Is concertina restoration easy?

[LilaMable]

I'm a newbie to concertinas but I've been stalking them for a few years now. I found an English concertina that looks like a good option for me but I'm being advised by some players that it will probably need a check up and a bit of tuning. I can't find any concertina repairers near me and I'm wondering if this is a challenge I can manage? 

 

I've never done instrument restoration but this is something I would like to get into. Everything I read says to send your concertinas to an expert for fixing. Is it even possible for a person to do repairs at home without special tools?

[RAc]

First of all, get Dave Elliot's maintenance manual. Second, straightforward repair jobs like reed cleaning or easy to locate bellows leak repairs are everyday stuff for many concertina players. Third, major repairs/restorations bear a number of pitfalls that very likely make your first major repair task a throwaway job. In other words, a good idea is to get yourself a cheap fixer upper wreck to practice on.

 

Good luck!

[d.elliott]

Everyone starts somewhere, beside 'the book', there is plenty of advice around. The hard bit is deciding whose opinions and tips to follow. There is an awful lot of guestimation, supposition, and well meaning twaddle from pseudo experts and arm chair gurus on these and other pages. On the other hand  there are masses of experience and good solid advice too. Whilst I had inherited a Metal ended Wheatstone 48k Aeola, I started out trying to re-furb a brass reeded mahogany ended people's grade Lachenal which I picked up for just a few £s. 

 

You don't necessarily need an expert to hand but it is good to research well and have some one to consult. Start on the basic tasks first. I would list what I think I need to do to make the instrument basically playable. then knock off jobs from there.

 

 

[gcoover]

Perhaps the most important thing to learn as you progress is which jobs you can do yourself, which jobs makes things worse, and which jobs are better left to an expert (or until you have built up your skills).

 

I remember a friend of mine taking reeds completely apart early on and then wondering why they didn't sound right afterwards. Very few professionals even touch those two reed screws!

 

Gary

[David Lay]

It reminds me of my (small) experience working on cars.  (I knew I was not really interested in pursuing that kind of work.) The work is sometimes simple, sometimes not, but with frequent barriers to overall success.  These include missing special skills, missing special tools (!), but primarily missing experience to know what is likely causing a problem.  Patience and perseverance are highly valuable.  (I have this one, very small reed that sounds every time I try it in-hand or in the reed pan, but not after I close up the concertina.....??🤔)

[LilaMable]

Thank you everyone! I think I will try it out, maybe with a not so nice instrument, and I just checked out the Dave Elliot book.

Thanks so much!!!

[Roger Hare]

9 hours ago, pioneerbird said:

Thank you everyone! I think I will try it out, maybe with a not so nice instrument, and I just checked out the Dave Elliot book.

I only just saw this thread. IMO the book by Dave Elliot is a 'must-have', even if you aren't planning on doing restoration work. It simply tells you everything you ever wanted to know about concertina construction - fascinating stuff.

 

It certainly gave me the confidence to open up my 'tina to do the simple jobs which have been described 'up there' ↑

Edited August 8, 2023 by lachenal74693