Don Taylor

Post some pics of the worst reeds, they may not be as far gone as you think. Rust occupies 9x the volume as steel so it often looks much worse than it really is. Do not take the reed out of it shoe. Dave addresses how to de-rust a reed in his book.

I have a Crabb EC where a previous owner glued a strip of card stock onto the outer edge of one of the straight sections around the reed pan. This might be an easier fix than trying to lift up some glued down chamois on the inside of the bellows frame.

All of your questions are answered in Dave's book - which every concertina player should own.

Actually, I thought it was a mis-capitalized version of the ABC notation where '"C" is middle C and c' is an octave higher.

It is just that you want the new holes in the end of the concertina to be spaced the same distance apart as the original holes so the the screws go through the new holes and back into the existing holes in the hand rail.

If C' is the C above middle C (C4) then is it an octave higher, which is what David said in his first post:

Just a thought, but are you sitting next to a wall on your left hand side when practising? If so, then that will reflect sound back from the LHS and make it louder.

I believe that the Stagi Hayden's hand rail is neither a Brian Hayden nor a Wicki hand rail, but something dreamed up in Italy after a few too many glasses of vino. See: I have not seen a Stagi Hayden, but if the hand rail is attached like other Stagis then, if you are prepared to drill one, maybe two new holes in each the face in of the concertina then it is very easy to relocate the handrail to a new orientation or position. The new holes will be invisible, but the old holes will now be on show. Tell folks that they are there to let the sound out. Take an end off (just one at a time , please) and you should see two tiny wood screws holding the action board into the back of the end. Remove those screws and carefully pull out the action board (the board with the reeds on the inside and the buttons and levers on outside), set that aside being careful not to dislodge anything. Look inside the end and you should see two wood screws that attach the handrail. Remove those screws (or maybe just one if you just want to pivot the hand rail around to a new angle. You will need to drill new holes through the face that will line up with the existing holes in the handrail. I would probably us a strip of masking tape over the old holes and punch/mark the existing hole on the tape, you can then use the tape to locate the centers of your new holes. Drill from the outside in to avoid splintering the face of the end. Screw on the hand rail in its new position. Now comes the tricky part: getting the action board back in place and the buttons located in their proper holes. Some folks do this by holding the action board with the buttons hanging down and offering up the end on to the buttons. I use a long, thin stick (e.g a wooden kebab skewer) to shepherd the buttons into place as I slowly drop the end down onto the action board. A bit of wiggling might help - that is of the concertina face, not you. If you are lucky then this works first time, are you feeling lucky? No, then you will just have to be patient, maybe very patient. Screw everything back together, do not over tighten the end bolts or they will sink into the wood and look ugly. Just snug and a bit will do. Tighten the end bolts like you would the cylinder head on an engine - opposite to opposite working your way around until they are all home. Now repeat the process on the other end. Do NOT take both ends off at the same time or you might never figure out the correct orientation to put them back on again. If you can, then I would be interested in seeing some photographs of the insides of a Stagi Hayden and of your final result. Good luck, Don.

There is Brian Hayden's tutor: http://www.concertina.com/hayden-duet/Hayden-All-Systems-Duet-Workshop-Tutor.pdf

Just to muddy the waters a bit more: how about using 8va and 8vb lines to get over the excess ledger lines problem. See: https://pianotels.com/what-does-8va-and-8vb-mean-in-music/

I have interpreted double-boxing to mean the concertina inside its own case with padding to prevent it moving and abraiding itself, pack that inside a larger enough cardboard box to allow for 1"-2" of bubble wrap or poly worms, and then pack that box again inside another larger cardboard box with another 1"-2" of stuffing. Just sending the concertina in its own case is clearly insane, so packing it inside just one cardboard box is, to my mind, single boxing it. But then, I am a bit OCD and I wear both belt and braces (suspenders).

Lachenal New Model 55B Crane.

I just received a concertina via FedEx from the UK to Canada. No problems wiith damage, timing or customs. (Well, one reed needed re-seating). It arrived faster than most local deliveries within Canada.

What the hell, just buy both of them and 'plan' to sell the one you like the least. That is what I tell my wife...

Oh dear, I really do not remember that at all - I must be losing it. Anyway, thank you for the reference to Kurt's document.