I lost a key!

[Fiddlehead Fern]

You guys, I was sitting on the deck playing Rights of Man on a lovely sail with a bunch of people listening and some people filming with swanky cameras and suddenly, my G key was stuck.

So I finished the tune (I was almost done anyway) and then inspected it. Not unstickable. Put the concertina back in my lap, and suddenly the errant key was ROLLING ACROSS THE DECK. Fortunately it was scooped up before it vanished into the scuppers.

 

However, the fact remains that I am without a key that I use in pretty much every song ever. Also I am on a boat. So, while I have tools at my disposal, I don't really have the concertina know-how (or anyone nearby with it, or time to work on personal projects like this one that might take longer than a few hours) and so don't feel confident doing an on-the-fly fix. Also I think one time my dad and I tried to open up my concertina to see its guts and encountered difficulties. I don't remember what they were, though...

 

For background info, since I know I never come on here anymore, we're talking my 48 key Stagi English that I've been abusing for roughly four years now by playing a lot and dragging onto boats and using for impromptu concertina lessons.

I love that beast.

 

So yeah.

 

What do? It appears that the metal is actually broken, as the key has a jagged metal bit sticking out of the plastic piece. Like I said though, I've not really looked into it too closely, as this all happened while on a sail with passengers from the public (and a fresh breeze that kept us on our toes) and since that day I've been working and then too tired/timid to do anything with it.

 

I could send it away to the Button Box (where I got it), or even maybe even somehow find a way of getting there in person since I'm currently in the Northeast, but ugh. Also I've been eying the tenor Morse 45 key English for some time now...time to upgrade at last? But starving college student funds.....LIFE IS HARD.

 

Any ideas? Have you had this happen to you? Is it easily fixable? Should I not even bother? Is the instrument even worth trying to fix, since it's got other issues, like being a relatively crappy instrument to begin with?

Edited August 3, 2012 by Fiddlehead Fern

[spindizzy]

You guys, I was sitting on the deck playing Rights of Man on a lovely sail with a bunch of people listening and some people filming with swanky cameras and suddenly, my G key was stuck.

So I finished the tune (I was almost done anyway) and then inspected it. Not unstickable. Put the concertina back in my lap, and suddenly the errant key was ROLLING ACROSS THE DECK. Fortunately it was scooped up before it vanished into the scuppers.

 

However, the fact remains that I am without a key that I use in pretty much every song ever. Also I am on a boat. So, while I have tools at my disposal, I don't really have the concertina know-how (or anyone nearby with it, or time to work on personal projects like this one that might take longer than a few hours) and so don't feel confident doing an on-the-fly fix. Also I think one time my dad and I tried to open up my concertina to see its guts and encountered difficulties. I don't remember what they were, though...

 

For background info, since I know I never come on here anymore, we're talking my 48 key Stagi English that I've been abusing for roughly four years now by playing a lot and dragging onto boats and using for impromptu concertina lessons.

I love that piece of shit.

 

So yeah.

 

What do? It appears that the metal is actually broken, as the key has a jagged metal bit sticking out of the plastic piece. Like I said though, I've not really looked into it too closely, as this all happened while on a sail with passengers from the public (and a fresh breeze that kept us on our toes) and since that day I've been working and then too tired/timid to do anything with it.

 

I could send it away to the Button Box (where I got it), or even maybe even somehow find a way of getting there in person since I'm currently in the Northeast, but ugh. Also I've been eying the tenor Morse 45 key English for some time now...time to upgrade at last? But starving college student funds.....LIFE IS HARD.

 

Any ideas? Have you had this happen to you? Is it easily fixable? Should I not even bother? Is the instrument even worth trying to fix, since it's got other issues, like being a relatively crappy instrument to begin with?

 

hopefully someone will come up wit a fix ... I remember a previous thread involving solder to rebuild the metal tag.

As a short term fix, could you swap your broken key for a rarely used one?

 

Chris

 

 

[Daniel Hersh]

You guys, I was sitting on the deck playing Rights of Man on a lovely sail with a bunch of people listening and some people filming with swanky cameras and suddenly, my G key was stuck.

So I finished the tune (I was almost done anyway) and then inspected it. Not unstickable. Put the concertina back in my lap, and suddenly the errant key was ROLLING ACROSS THE DECK. Fortunately it was scooped up before it vanished into the scuppers.

 

However, the fact remains that I am without a key that I use in pretty much every song ever. Also I am on a boat. So, while I have tools at my disposal, I don't really have the concertina know-how (or anyone nearby with it, or time to work on personal projects like this one that might take longer than a few hours) and so don't feel confident doing an on-the-fly fix. Also I think one time my dad and I tried to open up my concertina to see its guts and encountered difficulties. I don't remember what they were, though...

