Repairs in the Midwest

[AndrewFH]

Hi all,

I inherited by grandfather's 40 button Stagi anglo when he passed away earlier this year. He wasn't a really serious musician, just happy to play and sing a ditty now and then, and didn't care for the instrument very fastidiously (at the time of his death it was hanging off the side of his desk by one of the hand straps). So I've been plugging away at it and having a good time but the buttons all stick (the don't always depress straight and then I need to sort of pick at them to make them pop out) and who knows what else has gone wrong in there. Basically, I'd really like to have someone look at it and do some basic maintenance.

The thing is, I'm in northeast Iowa and can't find anyone around here who services concertinas. There's a guy up near Minneapolis who builds and repairs Chemnitzers but I haven't been able to get ahold of him and don't know if Chemnitzers and anglos are enough alike for him to help me anyway. So does anyone know of anyone in the Midwest who could help me? I'm willing to take a bit of a trip, but 18 hours to the Button Box isn't real appealing. Any other suggestions?

 

I've seen some discussion of how I might fix the buttons myself but am hesitant to make things worse. I may well end up buying a new instrument and keeping this one for sentimental value, but I'd really love to have it in proper order.

 

Thanks!

[Mike Franch]

There's been some discussion here about buttons on Stagi (and similar) concertinas, so I'm sure someone will pop up with advice on this. You might try the site's search engine, which I've found helpful. Others will also recommend repair people.

 

I know that the Button Box has a several month waiting list (just inquired myself) but the larger point is that you don't have to hand deliver your concertina to the repair person. Packed right, they do ship well, even if you don't have a hard-shell case. I've had three come to me that way, all in fine shape.

 

I suspect that the value of this instrument is largely sentimental--but I don't discount the value of that.

[Leo]

Hi AndrewFH

 

There aren't many repairers in the US.

 

There's the Button Box in Mass., you know about. There is Bob Tedrow in Ala.

http://hmi.homewood.net/

 

And there is Greg Jowaisas in Kentucky. A frequent member here, but no website.

 

Washington State has the Concertina Connection.

http://www.concertinaconnection.com/contact.htm

 

All are good people to deal with, and helpful to talk to.

 

If you're of a do it yourself kind of guy, this article might point you to the problem. The problem you mention sounds familiar,and not too difficult to cure.

http://www.concertina.net/gs_stagirepair.html

 

There is a must have book that is well respected and worth the purchase price. It's available from Button Box and Bob Tedrow.

http://www.concertina.net/repair.html

 

UPS and FedEx sounds cheaper to me, with at least $.50 a mile to drive + tolls, uphill both ways.

 

Thanks

Leo

[Randy Stein]

Greg Jowaisas is extremely talented and incredibly straight forward to work with. He refinished my EC and is works overtime to get the box right!

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[Greg Jowaisas]

Greg Jowaisas is extremely talented and incredibly straight forward to work with. He refinished my EC and is works overtime to get the box right!

rss

 

Thanks for the kudos, Randy. Just taking a short break and enjoying some progress in getting your X/T high notes right.

 

But I specialize in english type construction concertinas. Stagis have more in common with accordions and chemnitzer style concertinas.

 

Greg

[Daniel Hersh]

If you're of a do it yourself kind of guy, this article might point you to the problem. The problem you mention sounds familiar,and not too difficult to cure.

http://www.concertin...tagirepair.html

Good advice! The section of this article on "replacing the button sleeves" in this article will probably solve your problem, and it's not hard to do. The article makes reference to Aerotrend "Blue Line" silicone, which I have heard is no longer available, but any 3/32" silicone model airplane fuel tubing should do the job.

 

 

There is a must have book that is well respected and worth the purchase price. It's available from Button Box and Bob Tedrow. http://www.concertina.net/repair.html

If this is a recommendation for Dave Elliott's book, it won't help you with a Stagi - it only covers concertinas built with English construction methods, which are radically different from the Italian ones. But George Salley's article menioned above should give you all the information you need.

[AndrewFH]

Thanks all for the advice! Sounds like paying someone to fix it might not be entirely practical, so I may just muddle along with sticky buttons for a while and then buy a new instrument.

 

Those repair instructions look pretty simple but make me a bit nervous. I'd much rather have my grandfather's slightly faulty concertina than my grandfather's concertina that I broke.

 

I've got a few leads from musicians around the area to follow up on, if any of those guys pan out I'll ask them if they'd mind me posting their contact information here in case someone else comes along with the same question.

[Daniel Bradbury]

Don't be afraid of opening up your instrument. It is really quite easy and, unless you are all thumbs, not difficult to make simple repairs like this. Start by opening it up, and just looking at it. You will learn a lot about how they work, and gain confidence along the way.

 

I started taking my first instrument, an Italian one, back in the 1980's, before there was much information on repairing them. I was able to keep my instrument working for a few years.

[StephenTx]

Randy, I second your comments on Greg J. he has refurbished two concertina's for me and he is a pleasure to work with, very educational to a newbie like me, proposes you with options and is one hell'uva nice fella. God Bless him.

Stephen

Edited January 14, 2012 by StephenTx

[saguaro_squeezer]

Andrew, you could always just send the Stagi to Doug over at the Button Box ... unless you fancy an 18 hr trip. I've worked with him before when I had my Morse and he's a top notch fellow. Since they do Stagis over there, he should make short work of it.