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Found 24 results

  1. The pendulum has swung back an I'm resuming my theoretical interest in how free reeds work and it would help me to decide on a physical model if I knew how the musical pitch varies with bellows pressure, if at all. I ask this question mainly to the makers, but also to other enthusiasts who do their own tuning and tinkering in a serious way. But please report what you are sure of. If you're not sure, that's perhaps evidence that pitch variations are very small. Ideally, it would be nice to have quantitative data, such as cents pitch change with so much change in pressure, inches or cm in water column. But even naked ear observations can be helpful, if they can be stated with confidence. It would also help in the ideal case if you could supply the magnitude of the bellows pressure along with the pitch information. What minimum and maximum values for bellows pressure do you subject your reeds to? What range of bellows pressure do you expect in all playing situations? I've read that at the lowest pressures, pitch may first decrease with increasing pressure, then might increase with pressure at the highest pressure levels. Has anyone observed this? In the near future, I hope to do my own experiments on this topic, and afterwards, I'll present the results. I think that the pressure/pitch behavior is most fundamental to the free reed, and so reliable characterization in practice would be most appreciated. Best regards, Tom www.bluesbox.biz
  2. HOHNER English Concertina 48Key treble reveted action with accordion reeds. Push and pull should be F6, but E6 comes out by pushing. Can I tuning the reeds up one note? For this, I made a tuning bellows, but I have absolutely no skill in tuning.
  3. 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?
  4. Hello I'm trying replace the synthetic leather gusset for some concertinas. That is success, but I don't like the finish of the bellows apex. That model is like traditional Wheatstone, Lachenal, other modern concertina makers. These instruments have leather tape glued to the bellows in a smooth circular motion. I first modeled was Stagi, which simply folded in leather tape flap, I repaired for the first time. The second time I opened flaps in two and folded it. I use 20mm wide leather tape. How to smooth the apex of the bellows?
  5. 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
  6. Hello, When you cut leather, do you consider the part of body and the direction of cutting? If so, what are you doing? Generally, the back side is hard and the abdomen to the legs are soft. As for the direction, it's said that it don't stretch vertically from the head to the buttocks, but stretches horizontally. ex. Leather stretch area https://howtoshoes.blogspot.com/2014/05/basic-of-shoes-leather-upper.html
  7. I made a bellows jig by packing an empty milk pack with newspaper. Stainless steel pipe in the center. One side width is 60 mm. It fits perfectly in Stagi / Trinity College /maybe Swan, Lochele Trinity College / Maybe the Swan has the problem of melting gussets over time ... a jig for that. *duplicate post on Facebook
  8. 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:
  9. Does anybody have experience with "standard bellows" vs. "wakker bellows" on an English Concertina? I know about the difference in theory but have no chance to try it out (in Germany it's hard to find concertinas). I got a special offer for an unused Rose with standard bellows. It is $800 less than what I would need to pay here for a Rose with wakker bellows. My budget is limited, so the reduced price is very welcome. But if the wakker bellows make such a tremendous difference I could also safe a bit longer... Any experience or recommendations? Thanks Jürgen
  10. HI there, I know a few of us have owned or looked at the Harry Geuns basic model hybrid bandoneon/accordion. I'm generally happy with it but looking at getting Harry to upgrade the reeds - good but expensive! So I was thinking about upgrading other elements myself to save money if possible. - The buttons are a bit basic, screw in white plastic buttons. Is anybody familiar enough to say if these are standard and can be upgraded to something better looking? Would it help to post dimensions, thread etc.? - The bellows are also a bit basic. Let's say I could find a set of traditional bellows of the correct dimensions, good condition. Is it a difficult thing to replace bellows and get a good seal? Of course, if anybody knows of a used Harry Geuns with proper reeds, that would be even better but I don't think they come up much. Kind regards, Paul
  11. 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.)
  12. Not an instrumental video, but a silent record of building bellows. 8-fold, 8 sided, gold end papers. Here:
  13. When you're overwhelmed, sometimes things stay in your subconscious for a while before resurfacing. This happened to me at the recent Noel Hill concertina school in Cincinnati, and what just bubbled up from my unconscious turns out to be something I"ll probably value the rest of my concertina playing life. This is what is bubbling up now. At some point, Noel corrected the way I was holding the instrument...on my right thigh. He suggested I change it to my left thigh, because the air-button hand -- the right hand -- is the "bowing hand" of the instrument. He made several comparisons between the fiddle and the concertina during the school, this was one that I'm really glad is coming back to me. Keeping this in mind is helping my bellows and air button work a lot, simply by giving it a frame or concept to hook it to. A simple and powerful concept.
  14. I'm a beginning player with a new Jackie 30-key English concertina. I'm finding the bellows seem to be very stiff and require a good bit of effort to open. I sail a 31-ft boat by myself and have a good bit of arm strength, but I find I'm tired out after only a few bars. I've played with the concertina on my knee and have tried playing with a neck strap. Playing with the neck strap does seem to distribute the effort to both arms more than playing from the knee, but it still gets tiresome very quickly. Any solution to this?
