B6 Reed Not Sounding

[David Lay]

I have an Edgley Heritage Anglo that I am working on.  This concertina has a B6 reed (very small - 1975.5 Hz) which refuses to sound when in the closed concertina.  It sounds on the bench and when in the reed pan, but once I close up the instrument, it will not.  The opposing F#6 does sound.  I have checked for leaks even though I would expect this small reed to sound with very little pressure difference.  It does not have a valve, however, I did add one to the F#6 as an experiment.  I would appreciate any suggestion!

Thanks to others' comments in prior discussions.  You helped me solve my valve "slap" problem!

David Lay

[d.elliott]

likely that the clamping up is causing a slight twist on the reed's frame, or it's opposing valve is not opening properly. Check the valves, and see if there is indication of reed tongue catching in it's frame, or in the reed pan vent. Ease the reed assembly to it is not gripped quite so tightly.

[Tiposx]

Does that model use vintage style reeds in dovetail slots? If so, I would check if there is a wedge (usually a thin slip of paper) in the dovetail slot, which might have been used to tighten the reed plate’s location. Sometimes they move towards the middle of the slot rather than the wide end. This can pinch the reed frame against the tongue.

[Ken_Coles]

Have you consulted Frank Edgley? I expect he'd be happy to help diagnose it.

 

Ken

[David Lay]

I do not know the purpose of the blocking in the reed chamber.  

David

[alex_holden]

9 hours ago, David Lay said:

I do not know the purpose of the blocking in the reed chamber. 

 

It looks like a way to reduce the volume inside the chamber. High reeds don't work very well if the chamber is too large.

[Frank Edgley]

I use a different way to identify which reed. I'm guessing it would be R-1-5-P (push) This is a difficult reed because it is so small. Alex is right. The larger the chamber the less air pressure, and despite it being a small reed, it needs a higher pressure unless the reed tongue is set just right. If you want to send it to me I will readjust the set of the tongue.

2346 Meldrum Road

Windsor ON N8W4E4

[David Lay]

19 hours ago, Frank Edgley said:

I use a different way to identify which reed. I'm guessing it would be R-1-5-P (push) This is a difficult reed because it is so small. Alex is right. The larger the chamber the less air pressure, and despite it being a small reed, it needs a higher pressure unless the reed tongue is set just right. If you want to send it to me I will readjust the set of the tongue.

2346 Meldrum Road

Windsor ON N8W4E4

Thank you, Frank.  Very helpful.  Yes, that is the button that correlates to this reed.  I have not tried adjusting the reed tongue because the reed sounds quite easily when out of the instrument.  ("If it works, don't fix it" approach.)