Theo

Your description of the sound makes me think the most likely problem is the reed striking the reed frame. Possibly your scraping of the reed has left a burr projecting from the side of the reed which is striking the reed frame. Gently scraping down the sides of the reed tongue should clear it. Another possibility is some of your scrapings have lodged in the gap down near the base of the reed.

You could get a concertina for your husband, or a set of headphones for the TV sound.

Have you had many buttons break off their pegs? If not leave well alone, its lasted threequarters of a century as it is. If you do decide to raise the ends by 1/8" I think you will almost certainly have to use longer endbolts or risk stripped threads. If you were to take up Dave's suggestion of adjusting the action height by either bending levers, or using thicker pads, then you will not only reduce the height of the buttons 'at rest' but you will also reduce the button travel. If the button travel is 1/8" at present you probably don't want to reduce that much or you will be getting close to the point where the pads are not opening far enough to let the reeds speak properly. Have a look at the felt washers under the buttons - if there are 3 or more you can get some button travel back by using fewer. Steve Dickinson at Wheatstone can supply buttons in several different lengths, you might also consider fitting a new set of shorter buttons. If I was the owner of a top quality instrument like an Aeola I would only want to use your 'spacer' method as a temporary measure to see if it improved the playability. ps. If your button heights vary by as much as 1/16" you should really start by getting the action set up properly. That much variation suggests that its a long time since the action was properly regulated.

Hmm, it has aluminium reed shoes, and I can see rust on some reeds, so it would need to be checked carefully for the nasty corrosion that can destroy the aluminium.

Since the reeds seem to be standard accordion technology then the repair approach should be to do what an accordion tech would call a 'full reed overhaul", eg take out all the reedplates, remove the valves, clean/derust the reeds, replace any reeds that are damaged or broken. Then fit new valves, and reattach the reeds with either screws or wax, the same as was done previously. Then retune the reeds. The reeds should then be ready for several more decades of use. It would be possible to fit new reeds, but the sound of the instrument is likely to be different.

And many more eg: Thursday night "Egypt Cottage" City Road Lots of young people at this one, it can get pretty exciting! Friday night "White Swan" Greenside, on the west side of Gateshead Monday - Tanners Arms, Newcastle, near the west end of Byker Bridge Sunday lunchtime - Tap & Spile Morpeth There is also at least two in Dyrham City on (I think) wednesday and thursday

Sorry to raise it again, but could there be individual alluminium plates from any of the accordion reed makers? May be the whole project is not dead yet. Perhabs some Bandoneon makers in Germany can produce the plates, like Harry Geuns, for example? Or folks at the BBox can come up with some solution now, that they have aquired some more experience with computerized machinery. Can the maker be contacted? Thanks. Italian reed makers will make sets of whatever reeds you want. They produce all sorts of oddball combinations for diatonic accordions with rows of accidentals. You might even get them to produce a single set if you could convince them that it was a prototype and further orders could follow. I have contact details for the (English speaking) sales manager at Cagnoni.

I'd not thought of that, I'd beter go and have another look at the indistict digits.

Andrew You need to go back and read my original posts more carefully. The concertina in question does carry no 82 presumably a Lachenal serial number, but the 399 you have quoted in error. What I said was that is a 5 digit number that ends 399, so it adds up even less than you thought!

I think the use of the word UHU needs as much care as the use of the adhesives. UHU is a brand, there are several different adhesives sold under this brand. I'm sure the weak 'stick adhesive' is not what stella24 is using. UHU also make a clear semi-liquid product that comes in a tube, its a solvent based quick drying adhesive, and I imagine it might work quite well, though as Dave E says, there is a question mark of its long term stability.

A quick look at the sellers feedback suggests that he is a musical instrument retailer, so he may not actaullay be keeping this one for you, its more likely a stock line. It looks like a typical unbranded chinese concertina. To put it politely: these have a reputation for very variable quality. A ferry ride across the Adriatic will take you via the port of Ancona to the heart of the Italian accordion industry in Castelfidardo. They make concertinas too. Can you persuade someone to take you on holiday it Italy?

So in the end the accuracy of the tuning meter is just a step towards getting an instrument in tune. The final stage in the process is to listen to reeds playing together over all these important intervals, then go back and make fine adjustments till for example the 5ths all have a consitent sound over the full range of the instrument. As with most things musical, its the judgement of the ear that is the final word.

For some reason it is quite common for new melodeons and piano accordions to be tuned very slightly above 440.

I have to disagree on both counts. Not all accordionists rest their instruments on their knee. Many do, and bellows wear most certainly can be a problem. I've repaired and replaced may accordion bellows that were worn on the lower edge and on the back from rubbing against the players legs and chest. Concertina bellows also do wear from rubbing in the players leg or knee. It is a slow process though and only likely to get to the point of needing repair after long period of playing.

If it is brand new it would be wise to go back to your supplier first. If you take it apart yourself you may have invalidated your warranty. Take care.

The commonest way to get a lower tone would be to have a C#/D instrument with an additional set of reeds an octave lower.

Woody One fundamental problem that might make the task bigger than you were expecting is that the replacement reeds will all be a fifth lower than the existing reeds, so the new reedplates are each likely to be several mm longer than the originals. You should be prepared for some woodwork as well as reed work. Sources of reeds - Antonelli, Cagnoni or Binci could almost certainly produce the reeds, but might not be willing to supply one set. Also their reed quality is likely to be much higher than the original, but the construction of the jackie is probably such that they would not be fully able to express their quality in improved playability. I'd try to find an G/C Hohner Erica or pokerwork and take the reeds from that. They have two reeds per note, so you would have some spares. G/C melodeons are pretty unpopular in the UK, so can sometimes be picked up cheaply.

I have had bellows made by Wim Wakker of Concertina connection. The bellows are excellent.

David Leese sells something similar.

This page from the Wheatstone ledgers shows that it was made in 1934 and has "Erinoid studs". Since the ledgers say nothing about its pitch I think it is safe to assume it is a treble. The ledger entry also has a note saying "bellows of 654" I've no idea what that might mean.

I'll have a stall there too! Booked late so missed the publicity

Or better still, don't use Microvox at all. I've done sound for several bands and the only instrument mics and picups that have had problems were microvox. Mostly lost signal, and noisy connections from the connectors, which on the ones I've seen were all pretty cheap 1/4" jack components. If its a free loan then its hard to say no, but if you end up buying mics remember that with microphones you get what you pay for. If you have a top quality concertina that maybe cost a 4 figure sum (in pounds) then its good to have mics that enable your audience to appreciate the quality of your instrument, and of your playing

Cockfosters!

It sounds as if what you are looking for is already on the way in The Thummer

A week in England's most characterful seaside resort? Dracula? Goths? Fossils? Pubs? Walks along the cliffs? Never mind the folk music, how could anyone of any nationality not want to spend a week there?? Brian And don't forget the gastronomic delights, all those wonderful fish & chips, and fresh crab.