 

For background info, since I know I never come on here anymore, we're talking my 48 key Stagi English that I've been abusing for roughly four years now by playing a lot and dragging onto boats and using for impromptu concertina lessons.

I love that piece of shit.

 

So yeah.

 

What do? It appears that the metal is actually broken, as the key has a jagged metal bit sticking out of the plastic piece. Like I said though, I've not really looked into it too closely, as this all happened while on a sail with passengers from the public (and a fresh breeze that kept us on our toes) and since that day I've been working and then too tired/timid to do anything with it.

 

I could send it away to the Button Box (where I got it), or even maybe even somehow find a way of getting there in person since I'm currently in the Northeast, but ugh. Also I've been eying the tenor Morse 45 key English for some time now...time to upgrade at last? But starving college student funds.....LIFE IS HARD.

 

Any ideas? Have you had this happen to you? Is it easily fixable? Should I not even bother? Is the instrument even worth trying to fix, since it's got other issues, like being a relatively crappy instrument to begin with?

It's been a long time since I did this, but I vaguely remember doing a temporary fix for a similar problem with duct tape. In my situation, there was a metal tab sticking down from the button with a slot in it for the action lever to stick through. The action lever had worn its way through the bottom of the slot in the button tab. I believe that I wrapped the tape around the metal tab a couple of times and cut a slot in it for the action lever. It lasted for quite a while and was easy to re-do when it did wear out..

 

The idea of switching it out with a rarely-used button sounds good too. Perhaps you could do both, with the jury-rigged button in the less-used spot.

 

One more thought - Button Box might be willing to send you a replacement button free or cheap.

 

Good luck!

[Dieppe]

Concerta Spares (http://concertina-spares.com/) can often get buttons that match what you've got. You're on a boat, but can you receive mail?

 

-Patrick

 

You guys, I was sitting on the deck playing Rights of Man on a lovely sail with a bunch of people listening and some people filming with swanky cameras and suddenly, my G key was stuck.

So I finished the tune (I was almost done anyway) and then inspected it. Not unstickable. Put the concertina back in my lap, and suddenly the errant key was ROLLING ACROSS THE DECK. Fortunately it was scooped up before it vanished into the scuppers.

 

However, the fact remains that I am without a key that I use in pretty much every song ever. Also I am on a boat. So, while I have tools at my disposal, I don't really have the concertina know-how (or anyone nearby with it, or time to work on personal projects like this one that might take longer than a few hours) and so don't feel confident doing an on-the-fly fix. Also I think one time my dad and I tried to open up my concertina to see its guts and encountered difficulties. I don't remember what they were, though...

 

For background info, since I know I never come on here anymore, we're talking my 48 key Stagi English that I've been abusing for roughly four years now by playing a lot and dragging onto boats and using for impromptu concertina lessons.

I love that piece of shit.

 

So yeah.

 

What do? It appears that the metal is actually broken, as the key has a jagged metal bit sticking out of the plastic piece. Like I said though, I've not really looked into it too closely, as this all happened while on a sail with passengers from the public (and a fresh breeze that kept us on our toes) and since that day I've been working and then too tired/timid to do anything with it.

 

I could send it away to the Button Box (where I got it), or even maybe even somehow find a way of getting there in person since I'm currently in the Northeast, but ugh. Also I've been eying the tenor Morse 45 key English for some time now...time to upgrade at last? But starving college student funds.....LIFE IS HARD.

 

Any ideas? Have you had this happen to you? Is it easily fixable? Should I not even bother? Is the instrument even worth trying to fix, since it's got other issues, like being a relatively crappy instrument to begin with?

It's been a long time since I did this, but I vaguely remember doing a temporary fix for a similar problem with duct tape. In my situation, there was a metal tab sticking down from the button with a slot in it for the action lever to stick through. The action lever had worn its way through the bottom of the slot in the button tab. I believe that I wrapped the tape around the metal tab a couple of times and cut a slot in it for the action lever. It lasted for quite a while and was easy to re-do when it did wear out..

 

The idea of switching it out with a rarely-used button sounds good too. Perhaps you could do both, with the jury-rigged button in the less-used spot.

 

One more thought - Button Box might be willing to send you a replacement button free or cheap.

 

Good luck!

[Fiddlehead Fern]

I took it to the Button Box, and they replaced the key. The aluminum lever had worn through the metal on the bottom of the key, and some of the others were about ready to go as well, so they'll fix them up too.