Jump to content

Wally Carroll

Members
  • Posts

    137
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Wally Carroll

  1. Yeah, I think she may have been thinking a “concertina” was like a “concerto.”
  2. Tis the season. Local news program did a short piece on Carroll Concertinas today: https://www.nowinthenati.com/2024/03/14/now-nati-wally-carroll-irish-music/
  3. If you are trying to push the tongue back in alignment, you can use a light table to check alignment and a folded piece of paper or folded metal shim. Slip the tongue inside the folded material and gently pull it to the side to realign it. Go easy on the force used until you get a better feel for it. It will probably take a few tries to get it correct. Also it might look aligned outside of the pan but when reinstalled it could be pushed to one side or the other due to pressure exerted on the frame by the wood (assuming vintage concertina construction and not accordion reed). You might need to remove the valve from the underside of the note to check clearances on the light table with the note in the pan. You could possibly tuck the valve out of the way but will likely impair the valve somewhat if you do this.
  4. Tom, Alex is a classier guy than I am and probably saved himself a lot of needless misery by not replying above. As you can tell from my misuse of the word "physics" I am not as smart as he. So let me clear 3 things up . . . 1) by "physics" I was referring to the type of computational physics that was being discussed above. I could have been more accurate but I thought it was pretty clear from the context. In fact there is nothing I could say about the mechanics of the concertina without invoking general principles of physics. 2) I stand by my belief that the most likely candidate for the drift in tuning is humidity change and I think I explained it well enough (though certainly not exhaustive) for almost anyone to understand. 3) I really don't care if you listen more to me or not. My only concern is that you not poison the well for everyone else by creating a toxic atmosphere where people are afraid to engage or where the discourse becomes charged. There are many ways you can challenge ideas that you disagree with without belittling the other party. *I've spent enough time on this now so I'm going to walk away. And yes, Alex is definitely smarter.
  5. I will stay away from the math, physics and electrical engineering discussions, and simply add, as some others have suggested, that humidity change is my guess for the changes in pitch recorded by the OP. The mechanism has less to due with a change in air density than with a change in the pressure the wood reedpan is putting on the reedshoes as the humidity changes. I see this every time I tune an instrument. Changing the amount of pressure I use to hold a note on the tuning jig will definitely change the pitch of a note. Even small additions of pressure will show a measurable effect. This explanation would only apply to vintage style reeds where the reedshoes are dovetailed into the pans.
  6. Tandy Leather 6863 Southland Drive Middleburg Heights OH 44130 USA 27 miles from Kent lambskin for gussets They have lots of other leathers and tools as well. Sometimes, though rarely, they have goat. It’s difficult to skive but some makers use cowhide for ribs. They have lots of this stuff. Look for a thin black garment or upholstery type of skin. You can find better deals on sites like eBay but you might want the experience of visiting the store to see these leathers in person to get a better idea of the different materials.
  7. I use your second option. Not sure where I got that from but I think my clients can quickly figure it out. I chose to have the octaves change at the C notes. So I call middle C, a C2, and the B right below middle C is B1.
  8. A clothes iron set on a lower temp can also be used but you will likely damage any finish on the sides. You can minimize this by putting a piece of cloth over the wood. Wetting the cloth will add steam to the mix but will likely be harder on the finish.
  9. A recording would be helpful in diagnosing the problem if you can attach one.
  10. Simon does have a point. Interestingly, I actually thought the first three notes you recorded were the ones you were unhappy with. I was listening through my phone’s speaker so probably not the best way to diagnose an issue. When I listened again just now, this time with headphones in, I couldn’t hear a problem with either set of notes. I do hear a volume difference between the two (second set of notes is softer) but without the instrument in hand I can’t tell if it’s the instrument or how you are playing it. It really could just be the way that any D3 note in that chamber will sound. The fact that the problem persisted when you swapped in a different D3 suggests this as well. If you are really certain it is hitting something, Dave has suggested it could be hitting the wood in the slot underneath. You can check this by pushing down on the tongue with a flashlight shining down on it if needed.
  11. Sorry - I said pull down the “tongue” on the opposite side . . . I meant to say pull down the “valve”. In other words, you want to let in a little light under the D note by pulling away the valve that sits under the D on the opposite side of the pan. If you prop up the pan an inch or so, you will have room to slide a screwdriver underneath the valve and slightly pull it away from the wood. You might even crumble up a small bit of paper and stick it partly under the valve to let some light in which will allow you free use of both hands to manipulate the tongue. Once you have the pan elevated and the valve slightly lifted, look down on the note and gently press the tongue down into the shoe. You should see a clear line of light around all sides. If one side looks like it is hitting or is really close to hitting, gently nudge it away from where it looks to be contacting. It may take several tries yo get it correct.
  12. Sounds like the tongue is slightly hitting the reed shoe. You actually need to check the tongue alignment with the shoe in the pan as changes in the humidity can squeeze the shoe in ways that cause the tongue to be slightly off center only when it is in the slot. If you slightly prop up the reedpan over a light table and pull down the tongue on the opposite side of the D note a little, you can see the tongue clearance with the note installed in the pan. (Turning off any other lights in the room can help get a better view). It is likely slightly off to one side. If you are careful you can nudge it away from the side that it is hitting. You can use a thin piece of wood like a toothpick for this. Just press lightly on it at first and add pressure as needed.
