You'd be so proud of me

[Riggy]

So I’m playing last night in my local session.
A friend finds this under my seatnds this under my seat.


I look at my box and see my low F button is an empty hole with a red felt bottom.
Pretty essential note for my style and setlist.

Just now I opened the Dickinson Tenor mechanical chamber for the first time,
and retrieved the other half.  W-a-y too challenging to super-glue back together.
(at least for me)


So I looked at the fingering chart and decided to forgo having the high C#.
I managed to steal that button and put it in the low F’s spot.


The hardest part was getting the bushings to stay in place inside
the buttons. (Not the ones lining the outer holes.)

Pretty good, eh ?

Edited February 14, 2023 by Riggy
Insert fotos

[d.elliott]

Not a difficult repair to fix the key, I superglue gel the two halves then reinforce with Bondic down the external 'flanks' of the key body. Then re-bush the cross hole. takes about 20 mins including superglue curing time. Bondic cures in about 4 seconds under UV light 

[Richard Mellish]

I get breakages exactly like that from time to time, so I keep a few spare buttons. I agree that getting the lever into the hole without pushing the felt out is challenging; as also is getting the replacement button into its place without disturbing two or three others.

[malcolm clapp]

5 hours ago, Richard Mellish said:

 I agree that getting the lever into the hole without pushing the felt out is challenging; as also is getting the replacement button into its place without disturbing two or three others.

My approach would be to take off the pad....gives you a better angle to wriggle it into place.

I suggest making a small mark on the pad so that you can re-attach it at the same position to allow for any slight distortion that might have taken place with use.

[Anglo-Irishman]

As the others have said, not a major job - if you're in your own workshop! But you were at a session, and had to do the repair under field conditions, so to speak. So yes, we're proud of you!😉👍

I always carr a small screwdriver in my concertina case (sheathed in a piece of PVC tubing to prevent damage to the instrument) so that I can at least open the action box, if anything untoward occurs. Fortunately, I haven't had to use it yet!

 

BTW I witnessed the most impressive piece of field repair at a concert by an Irish lady folk-singer. She was just into the first verse of a song, when a string on her guitar broke. She kept on singing, and her band kept up an adequate accompaniment, while she removed the broken string, produced a new string (from where, I can't remember, but perhps she took advantaage of an instrumental break to fetch it from her handbag), fitted the new string, cranked it up and fine-tuned it - and was strumming again in the last verse!

Professionalism is not just playing the right notes in the right sequence!😁

Cheers,

John