Swan Left Nine (G row) Reeds Reversed?

[SliverOfSand]

I’ve been trying to play some songs using the bottom row of my new Swan, and on the left nine, it’s supposed to be the opposite of one on the right? As in 1 right (C row) is B on pull and c on push, 9 left (G row) is c on pull and B on push. But on my concertina, instead of left 9 having a c on the pull, it’s B on the pull and c on push, so exactly the same as right 1. (Sorry if how I explain it is confusing)

 

Basically left 9’s reeds are reversed. Is this a manufacturing mistake? All the other buttons have the same layout as in Gary coover’s books, which I used for reference (although some of my accidentals are a bit out of tune). I find it very difficult to play certain songs because of this issue. Would this be an easy problem to fix on my own, if I were to take it apart and switch the reeds? Or is this something I should look for a professional to fix?

 

Edit: Clarifying the rows

Edited February 2, 2021 by SliverOfSand

[Tiposx]

It’s easy enough to sort out for an experienced person (flip the reed plate over). I would expect the supplier to do it, as it is evidently wrongly assembled.

I know little about Anglo layouts though.

Edited February 2, 2021 by Tiposx

[Daniel Hersh]

40 minutes ago, SliverOfSand said:

I’ve been trying to play some songs using the bottom row of my new Swan, and on the left nine, it’s supposed to be the opposite of one on the right? As in 1 right is B on pull and c on push, 9 left is c on pull and B on push. But on my concertina, instead of left 9 having a c on the pull, it’s B on the pull and c on push, so exactly the same as right 1. (Sorry if how I explain it is confusing)

 

Basically left 9’s reeds are reversed. Is this a manufacturing mistake? All the other buttons have the same layout as in Gary coover’s books, which I used for reference (although some of my accidentals are a bit out of tune). I find it very difficult to play certain songs because of this issue. Would this be an easy problem to fix on my own, if I were to take it apart and switch the reeds? Or is this something I should look for a professional to fix?

 

What do you mean by "left 9"?  Is this on the C row or the G row?

[SliverOfSand]

24 minutes ago, Daniel Hersh said:

 

What do you mean by "left 9"?  Is this on the C row or the G row?

Sorry, it’s on the G row. 

[SliverOfSand]

46 minutes ago, Tiposx said:

It’s easy enough to sort out for an experienced person (flip the reed plate over). I would expect the supplier to do it, as it is evidently wrongly assembled.

I know little about Anglo layouts though.

Thanks for the reply! I don’t really want to send it back, as Mcneela is in Ireland and I live in Canada. I would consider sending it back if it is extremely difficult to do by myself, but I’d prefer not having to send it back if not absolutely necessary.

[robtber]

You should contact McNeela in any case.  They would be able to tell you whether or not it is a simple matter of flipping the reed plate over and whether doing something like that yourself would void the warranty.  If the reed plate is waxed in place rather than bolted, it's probably not something you'd want to do yourself.

 

[Tiposx]

If the reed plate is waxed in then you need to look it up, perhaps look at melodeon.net but if it is screwed down then it would be simple.

robter beat me to it.

Edited February 2, 2021 by Tiposx

[SliverOfSand]

14 minutes ago, robtber said:

You should contact McNeela in any case.  They would be able to tell you whether or not it is a simple matter of flipping the reed plate over and whether doing something like that yourself would void the warranty.  If the reed plate is waxed in place rather than bolted, it's probably not something you'd want to do yourself.

 

 

13 minutes ago, Tiposx said:

If the reed plate is waxed in then you need to look it up, perhaps look at melodeon.net but if it is screwed down then it would be simple.

robter beat me to it.

Thanks for the info! I’m definitely going to contact McNeela about it, if the reed plates are waxed on then I’m going to have to send it back. I’ll talk to them first before trying to fix it myself. I wouldn’t want to make things worse! 😅

[Don Taylor]

If it is waxed in place then any local accordion repair shop could fix it for you,

 

You would have to give them specific instructions on which reed pair to reverse.  A photo from McNeela with the offending reed clearly marked would be a good thing to have.

[wunks]

12 minutes ago, Don Taylor said:

If it is waxed in place then any local accordion repair shop could fix it for you,

 

You would have to give them specific instructions on which reed pair to reverse.  A photo from McNeela with the offending reed clearly marked would be a good thing to have.