  15. I know new leather bellows tend to be rather stiff at first and get more flexible in time (and I know patience is a virtue!) ... but is there a way of hastening the process to get stiff new bellows playing more freely more quickly? Thanks.
  16. Hello again everyone. I've been out of the loop for almost five years, so I guess that means I'm new here again, and those of you who've forgotten me can meet me for the first time a second time! I was able to go to the Old Pal event once back in 2012 with my Jackie, and since then I've been busy with a multitude of things. But enough about that. In regards to my Jackie, I find that the bellows are very stiff in comparison with other (vintage / higher price tiered) concertinas, and I was wondering if anyone had a suggestion or two about how I can get the bellows to limber up without causing undue wear on them. Also, occasionally the "low C" on the instrument has a buzz, like there's something stuck and vibrating between the valve and the air aperture, but I keep the instrument in the gig bag 99.5% of the time when I'm not actively practicing. Would I gain anything by opening up that side just to see if there's a speck of anything caught in the works? Lastly, I am finding myself in a situation where I will be needing to learn Anglo for occasional Celtic / ITM work. When going from English to Anglo, are there any keysets that lend themselves more to someone relearning the wheel? I figured that bisonorous bellows action would be the first stumbling block, as opposed to the unisonorous bellows action that I'm used to with the English. Thanks in advance for any insight that can be offered, and thank all you fine folks for still being around!
  17. Hi everyone I have really gotten excited about playing traditional music these last few years and ended up buying an old english concertina when I wanted to try on a new instrument to learn. I have been an active and touring musicican for years and years and have gotten fairly used to fixing and maintaining my instruments so i felt confident that I would be able to put the concertina back together or atleast make an informed guess as to when to leave it in more capable hands. The bellows where pretty much dust and torn apart in a very rough way. Even if I knew how to properly make bellows im not sure if restoring the old bellows would have been anything but naive and it crumbled in my hands as I was assessing the damage. I decided to make my own bellows using origamifolding because it seemed so much easier. So i bough a relatively thick piece of paper/cardboard and strengthened the inside with a layer of Bobbtape and the outside with gaffatape (it was never meant to be anything other than a trial so i disregarded the design and looks entirely. I am happy to say that it plays wonderfully. The only thing im noticing is that theres a different force required for push vs. pull but i read about how thats a thing other bellowmakers are figuring out too so i dont think that this is something related to the origamifolding as much as it is about me being an amateur. Also i can feel it evening out after hours and hours of playing. It would be fun to have some experienced players try it out and tell me how it compares to normal bellows but for me it feels pretty much the same (i have an irish concertina with working bellows that i bought at the same time since im playing irish tunes and wanted the different notes on the push and pull also) but my frame of reference ends there. What I would wanna start a topic about is if there have been other endeavours into other types of building parts for the boxes or if anyone with more knowledge and experience would be open to giving me some pointers. All help is appreciated! In closing i feel like pointing out that im not of the opinion that the instrument is in any dire need of improvements at all and that i was and am reluctant to tinkering too much with these old boxes given my lack of knowledge. I think however that learning by doing really works and I havent done anything irreversible to my instrument so i think im in the clear. - Magnus
  18. Hi, All: Just curious. What is the benefit of a 7-fold bellows? My current concertina has 6 and I'm wondering what I'm missing out on. Thanks, cdm
  19. Back-to-back video of both models playing a popular tune. The Aeola is c 1909 with original 5-fold bellows and is in original old pitch. The Model 5 from 1918 has a new set of bellows I made and installed recently. It is in modern pitch. I restored both instruments over the past 12 months. The video is here:
  20. A couple of months back I built a new bellows for an old Lachenal 48-button English concertina, and I think it came out rather well. I used the methods outline on the Homewood site, and my thanks goes out to Bob Tedrow for his excellent instructions. The bellows that were on my squeezebox were not originals, and they were functional but very ugly. Finding the papers was difficult, but the ones I got from Concertina Connection worked out fine. I'll attach a couple of pictures for your inspection. Ben
  21. Hello, All: I've had my Ceili for a few months, and it seems that suddenly the bellows have loosened up nicely. What should I be doing to maintain them? Saddle soap? Chamois cloth? As always, thanks for your input. Christine
  22. Looking for thoughts about making Irish tunes sound "more Irish". Does changing bellows direction on every note, or every other note make a difference...as opposed to playing several notes on a draw or push? Emphasizing the first note in a measure? Any other tips? Thanks! I'm playing a C/G Anglo.
  23. Hello, I just bought some concertina bellows for my stagi concertina and unfortunately they don't fit. The with across the sides are the same but it has an extra lip. That is problem number one. The next problem is that holes are too big on the new bellows. Thank you for looking, Badok88
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