Are English Concertina buttons supposed to be loose?

[Troy]

Hi, I just got my 56-key Stagi EC just in time for Christmas. But when I tried to play it, I was disappointed. The buttons on it are somewhat loose. They tilt along when you tilt the concertina. So, needless to say, they move/tilt quite a bit when I try to play. Because of this, it is harder for my fingers to hunt-and-peck for the buttons. I just resign to the fact that at least, they do not fall off from their holes. Though it sure feels like they might.

 

I looked around the internet for images of Stagi concertinas, and it seems that Stagi never got into the habit of putting bushings around the buttons of their concertinas. This, I kind of understand because Stagi has been associated with low-quality and all. However, the Stagi concertina images I saw on the 'net show buttons that are straight and aligned (and looks stable) despite of the lack of bushings around them. I kind of expected the same for my concertina and so when I received it and the buttons are tilting to and fro, I was truly disappointed.

 

On other fronts, the 56-key Stagi seemed to have received a little bit more attention from its maker(s). All the reeds sound and are in-tune to my ears. The enharmonic notes (Eb & D#, Ab & G#) sound the same in pitch and the volume is even between them. The push/pull notes sound the same in pitch and are also even in volume. It is interesting to note that my concertina has more responsive lower reeds/pitches than the higher reeds/pitches. Only the top-most notes/pitches require a somewhat harder/faster push/pull from me to get them to sound out. The bellows of this one that I got looks so much better than some Stagi concertinas I've seen online (for example, there was one on eBay where the cardboard inside the bellows were exposed in several places!) At least mine has got bellows that is fully covered with leather (well, it looks and feels like leather to me). One thing I noticed about the bellows is that I could sort of pull/push it still even though I was not pressing any button (is this a sign of bellows leaking?)

 

I would like to know everyone's opinion on how I could go about fixing these problems - especially on how to stabilize the loose/tilting buttons and on how to go about fixing the leaky bellows (or is some leakiness to be expected from bellows of new concertinas?) There is one piano and accordion repairman in town (Carl Teplitski of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). But I wonder, do accordion repairmen have the skill to put bushings around buttons of concertinas? And what is the cost to have it done to 56 button-holes?

 

I do not know if my problems belong on this forum or on the Construction & Repair forum, so I will cross-post this in the hope of getting as much opinions/suggestions as I can before I take the next step.

 

Thanks,

Troy

[jggunn]

I think that you simply have to face the fact that while the Stagi is fine for chords, it simply is awkward and heavy and tends to have sticky and loose buttons which would not be a great problem on even an unbushed relatively inexpensive Lachenal or Wheatstone let alone the less expensive models at the Button Box or Concertina connection.