When opening and closing the bellow without pressing any key, 2 notes from the left hand side can be heard playing, indicating an issue with either valves or air leaking into the individual reeds chambers. On the right hand side, buttons 2, 3, 7, 10, 4a an 5a only play in one direction (marked with yellow spot on the pictures in part 1). On the left hand side, buttons 6 and 8 only play in one direction, and all of the top row either doesn't play or is heavily distorted in both direction (marked with yellow spot on the pictures in part 1).

0. Preamble and warnings Greetings! I'm making this post mostly as a public record of my tinkering attempts and learning process and (numerous) mistakes on trying to fix/improve this instrument. This is in no way meant as a tutorial, and I highly encourage NOT trying to repair your instruments yourself unless you know what you're doing and have read the Concertina Repair Manual. The only reason I'm attempting these repairs is that the instrument is almost unplayable as it is, is just about dead, was purchased for very cheap, would be more expensive to have professionally repaired than what it's worth and if I succeed, will be an instrument I won't feel too bad about bringing to LARPs where it might get damaged. I'll try (and probably fail) to keep this post organized by sections. 1. History and first glance at the instrument. From what little I could gather from this post, Viceroy was a cheap german concertina, accordion and harmonica manufacturer from Germany in the 1920s and that it would probably tuned in E/B. (edit to add that Stephen Chambers has since corrected this in a comment, as my information was incomplete.) At first glance, the instrument is in rough shape. The bellows are made from some form of plasticized fabric, have 8 folds, and almost every corner is leaking air. No obvious repairs are visible on the outside of the bellows. Both the faceplates are made of veneered wood, which don't seem to be cracked, and the right-hand side is stamped with the inscriptions "Viceroy Regist. Made in Saxony" on the front and "Broad Steel Reeds" on the side. Both faceplates are attached by 4 screws. Both sides have all 30 of their buttons, although the top row on both sides is heavily recessed. All of the buttons except for one on the left-hand side top row match. The buttons seem to be made of plastic (possibly bakelite or some form of PVC, if this instrument was made in the 1920s-30s). the hand straps are made of thin flexible leather attached by modern looking phillips head screws, and are much too big for me. The previous owner probably liked a few loose fit or hand huge hands. The straps will need to be shortened for me to play the instrument comfortably.

If you feel comfortable doing the work yourself and taking the risk of messing up, replacing straps is relatively straightforward (speaking as an amateur leatherworker, your mileage may vary). Should you attempt to do it yourself, you'll need: - a very sharp cutting tool, such as a utility knife with a new blade on it, - a hole punch (a nail or a screw might do in a pinch but leave a ragged hole), - leather (I'd recommend finding an old leather belt in a thrift store that has the appropriate leather thickness. Avoid anything marked as "genuine leather", it's the leather equivalent of particle board. Instead, look for belts where you can clearly see a grain side, which will be smoother and glossy, and a flesh side, which will be rougher to the touch.) - a pen or pencil to mark where to cut the leather Once you have these, detach the thumbstrap you want to replace, trace it on a piece of paper and make sure to mark where the hole are. Trace the extra length you'll need on the paper template, then cut it out and test it on the concertina. If the fit is good (should be just a little looser than preferred, to account for the difference between the thickness of the paper and the actual leather), use your paper template on the piece of leather to trace it out and cut it out.

Hi! I've been learning along Gary Coover's Easy Anglo 1-2-3, as well as learning a few tunes I like alongside, and it's going fairly well so far. However, I often find myself painted in a corner with bellows either fully drawn out or fully closed. Since my instrument only has 5 folds to the bellows, and given that's unlikely to change, I figured I'd better start working on improving my technique to better manage that downside. Therefore, what would be some tunes suitable for 20b anglo that would make for good practice pieces? Thank you!

Yes, the wood of the face plate on both sides has a significant crack. Luckily, the damage is only cosmetic, as far as I can tell, and the action board has no cracks and makes a good seal with the bellows. Here are a few more pictures of the internals, in case it helps with identification.