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I got this old German-made 5 fold impulsively and cheaply as my entry into concertinas. I want to have a go getting this more playable, changing as little as possible and preserving what I can. I have time, skills and tools but seem to be low on money as always. So far I gather it was made sometime between 1850 and 1940 which isn't greatly precise but enough for me to consider this as something from "the olden days". I don't want to unwittingly ruin anything historical and I plan to keep anything I remove or change because at the very least its interesting. And also write a note about what I do to leave in the case. It is what I would consider playable. Notes seem to be relatively in tune and most all working. Some notes don't sound as easily as others unless the air is pushed harder, I could describe as maybe a bit wheezy and breathy? I've been able to play some basic little tunes (and had a lot of fun so far ) and I'm planning to carefully clean the reeds with something akin to a Q-tip and isopropyl. The bellows seem okay but if you hold one end up and let the other drop without holding any buttons, It will slowly expand over about 16s. I plan to shine a bright light through from the inside of the bellows and patch any holes with a suitable glue and paper or very thin leather. Any recommended glues and kind of paper? (Is PVA wood glue okay?) - Some notes buzz in an old-timey alarm fashion, I figure the pin holding the reed to the plate is loose, do you think this is a nail/ screw/ rivet? - Does each reed need a leather flap? (brown reed flaps as pictured below) Is this potentially the cause of the harder to sound notes that are wheezy? I want to fix the box with new hinges and latches. I don't think I can get the lock working despite having an old key that I ground the tooth on so it fits well and turns but hits a dead end both ways at about 140 degrees. I think I'm best to add some new low profile latches on the outside. I will try make any new brass look old, I love the old look of the case. As I've been told in my previous post, I will store this on its side. I'm thinking some kind of matt Mod Podge or varnish to seal the outside of the case and protect the cool old label. Also may add some old wood splines to some of the loose corner joins. I think it would be cool to keep the splines visible, is this a crime? For the handles, will find some old aged leather that looks the part. I think the thumb button may need fixing too under the bone cap. I can figure these things out! Overall, I don't mind if its a little out of tune and scratchy, as long as its just playable enough. I think the roughness and patchy repairs is charming and suitable for this instrument. Maybe one day I can get (or make...) a better one Any advice is greatly appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to check out this post Even just pointing out any red flag in my approach would help! Happy to take more pics and do progress updates if people are interested. ❤️
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repair Who's taken over from The Button Box?
Keshlam posted a topic in General Concertina Discussion
Many years ago, bought a fully reconditioned Anglo concertina from The Button Box. I've always been within day-trippable distance of the store since then, so I hadn't had much reason to shop elsewhere. Unfortunately they closed down in 2021. And I just had a spring fail. (With, of course, an informal performance scheduled for this weekend. Murphy was an optimist.) So who *are* the most reputable concertina repair shops these days? I'm currently in the Greater Boston area, but Im willing to consider traveling. And, while I'm asking: Should I take this as a warning that it's worth doing a full overhaul again? If E fails, C and G are presumably not too far behind, and the only maintenance in the past decade has been my occasionally recentering a reed or removing dust. Tnx in advance!- 21 replies
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To Whom is Skilled and Generous with Their Time: I am a guitarist that loves the sound of reed instruments. I wanted to add an instrument to my music, and the harmonica or mouth organ sound too thin for me. So I chose the concertina. I purchased a Jackie, as it is a new beginner instrument that was not junk, for $500. During an emergency I had to leave it in my not hot, but warm car. When I got it home there was a big rattle of one side, and as I checked the buttons, about ⅓ did not sound. So I opened it up for the first time and discovered that 4 of the reeds had detached. And as I inspected the damage, I noticed that the reeds have no markings on them to help me know where they belong. There are some scuff marks on them however, that seem to be some sort of marking in length? And the reeds themselves are different lengths. So by matching the length of the reed to the air chambers I was able to determine where they belong, and by matching the wax patterns on the edges of the reeds, I am pretty sure I have them all facing the correct direction. The reeds kinda stuck back on to the wax, but I just loosely placed them. I live very far out in the country, and I doubt if I could find anyone to repair the instrument within a 3-5 hour drive. Also I should note that I work as a luthier, and can fix anything. I know I need to test the reeds with a tuner to make sure they are placed correctly. But as I am new to this instrument, I wanted to make sure I am repairing this correctly, and ask how I should reattach the reeds. In particular, do I need to obtain some new wax? If so, what brand is the best, and where do I get it? And what kind of tools are used for this? And where can I get those? As I have a strong inclination to believe this type of repair will need to be performed many times in the future, and I might as well have the correct tools. I've worked in wax before for encaustic paintings, and we had hot wax "pens" for this, but I don't own any of these currently. I think they might work well for this, but I'd rather use the tools of the trade. What are my steps to a repair that is going to be superior to the factory? Thanks in advanve to anyone who replies. I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to answer my questions. God bless you! patrick scheidegger fom tooley ☞ UPDATE ☞ my laptop had a meltdown of ram chips right when i sent this first part, and it took me a couple days to get it fixed. anyways, i decided to press the reeds into the wax and give it a try. Everything worked, except 2 of the buttons wouldn't sound the reed on extension, but would on compression. The reeds make the same note forwards and backwards. If this is true, is there still a front and a back? I was happy to have places all the reeds in the correct locations, and I played for a moment; then one popped back off. So I definitely need some informational help in terms of: ☞ am I doing the repair correctly? ☞ where do I order wax from, and what brand is the best? ☞ are there any tools i need? ☞ etc. Thanks again and a special blessing for anyone that helps. patrick scheidegger fom tooley
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So I seem to be having the opposite problem of most bellows questions on here… I’ve been playing a very nice, all leather bellows concertina (unsure of brand) and over time the leather has stretched and gotten very loose/supple to the point where it’s harder to produce sound. is there a way to treat or condition the leather to get some of it sold firmness back?