  13. A full step up is quite drastic for tuning. Most repairers would recommend moving reeds around rather than tuning up all of the notes. For this shift you’d likely need a lot of extra reeds and many hours of labor (10-20) to get everything fit and properly tuned. So maybe this would come out to between $600 and $1500 just for the labor and extra reeds. If we’re talking a Lachenal . . . after adding in the initial cost of the instrument to be altered, you will probably end up with a fairly expensive, mediocre playing instrument in a key that few would want. Alternatively, you could do what many Irish players do and use the “G-row” A button to break up the finger jump when going between the A and G#.
  14. I posted this a couple of days ago on our website but thought I'd share it with the community in case anyone was thinking about getting on our list. Effective immediately we are no longer accepting new orders. We will be completing our existing orders which should take us through this Spring and then we will close our shop and I will relocate my equipment to my home. From here I plan to make a small number of instruments each year and will post them for sale on my website and elsewhere (likely here as well). My aim is to get out of a constant production mode so that I can be more creative with these instruments. If you want to be notified when new instruments become available, you can email me and I will put you on a list, however nothing will come out before next summer at the earliest. My apologies to anyone who was considering putting down a deposit prior to this announcement but I did not want to preannounce this decision out of fear of getting a bunch of last minute orders which would delay this transition.
  15. For anyone who is wondering why the hexagon in this example has a greater area than the octagon (and I admit I thought this as well reasoning that an octagon is closer to a circle than a hexagon) it's because the circle you could draw around a hexagon with 6.25" between the flats is larger than the circle you could fit around an octagon with 6.25" between the flats. So even though the hexagon fills a lower percentage of it's circle, it still has more area than the smaller octagon.
  16. I'm curious as to what you mean by 'reed block'. It almost sounds like you have an accordion reeded instrument. I am no historian, but didn't think Jones made this type of instrument. Also, unless this instrument is in some other key than C/G, there wouldn't be a single button that has both a D and an E on it in the G row on the right hand. Is the 'block' that you 'removed and replaced' the same as the 'reed block' that you referred to earlier in your post or are you now referring to one of the six blocks that the reedpan rests on in the bellows? A loose reedpan block could cause the muffled sound you describe. Also, the location of these notes on the reedpan, could cause them to sound dull if the pad hole for these notes opens underneath your palm. I think if we can see pictures of what you are referring to in each instance that used the word "block" we can better help you.
  17. I wouldn't get polyurethane glue anywhere near a concertina. It's great for larger scale structural work like repairing chair legs that have come loose and similar projects but it's very messy as it foams up when it dries and it is very difficult to remove any excess that may get on the surface (or on you). If you've ever used a product called Great Stuff (a foaming insulation product), it behaves similar in how it expands when it dries.
  18. Sarah, I will add that in a few rare cases I have found a sympathetic vibration occur in the valve that sits next to the problem reed in the same chamber. Because you described the sound a bit different I didn’t think this was the case but now I wonder. The sound you would hear if this is the problem is a faint lower octave of the same note. Just thought I would throw that out there. You could try swapping the valve out for a new one if you have a spare. Also, I’ve had many people tell me a note is not loose when they check, but after convincing them to shim the note anyway as outlined in the loose note video, their problems are corrected. If you haven’t already done so, I would suggest that you do this.
  19. Sarah, I’m not sure I’m hearing what you are hearing. Some notes are located under the palms of the hand which causes them to sound a bit muffled to the person playing the instrument but to others who are listening to the instrument from a little distance, everything smooths out. The D note on 22 is located under the palms. If you play this note the way you normally do then play it again while lifting your palms off of the instrument, does it now sound more normal? It might also be helpful to have a recording of you first playing the #15 D then playing #22 so we have a comparison.
  20. Try what Alex has suggested first. If this makes the problem go away it could be as Alex has suggested or alternatively that the wood near the tip of the reed tongue has changed and is now making contact with the reed. Is it possible that you could post a sound file? I am traveling at the moment with my family so may only be able to check in once a day but I’ll be back in the shop next week if we haven’t come up with a solution by then.
  21. Thin CA for hairline cracks. Medium to thick CA for cracks you can see all the way through (the thin will run right through and get all over the other side of the instrument if the crack goes all the way through). CA Accelerator is very useful in this application.
  22. Probably the least expensive option would be to use Tyvek. I have not used this myself but I understand that it is frequently used by cuckoo clock repairers to make new bellows. You want the thin, flexible stuff that doesn't have ventilation holes. Some boot covers are made of this material. Quick search at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/TRIMACO-10-inch-DuPont-Tyvek-Boot-Covers-1-Pair-04511-36/203347787 Not sure of which glue to use but some of the Cuckoo clock guys say Elmers. If you can, glue it in place from the inside.
×
×
  • Create New...