Moving the Palm Rest

[Honora Marmor]

Hello--

I am thinking of trying to move the palm rest on the left side of my Anglo. I am not having a problem reaching the buttons, but the air button is around 1 cm too far away from my thumb to be used with any grace. I am a bookbinder and have good tools and sense of how it might be done. Any particularly strong warnings about doing this myself? The only other way I could improve the situation would be to somehow change the button to a lever that extends back a bit, but I don't see this done anywhere. Also--in my roving around I saw a recommendation for a manual and now cannot locate it--any recommendations there, or for online sources?

 

Though I am really a beginner with the concertina, I may be able to help with leather pairing, skiving, and adhesive questions in the long run.

 

Thanks for your time.

[Chris Ghent]

Honora,

 

nothing on a concertina is truly out of the reach of people with skills and moving the handrest is a simple technical problem, though making the end result look like it was always like that might be harder. I wonder if you need to do it however. Many people have made a flat bridge between the part of the handrest your thumb rests on and the top of the air button. You could try it out by taping a piece of cardboard to the handrest under the thumb and just let the other end sit out on top of the air button. See if it is easier to play like that. Because you are pushing on the card rather than the button there will be a need for a little more force. If you find it works you could set up something more permanent, perhaps with a hinge in it to help lower the force needed. Remember the cardboard or what ever you use needs to be able to "run" on the top of the button a little.

 

Chris

[RP3]

Honora,

 

First, are you sure that your air button is on the left side? All Anglos I've ever been exposed to have the air button on the right. If there is that same extra button on the left, it is normally a drone button. But back to the issue of awkward distance to the air button. You didn't mention the concertina brand you are dealing with. Some do have more uncomfortable hand rest positions than others. The hand rest is not that hard to move and can be shifted somewhat without destroying the playability of the instrument but increments need to be small.

 

Your description of the problem as being 1cm too far does not seem correct. Air buttons can be awkward to access but not by that much. If you could post a picture to help, maybe we can offer useful suggestions and knowing the brand of Anglo would help too. You are putting your hand all the way into the straps aren't you? I know that sounds condescending, but it is meant honestly and without malice. A little more info like the above would help.

 

Regards,

 

Ross Schlabach

[RAc]

Hello--

I am thinking of trying to move the palm rest on the left side of my Anglo. I am not having a problem reaching the buttons, but the air button is around 1 cm too far away from my thumb to be used with any grace. I am a bookbinder and have good tools and sense of how it might be done. Any particularly strong warnings about doing this myself? The only other way I could improve the situation would be to somehow change the button to a lever that extends back a bit, but I don't see this done anywhere. Also--in my roving around I saw a recommendation for a manual and now cannot locate it--any recommendations there, or for online sources?

 

Though I am really a beginner with the concertina, I may be able to help with leather pairing, skiving, and adhesive questions in the long run.

 

Thanks for your time.

 

you may want to check here:

 

http://home.allgaeu.org/kwenger/Luftknopf/luftknopf.html

 

It's German unfortunately, but there's a lot of pictures that should show you what's going on. The gent has relocated the air button. May be a solution to your problem.

 

HTH

[Honora Marmor]

Sorry, I was meaning on my right! You should have seen me in square-dancing class.

 

If you would be kind enough to look at a picture, alas my camera is on loan, but you could look at the the Stagi W15LN at

 

http://www.buttonbox.com/other-concertinas.html.

 

The only way I can reach the air adequately is to force the strap forward, hard into the root of my thumb. Scepticism about my whining is reasonable, because beginners are all too willing to blame their instrument and don't know better. If you like, we can blame it on the size of my hand/thumb, but the truth is, I've got 'Man Hands' (Seinfeld).

[Chris Ghent]

From the pics I can see my suggestion on placing a bridge between handrest and button would be hard to understand because there is no raised portion of the handrest for the thumb. Nevertheless it could still be done.

 

Chris

[David Levine]

@ Mr. Asche - well done. That is a simple and elegant solution to the problem.

 

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[RAc]

@ Mr. Asche - well done. That is a simple and elegant solution to the problem.

 

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Thank you indeed - but I wouldn't take credit for somebody else's work - I'll pass on your compliments to the person who did this. I just remembered the contribution from a fellow concertist and added it to the discussion.