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Hello, I bought a concertina years ago and back when I first got it I kept having a button stick so took it back to the music store for a repair. They opened it, couldn't find an issue, and after they put it back together it was perfectly fine. Forward to now after the instrument has been sitting for a few years, I started to finally learn how to play. Unfortunately, the issue came back on a different key. I went to open it to see if that would fix it, but a couple of the heads got messed up. I know I used the right screwdriver since I went to a hardware store to find the right one and I also know I didn't use too much force since I have a disability in my arms (a large part of why I wasn't able to learn over the last few years) so can't produce enough force to damage a regular screw. Any way, I now have 2 ruined screws and want to replace all 12 to be sure this doesn't happen again. The screws are 1 x 1 3/4 oval head chrome brass screws for a Musician's Gear 20 button Concertina. If you google "red concertina" then you're almost certainly looking at the model I have. Due to the shape of the screws I haven't had luck at hardware stores, the music store I bought it from, or finding out how to contact the company directly for replacements so signed up to see if anyone here knows where to get them. Please let me know if you do or if you have a theory about my original problem. Thank you for reading and any help this can lead to!
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I've got an old East German Scholer Concertina with leaky bellows. It seams like the leaks are at the corner fabric parts. Could it be that the fabric is no longer air-proof? And if so, is there something I can paint on it to make it air-proof? I've had a look at "Coghlans Airstop", which is actually made for PVC products, but I doubt it will work. I've tried opening up the ends to look inside the bellows, but after unscrewing the ends, the part containing the reeds are stapled/nailed in place. So I can't see the inside of the bellows. Does anyone have any advice for repair, or is it advisable to completely replace the bellows? I'm trying to see if there is a cheap fix, rather than complete bellows replacement, which could be costly. I live in South Africa and I know Danie Labuschagne can replace the bellows. I'm just trying to see what other options there are
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Hi, One of the springs on my Anglo broke last night when I was practicing. When I opened it up the spring was broken off in the hole it sits in and I can’t get it out to be replaced with a new one. I’ve tried getting it out with a pointy nose pliers, but there isn’t enough of it showing to grip to pull it out. I have two questions that hopefully someone can help with, it would be very much appreciated. Any ideas on how to get the broken end of the spring out of its hole? Can a new spring be placed beside where the old hole is? Would it be pushed in or is a hole drilled before placing the spring end into the hole? Or how does one go about it? Thanks for any and all help!
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I and others have written about this process in the past, how older Italian-made concertinas had a clever/cheap system of using rubber linkages to connect the buttons to the lever arms in their concertina mechanism. Over the decades the rubber dries out and cracks and buttons slip down inside the body of the concertina (if you're lucky!) and it's unusable. But broadly speaking most of them can be gotten back up and running by replacing the rubber sleeves. Apparently most folks (including myself back 7yrs or so ago) use silicone tubing that's normally sold to model vehicle enthusiasts for fuel line, since it has the right texture and is available in the right diameters. I looked at some older threads, and it appears the recommended brand (AeroTrend) is defunct. Does anyone have a recommendation as to what is now the preferred brand, and which ID/OD of fuel line tends to be best for Stagi/Bastari/etc concertina to replace the button-lever linkage? I'll say just to repeat it, but at least around 2013 when I did repaired quite a few of these on my kitchen table for kicks, I tried something I hadn't seen many other repairers mentioh, which is I'd cut the linkage a little longer than needed to connect the button and arm, but then cut a small slit partway down it, and in my brief experience that gave it more grip while still allowing it to depress properly, and at least the ones I tried didn't seem to tear any further up the slit. Just an option to try out for anyone else doing kitchen-table repair of cheap Italian concertinas.
