Help With Key Layout Stagi W15 E

[Stuart]

Hi,

I'm totally new to this forum and playing concertinas in general and respectfully needing some advice if possible.

 

I received a 30 key Stagi Anglo C/G for xmas and have been trying to figure out the key layout. It seems to be mostly in the Wheatstone as per this diagram http://www.concertina.info/tina.faq/images/finger3.htm but the C#/D# on the on the 1st top right hand row are swapped round ie D# when pushing, C# when pulling.

 

Can anyone tell me if this is a fault or just the way Stagi lay their keys out, there doesn't seem to be any info on their Italian site?

 

Thanks in advance for your time,

 

Stuart

[Don Taylor]

It sounds as if the reed pair has been installed the wrong way around.

 

If it is new then take it back to whoever you bought it from.

 

If it is used then you could fix it yourself although I think that the reed block is waxed in on this model so you might want to take it into an accordion repair shop. Yes, I said an accordion repairer because they would be more familiar with this type of reed.

[Wolf Molkentin]

The Stagi I once had to return had swapped reeds too.

[Stuart]

Thanks for your swift replies!

 

Just found out there's some other possible discrepancies, seems I may have inherited some kind of Jeffries-Wheatstone hybrid system? Any comments on the layout below would be most welcome. (The "Jeffries" B/A on the Left G row has come in quite handy for one particular air so far.)

 

PUSH/PULL

 

LEFT RIGHT

 

E/F A/Bb C#/D# A/G G#/A# /\ D#/C# A/G G#/Bb C#/D# F/A

C/G G/B C/D E/F G/A /\ C/B E/D G/F C/A E/B

B/A D/F# G/A B/C D/E /\ G/F# B/A D/C G/E B/F#

 

 

Thanks again,

 

Stuart

[Don Taylor]

See: http://www.buttonbox.com/images/Anglo-FC-CG.jpg

 

The left hand B/A is OK for a Wheatstone/Lachenal so leave that alone. Some charts show this as B/D and other as B/A so I guess either can be found in the wild.

 

The other two bold face pairs in your diagram (D#/C# and F/A) should both be swapped over to give you C#/D# and A/F which will then give you a Wheatstone/Lachenal layout.

 

The reeds on these concertinas are in pairs, side by side on a little plate. Each pair on its plate corresponds to a button, so if you turn the reed plate over then the notes sounded on push and pull will be reversed.

 

I don't know how these little plates are fastened in your concertina. On my Stagi (it is a different model) they are held in by a screw so removing the screw lets me prise the reed plate off its mount. I could then swap it over to change the direction of the notes. Maybe your reed plates are held in with screws too, in which case it is an easy fix (except that Stagi buttons are tricky to get back through their holes). Some Stagi's had their reed plates waxed in place with accordion wax. To get these off, I am told, you have to melt the wax with a soldering iron and put them back on again using new reed wax and a soldering iron or a brush using melted new reed wax. This is the way that accordion reeds are fixed in place in accordions so if you do have waxed in reeds then you should Google about waxing accordion reeds.

 

However, you might not need to be in a hurry to fix these problems. You will probably never need the high A/F as it is just too high for most folks taste, and the C#/D# is not used that often unless you favour playing in D. Even then, you might adjust to playing with the notes reversed.

Edited January 1, 2014 by Don Taylor

[gcoover]

The B/A on the lower left button (button #6) is the more common, so you're good there. Perhaps someone switched the C#/D# (button 1a) to make it more like the Jeffries button in that same location.

 

Not sure why the A/F (button 5a) is switched, but Don's right, you might never play it anyway. Maybe a pretty girl walked by that day at the factory and it was put in wrong to begin with? Wheatstone/Lachenal is A/F, Jeffries is A/D.

 

You'll find a lot of chatter on cnet about customizing layouts, especially from those who want lots of C#/D# combinations for Irish music, but it will sure mess up anyone else who gets one that has been altered. If folks would only pencil in a little note on the reed pan when they do it...

 

Gary

Edited January 1, 2014 by gcoover

[Stuart]

Thanks to one and all, really helpful pointers, will persevere keeping the left B/A layout and investigate swapping the right hand reeds round.

 

Indebted.