Is This Normal? (Poor Tone)

[zim]

Hay!

 

After months of waiting for shipping and handling i finally got my 20 button anglo Scarlatti.

 

I have never held one before but decided i want to take it up. Immediately on trying it out i notice one key (right hand 3/ f/g) acts differently than the rest. It is harder tto get a note when drawing on this button (i.e playing an f) i have to use more force on the bellows to get this note to sound instead of wheeze. On further inspection i quickly noticed that this instrument has been opened by a person new to the conscept of screws as most of the screws holding the right hand cover has been filed round by using an improvised tool, wrong size or similar. same goes for a few screws on the left cover.

 

This is a second hand concertina from hobgoblin music.

have i been sendt a broken concertina or is it normal/to be expected that concertinas have different pressure requirements for certain notes?

 

this will definatively make learning to play way harder.

Edited March 14, 2015 by zim

[Wolf Molkentin]

Your problem may require an improved "setting" of the particular reed. I would ring Hobgoblin and discuss having that done (or at least payed) by them as your second-hand instrument doesn't seem to be in working order (as it should IMO).

 

Best wishes - Wolf

[Dana Johnson]

If you are getting a wheeze before you get a note, high set reed is very likely the problem. An accordion repair person who might be more local to you can do this for you, since those instruments I believe are constructed in the same fashion. Unless someone tinkered with it at some point, I wouldn't be surprised if it had left the factory in this condition ( not the screws ). I have seen supposedly much better grade reeds that were set incredibly high. After re setting so they would play they needed to be retuned nearly a quarter tone. I expect that whoever assembled them simply forgot to set the reed at all. And the person who put the reeds in the instrument never tested it. Perhaps the screw challenged previous owner gave up on it after taking it apart and being unable to fix the problem.

[zim]

Hm.

i wouldnt feel comfortable doing anything to it myself. and being from Norway im just about the only person in the entire country that knows what a concertina even is, let alone a concertina repairman.

 

Ill send them a mail suggesting a reed problem and checking where we go from here. I do expect my instrument to be in working order. Thats so typical my luck after all the trouble of finally getting a hold of one.

 

Thanks for your feedback.

[JimLucas]

...being from Norway im just about the only person in the entire country that knows what a concertina even is....

 

Maybe close, but not entirely true. There are at least 2-3 others. Hvor i Norge bor du?

 

... let alone a concertina repairman.

 

I'm not sure you understood Dana's post. The engineering design of the Scarlatti, including the reeds, has more in common with accordions than with the concertinas with "English" engineering that we mainly discuss here. So if there's a trekkspill repairer near you, they should be competent to handle your problem.

[zim]

Oh,ha!

I'm near haugesund.

I was in a store in town asking about concertinas before i ordered one online. The storeowner told me theres a dealer of accordions in kristiansand so i guess i could send it there Then. When i checked with them they did have a limited stock but only the horrid looking red one

 

I waited so long for it i dont want to have to send it back and wait months for it to get back to me even if hobgoblin dont decide to argue.

[JimLucas]

I'm near haugesund.

I was in a store in town asking about concertinas before i ordered one online. The storeowner told me theres a dealer of accordions in kristiansand so i guess i could send it there.

...

I waited so long for it i dont want to have to send it back and wait months for it to get back to me even if hobgoblin dont decide to argue.

 

Best to check first. Very few dealers are also repairers. But if they don't do repairs, they should know who does. And if they would simply send in onward -- e.g., to Oslo, -- you'd be better off sending it directly to the repairer yourself. Then again, even your local accordion dealer should be in a position to refer you to a reputable accordion repairer, maybe even one close enough for you to visit in person.

 

Or if you're not too impatient, you could wait and come to our Scandinavian Squeeze-In in southern Sweden at the end of April. There'll be folks with various sorts of concertinas and accordions, including more than one capable of fixing your concertina.