Reeds slow to speak

[Everett]

I have a Wheatstone English (1920's) on which some of the highest pitch reeds on left hand (C", E", G", B") seem a bit slow to speak, particularly the C" on the pull. Any ideas? Is it worth having an expert take a look? Humidity a cause? Valves?

[DaveM]

I have a similar problem on the low A (draw only), in my case is seems to be associated with going out of tune too.  Anyway, I've heard that it can be related to the valves, or also just the height of the reed tip relative to the frame.  Hopefully one of the more experience repairers/maintainers will chime in too.

[Theo]

Yes both valve and height of reed tip are important to getting a good sound.    

A few days ago I investigated a similar situation on an EC where a push A sounded weak and tended to go flat and the draw note was fine.  The valve behind the push reed had been badly fitted and was glued down all along one edge. All returned to normal after cleaning off surplus dried glue and fitting a new valve 

 

There are other possibilities too. How well the reed frame is fitted to the reed pan, and air leaks round the edge of the reed pan or  between reed chambers. Or if it is in draw only it could be a loose pad which is helped to open by airflow on push, but not on draw.

Edited October 15, 2021 by Theo

[Theo]

On 10/13/2021 at 5:39 PM, Everett said:

I have a Wheatstone English (1920's) on which some of the highest pitch reeds on left hand (C", E", G", B") seem a bit slow to speak, particularly the C" on the pull. Any ideas? Is it worth having an expert take a look? Humidity a cause? Valves?

If those reeds are all next to each other on the reed pan then it could be a reed pan support has failed in that part of the reed pan.

[Everett]

Thanks for the comments. Several likely suggestions to explore. Well, it is under warranty, so it is off to the tech. There was a lot done to this concertina. numerous repaired cracks in the reed pan, valves replaced, tuned to 440 etc. Seems like it needs some additional fine-tuning (pun intended). Very much worth it as it is a beautiful instrument.