How Secure In The Case Should The Concertina Be?

[Richard Morse]

One of the reasons I like my hard case is that I can lock it. If anyone else knows of any other lockable cases please tell.

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I'm not sure why the smiley but a lockable case doesn't seem to make much sense to me. If it's against thieves, they'd take the case and all anyway. If it's so your kid won't play around with your concertina, put it on a higher shelf. If it's because the hasp is so poorly located that you might open it up inadvertently or that its design is such that it would open up of it's own accord - get a case with a better made/designed and located hasp.

 

We sell cases made to our design which can be had custom blocked for your concertina (or you can do that part yourself). Very sturdy cases with good hasps located such that you're not liable to open it by mistake. The hasps do have a locking feature though it's a pretty simple lock/key. We chose that hasp for it's hasp function, not locking function. The non-lock version would have been considerably more expensive!

[David Barnert]

I can understand the reason for the concertina to be horizontal in the box.If you ever take a concertina apart you will see the build up of fluff,hairs etc between the bellow folds if the concertina is vertical these deposits can be dislodged and jam up the reeds.Also the ends of the concertina should never be upward as any airborn dust or drink etc can drop down onto the concertina , whilst you are not playing and cause problems.

The bellows being jammed into the box so tight that the leather on the edges and corners are under maximum strain is something I cannot understand ,except when the concertina is first made.Unless leather reverts over a period of time back to its pre stretched position, a  nearly closed  bellows seems the more obvious, but I bow to those who can prove otherwise.

Al

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As I understand it, the reason not to store a concertina with ends on top and bottom is that the leather valves hang away from the reed chambers and get "stuck" that way so they don't close completely when you need them.

Just to add my 2 cents:

One of my concertinas just fits very tight in a hard case without any soft material inside. While unloading my car the case (with the concerina inside) fel out of the car on the ground. The result was that one of the reed shoes (normally fitted with two screws) was no longer in place, but somewhere inside the bellows.

There needs to be enough "give" in the padding to spread the force of a shock evenly among the parts of the concertina that touch it. Also, if there is no "wiggle room," the decelleration associated with the case hiting the ground will be as fast for the instrument as it is for the case. Padding slows down the decelleration, decreasing the force on every component of the instrument (remember Newton's 2nd law).

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Edited for typo.

Edited April 18, 2005 by David Barnert

[Mark Evans]

I have mentioned this before, but I have a fitted blocked case that came with my Albion (thank you Mr. Morse for a lovely instrument and case). Getting out of my car in a hurry one morning, I caught the latch of the case on the inside of the car door (freak accident fer' sure).

 

Straight way a call to the Button Box and I was sent a case cover made by Jean Cavallaro. Great investment on the life of my instrument. It zips securely closed and has a faux fleece linning on the inside of the nylon cover. Extra padding, a bit of temerature protection and I'll not be catching the latch on anything anymore.

 

I've also taken the step of getting a case for my banjo that has backpack straps installed so that it goes on my back where it's crushing weight doesn't hurt my left arm and I'm not swingin' around with an instrument in each had.

[Michael Reid]

We sell cases made to our design which can be had custom blocked for your concertina (or you can do that part yourself). Very sturdy cases with good hasps located such that you're not liable to open it by mistake. The hasps do have a locking feature though it's a pretty simple lock/key. We chose that hasp for it's hasp function, not locking function. The non-lock version would have been considerably more expensive!

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The case that came with my late-2003 Morse has an excellent hasp. If the lever is flipped up accidentally while the case is being carried by the handle, the bail (is that the right word?) will keep the case from falling open. But it doesn't have a lock. Are you now using a different one?

[Alan Day]

I understand your point with regards to the valve leathers David,but I raraly have seen a problem associated with this unless the little wire retainers are missing.Also in its box the valves sitting on top of the hexagon would hang away in the same way as if it was on end.

Al

[JimLucas]

I understand your point with regards to the valve leathers David,but I raraly have seen a problem associated with this unless the little wire retainers are missing.

Seeing is not always necessary to believing.

Hearing and feeling are what matter.

 

I have an anglo where the valves had "sagged" from being stored on end. Since the instrument had been restored at some point, they hadn't sagged much, but the instrument seemed to be needing more air than I thought it should. So mainly as an experiment, I gave it new valves. And I was amazed at the improvement! It was far greater than I expected, which means that that oh-so-small amount of curling of the valves was having a far greater effect than I would have guessed. The "resting" position of the new valves, of course, was right against the wood of the reed pan.

 

Also in its box the valves sitting on top of the hexagon would hang away in the same way as if it was on end.

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Not so.

For that to happen, if they're not already curled, they would first have to be pulled sideways away from the reed-pan board. And with the instrument on its side, gravity isn't pulling in the right direction to do that. But with the instrument on its end, the full force of gravity it pulling the valves downward. Even that effect is very slight, but over months and years, the effect accumulates.

[Stephen Chambers]

Even that effect is very slight, but over months and years, the effect accumulates.

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And the same applies to a bellows that isn't kept shut when not in use. Years ago I had a Jeffries to repair that had been left unplayed for many years with the bellows open, so that the leather had settled that way, making them hard to close and the instrument very hard to play.

[Helen]

Al,

 

Are the little wire retainers like braces for teeth?

 

No wonder you used the smileys - to show off their excellent smiles after having their teeth straightened.

 

Helen

[Henk van Aalten]

Years ago I had a Jeffries to repair that had been left unplayed for many years with the bellows open, so that the leather had settled that way, making them hard to close and the instrument very hard to play.

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Stephen,

Does the settling of leather not occur when the bellows are closed for many years?

[Stephen Chambers]

Years ago I had a Jeffries to repair that had been left unplayed for many years with the bellows open, so that the leather had settled that way, making them hard to close and the instrument very hard to play.

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Stephen,

Does the settling of leather not occur when the bellows are closed for many years?

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I think we may need to think of it in terms of the leather being kept stretched by the bellows being closed, but keeping them open allows it to return to a more relaxed shape, closer to the way it was before it was turned into a concertina bellows.

 

I not sure about the science of it, but I know what I've seen, and been told by concertina makers.

[Guest]

I'm not sure why the smiley

Because when I ask questions I try to be polite.

 

but a lockable case doesn't seem to  make much sense to me.

It makes perfect sense to me. It means that when I travel overseas the only person that can open the case is me.

 

(I did reply to this thread this morning, but my reply seems to have disappeared, so my apologies if you see this twice )

[Richard Morse]

but a lockable case doesn't seem to  make much sense to me.

It makes perfect sense to me. It means that when I travel overseas the only person that can open the case is me.

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I guess I ccouldn't imagine a situation where someone would be so impolite as to open your case.

[Richard Morse]

The case that came with my late-2003 Morse has an excellent hasp. If the lever is flipped up accidentally while the case is being carried by the handle, the bail (is that the right word?) will keep the case from falling open. But it doesn't have a lock. Are you now using a different one?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Strange! I just physically checked our cases to make sure - and yes - our current cases DO NOT have locking hasps! Surprise to me! Sometime in the last few batches it must have switched over - I knew it was an issue with us but I hadn't realized that it had been resolved. Sorry about going from memory there!