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Hi, This Christmas, a friend’s dad gave me an old Lachenal 30-button Anglo that had been in his family for generations. Unfortunately it is in a pretty sorry state, but as an aspiring musical instrument restorer, I have decided to have a crack at mending it myself (with the help of our friend's tools and DT experience). It is a beautiful instrument, with hardwood ends and bone buttons, steel reeds and a 5-fold bellows. As the photos show, it is a bit dirty (nothing some good cleaning can’t handle) and has had the bellows poorly repaired in the past with what looks like plasters…? Inside, the left hand reeds are quite rusty, while the right hand ones seem alright. The buttons also seem to be popping out of their guide holes, so they have to be wiggled around a bit before you can press them down. It also has some writing inside, saying it was tuned by a Wooding of Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1897, and an address that is only legible in bits, but appears to say: (something something something) 170 (something) road Cliff Vale Stoke-on-Trent Dec (something)/96 The main problems will be de-rusting the reeds and patching up the bellows (which have got more than their fair share of holes in). If anybody out there has any ideas or advice they could give me, whether that’s on the history of the instrument or how to repair it, it would be greatly appreciated by both me and my friend’s family. Please find attatched some photos of the instrument. Thanks! Here is a video of the state of the bellows:
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Hey all, I've been working on restoring an old Concertina I picked up at an antique shop, and one of the (many) problems I'm running into is what the button caps are made of, and how they were put together. I attached an image below, does anybody have any knowledge on this, or spares available I could pick up?
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What do the pros use to hold (old) bellows open, to leave both hands free for internal repair? (p.s. 'Spouse' is not a useful answer.)
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Hi. Sorry if this is a repeat but I couldn't find another similar. One of the brass end bolts holding the right hand side to the bellows has snapped on my anglo 30 key Lachenal. The end is a fraction below the lever of the belows so I cannot get at it with pliers. I have tried superglueing the top of the bolt on and unscrewing it but that does not do the trick. If I could somehow cut a small slot in it I could get a fine screwdriver in and extract it that way. Any ideas?
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Hey, I’ve recently acquired an Anglo Wheatstone that sounds like it has done its fair share of travelling and been around for a bit. I’ve been having an absolute blast with it but I am starting to run into an issue. The “posts” (I don’t know if that’s correct terminology) that hold down the spring and lever of the button are starting to work their way loose as I play. Sometime it’s just a little bit of air that leaks but today one spring and lever came completely out of its anchor. Any suggestions? Thanks!
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My English Concertina (stagi tenor treble 56 key) lost one of its metal buttons. The lower part broke. Is there any way out there to get a new one? Or is there hope, that the original button can be fixed? I include a picture of the button and a picture of the action I finally managed to open, so you can see, what I need. If everything fails I may use the button of a rarely used note to fill the gap… but of course, I would prefer it to be "really" fixed Any hints? PS: Don't buy this stagi model! Really badly made.
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I recently picked up a 38b German bandoneon, cute little thing, on eBay. It needs some work, though the reeds look reasonably good and the action just needs some tweaking, bellows maybe more so. Can anyone recommend anyone (preferably in Europe or North America) who can do bandoneon repair, and who doesn't cost a huge amount for such an inexpensive instrument as I have?
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Hello, I'm trying to do some restoration on a small George Jones concertina. It needs alot of work but first up is the non-functioning air button. I think this could be very easy. Here is a picture of the sprung air-button hinge. Perhaps all I need to do is re-glue that leather to the block? Or should I replace that piece of leather hinge altogether? It looks to me like the leather is in still usable shape but kinked from being off for so long. The concertina needs at least 1 pad and has no straps or strap buttons, but I see those readily on eBay. Everything else is there. (slightly off my own topic but the inside of my Wheatstone looks a lot nicer than the George Jones) Chris
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Hello Concertina.net concertina gurus. I am the proud owner of a Crane duet, Wheatstone, with a Salvation Army tag. The box itself is rosewood I believe with brown leather bellows, somebody at SA decided it should be their favorite color: um "black"... and has done a rather poor job of refinishing the instrument. Ah but here's the quirk - it only has 35 buttons, but the right side highest accidental key on the top left row, normally Eb, is instead a clearly in tune "A" note. This gives the player a final high A note to complete the A minor scale. I wonder if this was by design/request, or just an accident of construction/restoration?
