How does the single action work?

[Bassconcertina.net]

Hi, I was wondering how the single action worked, how does it breath when you pull it out but not when you push it, is there some sort of huge flap or valve or something?

[alex_holden]

The one I worked on had holes punched in some of the bellows cards with leather flap valves on the inside.

[Bassconcertina.net]

 

8 minutes ago, alex_holden said:

The one I worked on had holes punched in some of the bellows cards with leather flap valves on the inside.

 I thought there would be a big hole in a reed pan with a big valve on one side.

any pictures of yours though?

Edited February 19, 2021 by Bassconcertina.net

[Lofty]

My current single acting Wheatstone bass has a large number of holes with valves in the bellows. I call them gills.

 

A previous one (by Lachenal) had a few holes with valves in the ends, I think in the action boards. It was a long time ago: I don’t think it had conventional reed pans which pulled out, as in smaller instruments.

 

The Wheatstone with the gills is a vastly superior instrument to the Lachenal.

[alex_holden]

1 hour ago, Bassconcertina.net said:

 I thought there would be a big hole in a reed pan with a big valve on one side.

any pictures of yours though?

 

The bellows valves work very well and don't take up any valuable reed pan/action board space. It belongs to a client and I didn't take any pictures of that feature when it was in the shop.

[Bassconcertina.net]

Im not confident in my ability to do that to the bellows. so Im thinking if I make a hole in the reed pan an make a BIG valve that could work

[Bassconcertina.net]

1 minute ago, Bassconcertina.net said:

Im not confident in my ability to do that to the bellows. so Im thinking if I make a hole in the reed pan an make a BIG valve that could work

the hole also going through the action board

[alex_holden]

Sure, you could put valves on the bottoms of the reed pans if you have enough spare room. It might be easier to fit in several small ones rather than one big one.

[gcoover]

Watch all the Bernard Wrigley videos to see and hear how he works the single-action bass concertina.

 

He's the master of the "Phartophone", and hilarious as well, especially his description about how the concertina breathes through holes in its bottom.

 

Gary

[charleschar]

Here's an example of what I think OP is referring to seen in a single action Wheatstone (no 612):

There is a central hole in the action board which has a leather valve on the other side to allow for air to come in on the pull. The buttons which are in the middle are supported on "peninsulas". Here's more information about this concertina: https://www.concertinamuseum.com/CM00015g.htm

Not too sure why a standard size treble concertina would be single-action though. Maybe these earlier ones were just experiments to see what worked before a larger, lower concertina was built.

[alex_holden]

2 minutes ago, charleschar said:

Here's an example of what I think OP is referring to seen in a single action Wheatstone (no 612):

There is a central hole in the action board which has a leather valve on the other side to allow for air to come in on the pull. The buttons which are in the middle are supported on "peninsulas". Here's more information about this concertina: https://www.concertinamuseum.com/CM00015g.htm

Not too sure why a standard size treble concertina would be single-action though. Maybe these earlier ones were just experiments to see what worked before a larger, lower concertina was built.

 

Hmm. That's an odd one. I wonder why they bothered to put valves on the reeds? One of the advantages of a single-action instrument is you don't need them.

[Tiposx]

A friend has a single action bass concertina with “gills”. I haven’t seen it in use but I asked him about it in relation to this thread. He says it is very quick in use, with all the notes on the push, and is much quicker than a double action bass. He is a prominent player of itm and knows a lot about concertinas.

[Bassconcertina.net]

2 hours ago, alex_holden said:

Sure, you could put valves on the bottoms of the reed pans if you have enough spare room. It might be easier to fit in several small ones rather than one big one.

Well Im working on building a rectangular 11" by 14" bass concertina with 24 buttons, so I might be able to fit it in but if not, Ill take your advice.

[Stephen Chambers]

2 hours ago, charleschar said:

Here's an example of what I think OP is referring to seen in a single action Wheatstone (no 612):

Not too sure why a standard size treble concertina would be single-action though. Maybe these earlier ones were just experiments to see what worked before a larger, lower concertina was built.

 

The earliest concertinas (like the one in my avatar) were all double action, but of limited range, whereas it's readily apparent (from its mahogany ends and lack of fretwork) that #612 was an economy model, and that's why it was made single-action - to keep the price down.

[Howard Mitchell]

Here’s a video of me playing a single action baritone. It has “gills” in the bellows. https://youtu.be/ZeOHX1kC0lw

[SteveS]

22 hours ago, Bassconcertina.net said:

 

 I thought there would be a big hole in a reed pan with a big valve on one side.

any pictures of yours though?

This approach was adopted by Rock Chidley - holes in both reed pans with valves to ensure flow of air on the pull.

[d.elliott]

I have two single action instruments of my own and have restored several more. The single action instrument plays on push and 'breaths'  air on the pull. The air intake can be one of three types, singularly or in combination.

 

I  know the air intake valves built in the bellows as 'gills' often fitted in the lower sides of the folds.  The internal port with the large flap valve on the inner face of the reed board is known as a Gulper valve. The three types are
 

• Gills bellows folds only
• Gills in the bellows frame not the bellows folds
• Gulper valves on one or both ends.

The benefit of the Gulper is that it draws a lot of air immediately but finding space to fit one is often problematical

The gills in the bellows frame work well and are immediate on air intake.

Gills in the bellows folds can be a problem when the bellows are played to a point where they fairly closed, this is because there is not enough room within the compressed folds for the gill valves to open fully. This means that snatching a rapid  breath of air is not so easy. This was the issue on my own G Bass so I had to find space and fit gulper valves in addition to the gills. This internal modification has made a terrific difference to playability.

 

If I were designing or building from scratch I would use gills in the bellows frame, or gulper valves, or a combination. 

 

Dave