Clive Thorne

Has anyone added slot relief to an accordian reed. Did it improve the response/sound?

I would lean towards the first being the accordian reeds, especially if you try to separate out (in your head) the treble from the chords

* I would say possibly rather rather than surely. ** Though I believe that he typically plays a 40+ key instrument.

As others have said/implied above: The choice of system you go for should (ideally) not be determined by the "Value for money", but by what you want to play and which sytem feels right/natural to you. I am an anglo player, but in your position I would aim to have a go at and anglo, and english and at least one of the duet systems before choosing what to go for. As with the English system, lower level vintage duets also tend to be "value for money", relative to anglos, simply because of supply & demand thing.

If doing chords on the left hand then ork out which chords you want first. In many (but not all) cases this will dictate the fingering on the right hand. I didn't do this for many years, so I'd learn the tune, than try to add chords and find I had to relearn parts of the tune.

I am having lessons from John Kirkpatrick at the moment. He tells me that he's been told that his Crabb was originally destined for South Africa.

Good point.

Buying it a drink would be a good start. (The old ones are the best!)

I was going to say that "Ideally the only resistance in the bellows would be from the air flow through the reeds"

George, The photos you are posting are coming up just black on my PC. Clive

Get in quick before the orange one puts a tariff on it!

The problem with buildinga 20 button anglo is that there are a lot of vintage Lachenal 20 keys out there at a similar price to your target price. You'd have to match those in terms of tone and playability. Yes they were cheap instruments when made, but many would prefer them, with the real concertina reeds etc., to a new hybrid 20 key. Personally I would go for a 30 key anglo because even the Lachenal ones available start way above your target price range, so your competitors would be the chinese built stuff, so you'd have to beat or match their price/quality ratio. Also, even as starter instruments I would have thought the market for 30 keys was bigger than the market for 20 keys. If you can find a niche, however, then brilliant.

Full marks for the free thinking. It's how great ideas happen. However, in this case, I suspect you're trying to solve a problem that doesn't really exist. The traditional lever mechanism is very light, responsive, and relatively cheap. Development of the existing mechanisms might be more fruitful, e.g 3D printed pads (already done by some I believe), PTFE for the bushing plates, or lever pivots, etc. I did see something somewhere where someone has used a bowden cable to operate a couple of his reeds, so a button on one side would operate a reed on the opposite edge of the instrument,. Doesn't seem to have caught on though. I've been down many rabbit holes myself, thinking I have a great idea for something, only to realise that it really isn't required, or is impractical/too expensive.

I imaging that soaking the whole reed plate in a light penetrating oil (eg plus gas) for a few days might help when removing the screws.

I've seen 32 button Lachenals in adverts, Barleycorn listing etc, but not in the flesh, so can't comment. I'm sure that someone will soon.