David Hansen Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 I have a Wheatsone 48 key English concertina that recently has developed a wheezing out of tune sound on the push side of the low F#. I'm not sure what's going on but I thought it might be a problem with the valve so I opened it up but I couldn't pull out the reed pan to take a look at the valve. Can anyone tell me what's wrong with the note and how to repair it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 can be a lot of things, most of them rather easy to fix - but you would first have to take out the reed pan, possibly by supporting the smaller side from underneath with a finger... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAc Posted June 13, 2019 Share Posted June 13, 2019 (edited) I'd not so much suspect the valve but rather the reed. It's easy to pinpoint the issue (after you got out the reed pan) by swapping the push and pull reeds; if the problem remains on the push, it's the valve, otherwise it's the reed. Interestingly enough, I had a similar issue just recently. In my case it turned out that one of the two screws that hold the clamp against the frame had turned loose. Trivial fix! Edited June 14, 2019 by RAc typo correction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lofty Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 (edited) Put a finger through the hole in the reed pan and pull firmly. It should come out but might be a tight fit. As already said, putting your finger through towards the smaller area of the reed pan might help. Before looking for complicated/difficult solutions, check that the reed frame hasn’t become loose in its slot. Just pushing it back into place might do the job. If the problem recurs with the same reed, a very thin paper shim (cigarette papers are good) at the wide end of the reed frame should help it to stay in place. Don’t shim the middle of the reed frame as this might bend it inwards, thus touching the reed. Steve Edited June 14, 2019 by Lofty Minor correction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maccannic Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 Forgive me if I'm talking rubbish here, but the problem could also be a wonky or delaminating pad, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAc Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 (edited) 20 minutes ago, maccannic said: Forgive me if I'm talking rubbish here, but the problem could also be a wonky or delaminating pad, right? I don't think so unless I misread the OPs post. He implies that the problems shows only on push, not on pull, which would hint against a pad problem, no? Edited June 14, 2019 by RAc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted June 14, 2019 Share Posted June 14, 2019 18 minutes ago, RAc said: I don't think so Me neither - and my guess would be it's rather a reed problem, possibly some dirt which is not entirely silencing the reed, but more likely it will be a too narrow reed slot, possibly due to slightly bulged wood - what I would do is just swap the resp. push and pull reeds (and check the tuning afterwards), worked for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hansen Posted June 14, 2019 Author Share Posted June 14, 2019 Thank you all for the advice, I was finally able to get the reed pan out, I switched the reeds but I also noticed that the push valve was not seating properly, so I straightened it out and put everything back together and it all works fine now. Thanks again for all the good advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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