And McNeela should agree in advance to accept a bill for the repair if they acknowledge the defect.

[malcolm clapp]

6 hours ago, SliverOfSand said:

 

(although some of my accidentals are a bit out of tune).

 

No one seems to have addressed this. I would be more concerned about that issue than the need for a reedplate to be flipped. The latter problem is likely to be a simple fix for an accordion repairer, and should probably cost you little more than the price of a beer, if charged at all. (When my workshop was open, I'd probably have done it as a goodwill gesture.)

 

The tuning question though could be more complex, and might justify a return to the retailer, but although they would probably fix it, who pays the shipping cost and import fees could be an issue. Of course, McNeela may well say to get it fixed locally and send them the bill, but you would need to talk to them before deciding what course of action to take.

 

My 10c worth.....

 

Good luck.

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by malcolm clapp
grrrrrrrrrrrrammar

[JimmyG]

edit;  I originally thought you'd meant the *whole row* was reversed which was what totally blew my mind. On reflection, if it's just the one reed then I am sure a competent workshop will fix that, and for the price of a beer or three (as Malcolm suggested). The risk of trying to tackle it yourself might invalidate whatever warranty you were given in the first place if things go wrong. I stand by the fact that it shouldn't have been supplied to you with such a defect, and that if there's wonky tuning on the accidentals in addition then you're within your rights to question the quality control of that particular instrument in general. The reeds are definitely waxed in place rather than bolted.

Edited February 5, 2021 by JimmyG
I'm thick and misunderstood

[JimmyG]

On 2/2/2021 at 8:05 PM, SliverOfSand said:

Thanks for the reply! I don’t really want to send it back, as Mcneela is in Ireland and I live in Canada. I would consider sending it back if it is extremely difficult to do by myself, but I’d prefer not having to send it back if not absolutely necessary.

Apologies, I thought I'd read the whole thread but not thoroughly enough it seems!  I'd say even being in Canada, that the problems you've mentioned are egregious enough that you should expect full customer support and insist on not being out of pocket for this matter. Perhaps someone with a local repair shop or some handy skills could deal with it, but that ought not to be your problem to figure out, nor should the shipping or customs fees.

[SliverOfSand]

Thank you for all the information! I am in the process of writing McNeela about the issue, and I have written down all of the out of tune accidentals. There are five in total, and I’ve outlined them in an image so it’s clearer. Is this unusual with concertinas having so many reeds slightly out of tune? 😅 I’ll see what they say about it, until then I’ll just play some simple tunes that don’t use any weird reeds....

 

 

Edited February 6, 2021 by SliverOfSand

[Don Taylor]

Just to point out that D# and Eb are the same note but with different names (see enharmonics in equal temperament), and G# is the same note as Ab so those four are not errors, just that your tuning program is reporting the enharmonic.

 

So the only note in question is the 1a pull on the RHS. where you have Bb instead of d#.  Double check this one before you write to McNeela,  if it really shows as an Eb on your tuner then that note is OK too.

 

That just leaves you with the reversed reed plate.  It turns out that the Swan's reeds are waxed in place so if that is the only problem then see if you can get an accordion shop to fix it for you.  It would be a quick fix, but probably not the best idea to do this yourself as you would need some tools and some accordion wax.

 

 

 

[SliverOfSand]

9 minutes ago, Don Taylor said:

Just to point out that D# and Eb are the same note but with different names (see enharmonics in equal temperament), and G# is the same note as Ab so those four are not errors, just that your tuning program is reporting the enharmonic.

 

So the only note in question is the 1a pull on the RHS. where you have Bb instead of d#.  Double check this one before you write to McNeela,  if it really shows as an Eb on your tuner then that note is OK too.

 

That just leaves you with the reversed reed plate.  It turns out that the Swan's reeds are waxed in place so if that is the only problem then see if you can get an accordion shop to fix it for you.  It would be a quick fix, but probably not the best idea to do this yourself as you would need some tools and some accordion wax.

 

 

 

Thank you for the clarification! I’m not good with notes/sheet music, so just saw that it didn’t match the chart and was confused. Just double checking now, your correct, the d# actually registers as an E flat. Thanks again for letting me know, now I only have that one reed plate to deal with.  Since it is waxed on, I’ll probably be sending it somewhere for repairs after consulting McNeela. I definitely don’t want to mess around with that!