Don Taylor

A picture of the inside might help, but if you recently you bought this new then have you spoken to the seller? They really should fix an issue like this for you. Where are you located? In the US the Button Box is probably the most experienced in dealing with Stagis. Even if you did not buy it from them they might be able to advise you on how to fix the problem. Hopefully, the reed block is waxed in and not glued in otherwise it is going to be very difficult to remove without damage. Look at a few YouTube videos about working with accordion reed blocks, this might give you an idea on how to fix this problem. If you have a local accordion repair shop then take it into them, the reeds and reed blocks on a Stagi are constructed much more like an accordion than they are on a vintage concertina.

Do you mean the little flat plates buried in the ends of the frames? They have two screw holes for wood screws to attach them to the frame and a central hole tapped to receive the end bolt? I made my own out of some brass plate of the right thickness, it was not difficult but a bit tedious. The only problem (a big one) would be if you cannot find a tap of the right size for your existing end bolts. I replaced the end bolts and was able to get a matching tap. Since then I have noticed that 'Sandylaneman' on eBay sells sets of new end bolts with matching threaded inserts for about 60 euros. A bit pricey but that would save a lot fiddly work. Sandylaneman is the guy in Ireland that makes bellows, pads and some other spares for concertinas. I would check the bolt lengths before laying down any money. I don't know if this link will work, if not then try searching for sandylaneman on eBay. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.ie%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F113983760680 I have never bought from sandylaneman, maybe somebody else can vouch for him?

I have a Stagi that was finished in nitrocellulose (confirmed by Stagi that all their mahogony ended boxes were finished with nitro). The finish has absorbed moisture and turned milky. I have been trying to strip it so that I can refinish it. Nothing that I can buy legally in Canada will touch it - I have tried acetone, lacquer thinner and various really agressive paint strippers. Heat (a lot of it) softens it a little, but it sets up again almost instantly. Nitrocellulose lacquer and nitrocellulose lacquer thinner are restricted in Canada for many reasons: health, environment and flammability. The only way I have found to remove this stuff is to use woodworker's cabinet scrapers, even then it is slow work and I have to be very carefull not to gouge the wood. This stuff is tough! If I ever get this stuff off then I will refinish it with French polish. Don. (Nitrocellulose lacquer is not the same thing as the paint lacquer and lacquer thinner that is readily available in paint shops)

Start with some really simple tunes played on a melody instrument. Mally Productions publishes books with accompanying CDs that each contain maybe a hundred tunes. It is really just the CD that you need, but the book might be nice to have as well - just do not peek at the music until you have learnt the tune by ear. Rip the CD and then play it back through a slow down program. If you have not tried using one of the many 'slow down' programs then this might help you a lot. I use Transcribe! which is available for Windows, Mac and Linux but there are several others such as the Amazing Slow Downer. I think that you can slow down with Audacity which is a free, open source program.

Maybe such a device could listen for a human count-in (1-2-3-4-) and simply set the beat accordingly? That would be a lot easier than trying to analyze the music on the fly.

I was intrigued by the description of the 'Tiger' rock and roll accordion with a blues bend register. How did they bend notes by upto a 'fat' quarter tone? The answer is in this article: The bassoon reeds are opened only halfway! This restricts airflow and makes it possible to “bend” the pitch of the note down about a half-step by forcefully increasing the bellows pressure.

Well, if you really like nasty politics and abuse then Facebook is the site for you!

The original article by Robert Gaskins which describes making a baffle for the LHS of a Maccann.

I have read some strong arguments and forthright opinions on The Session but nothing that makes me want to avoid it. I have read that some folks avoid this forum because of some sort of perceived unpleasantness, but I have never noticed a problem. The Mudcat Cafe can get a bit ’shouty’ at times, but I still go there too. None of these forums are actually armed with guns...

He is playing a duet and perhaps wants to quiet the LHS? However, I found that my usual practice location was a major part of the reason why the LHS seemed so loud. I was sitting with the left end about 3 feet away from a bare wall. When I play elsewhere then the bass side is nowhere near as dominating and I no longer use a baffle. FWIW. I tried various materials. I felt that leather altered the tone too much although it did a good job at muting the sound. Thin EVA foam had no noticeable effect to the tone, but it did not reduce volume as much as leather.

As long as the baffles are stable enough in place that they do creep and foul the buttons then I don't think that you need a bushing board, at least not for the baffles. If your baffle does creep then you need to find a way to hold it in place. I used some velcro around the outside edges. You could use some glue, preferably a water-soluable, reversible glue. Just enough to hold it. It might not be bad thing to add a bushing board anyway, but that would be another project. I found that if you make a very close fitting baffle then it becomes really hard to work the bellows. At least a little air gap is needed otherwise the reeds will be starved of air. So don't worry about making your baffle fit to the nearest thousandth of an inch. Before you get too far into this project, make sure that you have enough clearance above the levers to accommodate your baffle.

David's diagram is for an Elise which does have an A1 button as shown in the diagram, the Troubador has an air button instead of an A1 - see my rearranged Troubadour diagram earlier in this thread.

I cut, rotated and pasted the sides from Wim's latest drawing to get this for the bidirectional (standard) keyboard. This is the Hayden layout. Wim, is this correct? Don.

My apologies, I miscounted. At one time you said that you had designs for a 39 button Troubadour, do you have any plans to make that model?

I do not see a G# on the LHS so you will not be able to play in A. Also, the air button is one of the 36 buttons so the Troubadour has 35 sounding buttons (vs. 34 on an Elise).