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This thread is intended for folks like me: total concertina newbies who have recently gotten a Jackie from Concertina Connection. While this box has a good sound and plays easily enough, it does have some durability issues that will manifest themselves after a relatively short time. I've had mine about 2 weeks now, probably putting about 30 hours on it, and already I've had to open it up twice. I suspect that I'm not alone in this, so I'm posting this to give some confidence to those who are afraid to do their own minor repairs. First off, check out this video by Daddy Long Les where he's got his Jackie taken apart. This will show you what's inside better than I can explain it. Now that you're familiar with the general anatomy, here are key details: DO NOT OVER-TIGHTEN THE SCREWS. The wood is all very soft so there's a real threat of stripping threads. USE THE CORRECT SIZE OF SCREWDRIVER. The screw metal is very soft so there's a real threat of wallowing out the heads if your screwdriver is the wrong size or not applied forcefully enough down into the screw. The concertina consists of 3 main assemblies: the central bellows and the 2 nearly identical end assemblies. The end assemblies are each attached to the bellows by 6 small Philips screws and washers, and come off the bellows as unitsWhen reassembling the ends to bellows, fasten the screws as you would the lug nuts on a car tire, in a star pattern working them all slightly tighter over several sequences. This is to make sure the end fits evenly and snugly on the bellows. Otherwise you get air leaks through the joint and the concertina won't play well or at all. The end assemblies consist of 2 major parts held together by 2 tiny Philips screws on the underside: The outer black end cap to which the strap and rest are attached The action, which consists of the reeds, valves, buttons, springs, and rocker arms all mounted on 1 big mass of various wood pieces all glued together. Just undo the 2 tiny screws enough to separate the end cap from the action, without removing the screws from the action. This helps prevent losing them. Without the end cap attached, the buttons are free to wobble around and have a tendency to fall off their rocker arms, have their tails come out of their holes, and otherwise not be where they should be. This makes reassembling the end cap to the action a frustrating, fiddly process, the most difficult single thing in the whole process. Fortunately, the buttons all seem to be identical so if several fall completely off, it shouldn't matter which rocker you put them back on. The ends of the thumb straps are held in place by a knob that screws into the edge of the end cap. To adjust the strap, unscrew and remove this knob, stick it through a different hole in the strap, and screw it back into the end cap. TOOLS: Jewelers Philips screwdrivers of several sizes Needlenose pliers Tweezers Magnifying lens or glasses (depending on your eyesight) Lok-Tite or similar product to keep nuts on bolts COMMON PROBLEMS 1. Straps or Rests Coming Loose The straps and rests are attached to the end caps by tiny countersunk Philips screws with nuts and washers on the inside. These nuts tend to loosen or come off completely. When the nuts come off, they will rattle around inside the action but can be shaken out the sound holes. Be careful not to lose them. To fix: Remove the end with the loose part from the bellows. Remove the end cap from the action. Reassemble the strap/rest fasteners using Lok-Tite. While you're in there, tighten up and apply Lok-Tite to all other strap/rest fasteners so you don't have to do this again. Getting a screwdriver on the strap screws will require unscrewing the strap-adjustment knob. 2. Stretching Straps The thumb straps are made from some very cheap fake leather, basically a roll of vinyl with some spongy white fabric inside. This quickly stretches, especially if you play with the concertina on your knee and only move 1 end of it routinely. If you're already on the last hole provided and the strap is too loose, poke a new hole with an ice pick. You don't want or need a very big hole because the strap knob's shaft is only a couple millimeters wide. OTHER POINTS The rocker arms can easily pivot side-to-side as well as up-and-down. Thus, when finagling the buttons into proper formation for reassembling the end cap to the action, it's possible that pushing a button sideways will push its valve the same amount in the opposite direction, which can cause the valve not to completely cover its hole. So before putting the cap back on, be sure all the valves are properly covering their holes. Once you've managed to get the end cap back over all the buttons at once and have the action seated fully into the end cap, you can no longer see any of the action nor even the holes and valves. Therefore, before screwing the end cap back onto the action, test each button for proper springiness. If it springs back up and stays straight, then it's on its rocker arm OK and all SHOULD be well (unless you've moved a valve sideways, which you can't see). If the button has no spring, then you have to take the end cap back off and put the button back on its rocker arm. It's a good idea to only remove 1 end assembly from the bellows at a time. This way, you can be sure you put the end back on the bellows with the same orientation as before. This is important because the screw holes don't line up if you've rotated the end assembly relative to the bellows. If you must remove both ends at once, apply some masking tape to the bellows ends where the thumb straps go, so you can properly orient the end assemblies when you put them back on. Also write on the masking tape which end is left and right. As mentioned above, make sure there are no gaps between the end assembly and the bellows. When reattaching the end assembly, get all the screws in the end assembly until their tips are flush with the bottom of the end cap before placing the assembly on the bellows. Make sure the end cap is oriented correctly and then partially tighten all the screws in a star pattern as with lug nuts until fully seated.
