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About Theo
- Birthday 01/29/1950
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http://www.theboxplace.co.uk
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I tune/repair/restore and buy and sell concertinas and melodeons.
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Gateshead, England. Land of the Angel of the North!
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And the valves in the photos do look quite "chunky"
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Damage to metal end plate on my Marcus G/D Anglo
Theo replied to lachenal74693's topic in Instrument Construction & Repair
Yes end plate needs to be taken off and straightened on a flat surface that can act as an anvil, and preferably with a light hammer with a smooth polished face so you don't leave marks on the surface. A silversmith would have the skills and tools. -
Another variable that you touched in briefly is valves. Valves that are heavier than ideal can reduce volume significantly. How thick are your valves? What kind of leather have you used?
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Wheatstone 56 button or Lachenal Paragon
Theo replied to 8bitmime's topic in General Concertina Discussion
Four fold bellows on a Wheatstone suggest that it is either a very early instrument, or or lower quality model. -
I wouldn’t replace the buttons either. Plastic will be totally out of keeping with the rest of the instrument. You can make much more useful improvements by renewing the parts that have deteriorated- pads, button bushings, valves, and secure the thumb straps.
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"Stuck button" can describe several different malfunctions. Such as: button won't push down, button won't return, note is silent, or note sounding all the time. Can you provide more detail please?
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Wheatstone +50000 serial # replacement reeds
Theo replied to Fanie's topic in Instrument Construction & Repair
That seems very cheap€164 for 60 reeds is under €3 each. Are they any good? -
In the USA you can get most spare parts form http://www.concertinaconnection.com/spares.htm
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Concertina with ostrich decoration on UK eBay
Theo replied to Daniel Hersh's topic in General Concertina Discussion
Despite the sellers description which mentions J H Ebblewhites (London) it is a typical German made concertina. -
Cheap options for (pad) leather and where to buy it?
Theo replied to Skran's topic in Instrument Construction & Repair
Lots of leather sellers on ebay. Problem is you don't know exactly what leather you want until you have tried a few and learned some of the arcane terminology used in the leather trade. You might be lucky and get the right stuff first time, but it could be that you have to tray a few different leathers before you find something suitable. In the long run that could easily cost more than buying pads ready made. On the plus side you will have learned something useful. The choice of felt and card is also important, and you will need to make or buy punches in 2 or 3 sizes. I can tell you from experience that the sort of cheap punches you can buy on ebay make a poor job of cutting concertina pads. They are not sharp enough, the surface finish inside the punch can be rough, and the metal is quite soft. -
Sold elsewhere
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Lachenal 46 key Maccann Duet for restoration. It has its original steel reeds still in old high pitch, with one brass replacement. The ends are rosewood with a full set of bone buttons. There is a full set of end bolts and both strap screws are present. It comes in a contemporary hexagonal case. The reeds are largely free of rust but will need tuning. The whole concertina needs a thorough cleaning, new pads, new valves, new bellows, and there is some damage and previous repairs to the end frets which will need to be stabilised. Price £225
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The reeds I've seen in Wheatstone Mayfair instruments look more like Italian than German in origin. No makers mark that I've seen so it's hard to be sure. They also have every indication of being hand made type reeds, rather than cheap mass produced ones. Modern hybrid makes use a wide range of reed qualities.
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Exactly the sort of unfortunate situation I was alluding to above, though it is more common to find a Jeffries where just some of the reeds are not original.