Morse Reed Problem

[varney]

First off just want to say I have never worked on a hybrid isntrument with accordion reeds before - my main work has been on Lachenals....

 

A lady left me in a morse concertina with a 'button sticking' - low B (i.e. 4th button down, middle row, left side ). Her daughter played away but couldn't make the problem happpen. I had a look inside last night and adjusted the button cross bushing ( which seemed fine anyway ). The only thing I noticed was the spring seemed to have moved very close to the pivot post and under the pin. Just angled this away to emulate all the others. Still couldn't find any problem.

 

This morning however, when playing it and drawing strongly on the 'B' button I notice the reed is stopping dead under strong pressure, but plays alright under light pressure. I think this must have been the problem they were describing as the 'button sticking'...

 

From the symptoms I'd be guessing that the reed tongue is set too low, or else the valve is getting sucked into the slot on occasions?

 

The problem here is that the B reed is on the bottom of the pair of surface mounted accordion reeds. All the reeds have been set into some kind of yellow wax substance ( see picture ) which means they are 'fused' to the action board. Consequently, I can't get at the B reed except by lifting the valve and trying to push the tongue through the little slot. Have no idea how much I'm raising it, if at all.

 

Took off the button pad to see if I could get a better look but can only see the clamp end of reed. I noticed just now that one of the cross bushing felts from a button is missing and I can't find it inside. I wonder would that have come off at some point and gotten down into the slot for this reed?

 

How do others sort out this type of problem?

 

Thanks,,,

[jdms]

I'd think you'd need direct access to the reed, whether it's the reed itself or the valve that's causing the problem. I had a draw note cease sounding on my Morse last year; it turned out a valve had come adrift (Doug Creighton diagnosed the problem by email). It was beyond my ability to fix, since it required removing and replacing the accordion wax, but the folks at the Button Box took the reed pair out, glued on a new valve and put it back in with fresh wax with impressive rapidity. You, I see, are in Ireland, so taking it to the Button Box isn't the most convenient option, but I would think anyone accustomed to working with waxed-in accordion reeds would be able to deal with the problem.

 

Joshua

[DJC]

You might check with Theo Gibb (Google: the Box Place) , Mike Usui (Irish Dance,aster Accordions) or another accordion (melodeon) repair pperson, to see how they handle this. I know they tune the reeds with always taking them out of the wax.

[Theo]

I know they tune the reeds with always taking them out of the wax.

 

I think there may be a typo here. Just to be clear, waxed in accordion reeds are tuned in situ, without taking them out of the wax, and the same is true for the reeds in hybrid concertinas.

 

 

 

Removing and replacing a waxed in reed is not a big deal, but to do a decent job you will need some fresh wax and the means to melt it into the correct places, and not anywhere else!

 

Your description "the reed is stopping dead under strong pressure, but plays alright under light pressure." is the classic symptom of a reed tongue set too low. It is sometimes possible to adjust the set of the reed by getting access under the valve, and you can see how far you have moved it by lifting the valve and looking at the gap between the reed plate and the reed tip. Look at comparable sized reeds to that are playing normally to get a feel for how big the gap should be.

 

 

I think it unlikely that the missing felt would get into the space under the reed, but I suppose it is just possible. If you think it could be in there then I think you would have to dismount the reedplate to be sure.

 

Any accordion repairer would be able to do this for you.

Edited April 11, 2011 by Theo

[varney]

Thanks to Theo and all you others...

 

I followed the first piece of advice from Joshua after remembering that a friend of mine who lives only 12 miles away used to work for Hohner. Turns out he has a lot of experience with repairing and restoring accordions and showed me how to cut around the embedded reed and carefully lever it out. After raising the reed tongue he softened the wax around the area he removed it from using a low watt soldering iron, then replaced it. Job done! I'm glad I took it round to him as I now feel confident enough to do the same if another similar problem comes in.

 

We didn't have any spare wax but were able to manage by keeping the pieces we cut out and re-melting. Where can I get hold of a small block of wax in case I need to repeat this job some other time?

 

Thanks,

Mike.

[Lester Bailey]

We didn't have any spare wax but were able to manage by keeping the pieces we cut out and re-melting. Where can I get hold of a small block of wax in case I need to repeat this job some other time?

 

Thanks,

Mike.

 

Charlie Marshall's your man