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Hey! I'm new here and a very wet being the ears player, I've been learning anglo for nearly a year now on a secondhand scholer (cue sounds of fainted bodies hitting the floor), but am absolutely in love with this instrument, and harbouring a bit of a silly pipedream about learning to build or at least repair them one day. It seems a bti of a difficult world to get into though, Does anybody have any advice on how I might get into learning short of travelling to Castelfidardo for some years? I live in north wales now and the nearest concertina maker seems to be in Newport. I am trying to learn a few thigns just by messing about with the ones I have (sort of a necessity when it breaks every month nowadays), but since I think they are built differently to most concertinas I guess that's not much use. Any advice? Do apprenticeships run anywhere? Google's brought up nothing.
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REASON FOR ATTEMPTING 3D PRINTING OF A CONCERTINA Concertinas are too expensive because of complexity and difficulty of manufacture and repair, etc. So I've decided to start 3D printing parts to create a better kind of 'people's' concertina - it's the start of my Concertina Nova project. It's explorative - 'may take years, but the aims are: - use 3D printing to experimentally revise the form of the concertina for better ergonomics and easier playing, yet still good sound - to 'democratize' the concertina by making it available as a cheap, robust instrument at 'guitar prices' - make them so popular that they'll be seen round every campfire and at every party, in harmony with guitars and voices. ACTION Tomorrow I'm paying a local engineering firm, Absolute TOoling Solutions, to copy- 3D-print the outer ends of my tenor-treble, with - non-conical holes so the buttons won't wiggle - pinholes for ventilation, to reduce the glaring loudness while still allowing air flow. That experiment will cost me $400. It gets me - alternative end pieces for my concertina - CAD drawings I need for future redos (probably using my own 3D printer later) SEE THE CURRENT DRAFT REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION OF THE CONCERTINA NOVA https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-4satLcOAKGNnRjNE5SNW03UXc/view?usp=sharing SEE THE 3D PRINTERS AVAILABLE IN NEW ZEALAND I may be buying a 3D printer myself, perhaps the one shown at.. http://diamondage.co.nz/product/moa-3d-printer/ because it can 3D print itself and I might create others to use or sell. Bruce (Tomo) Thomson 20 Lyndhurst St. Chelwood Village, Palmerston North, New Zealand 06 357 7773 021 176 9711 palmytomo@gmail.com
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Hi, So... I have an important gig tomorrow and my concertina has decided to play up and I'm not sure how to fix it. Normally, I would be able to do these things myself but I can't figure out the problem and my copy of David Elliott's book has conveniently disappeared... The problem is that when you play the G# on the push, and then stop pressing the key, it still sounds quietly until you change the direction of the bellows. My main questions are: 1) What is wrong? 2) Is it fixable by my? 3) How do I fix it?! It would be great if someone could get back to me ASAP! Thank you! Andy
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I have been asked to restore a Rock Chidley English Concertina that is in very poor condition. Nothing unusual there, but when I undid the screws on one end the action did not lift off as you would expect it to. So I started gently leavering, and found that the reed pan was coming out with it. On finally extracting the whole I saw the arrangement shown in the attached photo. Somebody had screwed the reed pan to the bottom of the action board. Has anybody ever seen such a thing? Why would anybody do this? Amazing what people do. Perhaps we should start the NSPCC, i.e. the National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Concertinas! By the way, no serial number was visible anywhere on the instrument, only the "Rock Chidley" stamp on the action boards. Did he often make them with no serial number?
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The cheap concertinas that I have (old Bastari) are made using plywood. I don't have the idea that using a different wood would have any appreciable change in the sound on them, but does the wood on the better concertinas have any affect on the sound? I seem to remember noticing that the reed plate in one of the pictures seemed to be beech. Does type of wood have as much difference on a concertina as it does in a guitar or a violin? Terrence PS. I just found the thread from 2006 discussing tonewoods. Additional information, though, would be welcome.
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