Lauren Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 Hi everyone, I just got my first concertina, a McNeela wren 2. The d note (right hand, middle button, second finger, pull) is more like a C#!! after Investigating inside the concertina, and many videos on tuning, I start filing the end of the reed as everything I saw said that that will raise the note. Only to get my tuner and find that the note is getting closer to C#, rather than closer to D! What am I doing wrong? Now I’m nervous to mess with it without an explanation for why this is happening! Thanks I’m advance for any help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milesy Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 (edited) Are you using a tuning bellows or checking the note by reassembling the concertina? Not uncommon to find that the note is different in the instrument when compared to out. Normal technique is to establish the adjustment needed with the reed in the instrument (e.g. note shows 40cents flat) on tuner then sharpen by 40cents from the note measured when the reed is on the tuning bellows. Then replace in the instrument and check. (You may know all of this, but your post suggests this is your first time tuning). Good luck and be gentle!!!! Reeds can easily be ruined by over zealous filing! Make sure you support the reed underneath with a thin shim - a strip of aluminium cut from a drink can will work if you have nothing else. Slide the shim between the reed and the reed shoe/plate. Edited October 24, 2022 by Milesy Remembered detail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Posted October 24, 2022 Author Share Posted October 24, 2022 You’re right, first time tuning! I am filing it, replacing it in the Instrument and then checking it while holding the end on. I don’t screw in the end each time. But even fully assembled, the note is still very flat. More flat than when I started. I did file the crap out of the feed so I hope I didn’t ruin it! but why is the note going the wrong way?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMON GABRIELOW Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 (edited) As far as I understand you file one end to flatten and the other to raise the pitch.. sorry not technically explained. But myself, I would have sent instrument back to the maker to be returned by them. It is not uncommon to have adjustments made when purchase concertinas . ( I had my Anglo adjusted way back when I just bought it) which then improved with use over time. Edited October 24, 2022 by SIMON GABRIELOW Very tiny phone keypad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Mellish Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 In the normal course of events, filing a little material off the free end of a reed will certainly raise its pitch. I wonder whether there might be the beginnings of a crack near the fixed end, which is getting slightly worse from the stress caused by filing the other end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d.elliott Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 Can you explain just where on the reed tongue you are filing and how you are supporting the reed during that process, and exactly what you are using to support the tongue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Posted October 24, 2022 Author Share Posted October 24, 2022 I’ve been filing on the free end of the reed, not close to the attached base. I’m using a metal file and supporting with the back end of a set of tweezers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted October 24, 2022 Share Posted October 24, 2022 If a reed is a semitone flat that usually indicates a cracked reed which will eventually break. That will also continue to drop in pitch as the crack develops. If that is what is happening here you will need to replace the reed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Posted October 24, 2022 Author Share Posted October 24, 2022 That would make sense! I’ll reach out to the manufacturer and see if I can get a replacement. Or else I’ll have to find someone that can do repairs. Just not sure there’s anyone local! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milesy Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Let us know your general location and someone will direct you to someone "local". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 If you bought it from a retailer you should send it back for repair or replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Posted October 25, 2022 Author Share Posted October 25, 2022 I bought it from Vancouver but I’m in Red Deer, AB, Canada. I’ll reach out to them too, but not sure if they’re capable of doing repairs in the Vancouver shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d.elliott Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 I am surprised that a new steel reed is cracking, the Wren cannot be so old as to be developing metal fatigue. I suspect that if you are using a pair of tweezers to lever up the reed tongue at the back end of the reed, then that could cause stresses that flatten the reed pitch. If you are filing the reed tip on the top surface of the reed tongue close to the free end of the reed, then that is fine, but if the filed area extends more than say 25% back from the tip then you could be negating some of the good you are doing. Finally, if you are using a steel file and the part of the reed tongue that is under the file is not supported adequately (a shim of 0,25mm or less is adequate) then you will be bending the reed tongue again flattening it's pitch. Steel files need more pressure than diamond files. I use 400 or 600 grit files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Posted October 25, 2022 Author Share Posted October 25, 2022 Ohhhhhh! Ok, this makes sense too. So have I completely ruined it?? Can it be bent back, and only the very very tip filed gently to get it back in tune? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 This is not a criticism of Lauren, who lives distant from anyone who might have been able to offer advice or skill in dealing with a concertina problem, and so must make decisions with a different set of constraints than many of us. Just an observation. Anybody who buys a concertina quickly learns that they will have to develop certain maintenance skills, because sending it in to the shop every time one of the million things that can go wrong goes wrong becomes very impractical. So we seek out sources of information about the subject and gradually collect advice and demonstrations. Some things we hear only once, but they make so much sense that we find a way to implement them in our routines. Some things we hear over and over. One such piece of advice is: Don’t try tuning it yourself. Take it to someone who really knows what they’re doing. Fortunately, concertinas do not often need tuning (more often someone wants to retune one to a different standard or temperament). I have taken my concertina apart many, many times to deal with things like fluffy notes, poorly seated pads, broken springs, broken buttons, etc. But reading this thread, I’m glad that the one time I thought it might need tuning (15 years ago), I took it to a pro. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMON GABRIELOW Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 Yes, anyone who owns a concertina gets used to dong little operations now and again, or sometimes frequently. It's surprising what adjustments you can make yourself even just by 'improvising' for example I recently had notes sounding when they should not, and so found by carefully placing adhesive [removable] felt pads just between the existing pads, barely touching, it stopped them clashing and sticking very successfully. Of course tuning reeds is very careful delicate process; my late fathers accordion I had retuned several years ago, and even a professional had difficulty achieving this, which he did only adequately at that [ and I consider I was lucky it was still working at the end of it]. And so, this does not seem very positive for the reported concertina reed problem here in this topic; but I hope and I a am sure someone will be able to help; even if you have to send it abroad to be fixed, and wait for a while for it to be returned, maybe that is the answer? Maybe someone on concertina.net will offer to do this for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Posted October 26, 2022 Author Share Posted October 26, 2022 Sending it away isn’t an option right now. The manufacturer would certainly take it back to fix it. I just invested in it, and financially that’s not an option right now unfortunately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Taylor Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 (edited) The Wren 2 is an accordion reeded concertina made by Trinity in Ireland. The reeds are easily exchanged and Trinity are still making the Wren 2. Tell them what has happened and ask them for a replacement reed. Refer them to this thread and they may take pity on you and give it to you for free. If the replacement reed needs a touch tuning then take the concertina to an accordion repair shop/guy. You might have to explain how to open up the 'tina but once they see the reed they will know what to do and it will not take them very long to fix it. Edited October 26, 2022 by Don Taylor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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