Extreme Climate Concertina! (?)

[backfortyjordi]

Alright, so before I even start, I have already done a deep dive through the forum and found lots of information on the topic, but I still have questions, so I'm starting a fresh thread instead of digging up the dead here.

 

The consensus, and logical conclusion seems to be that the concertina loves humidity. It makes sense, the whole rig is basically wood, wax, glue, leather, things that don't handle being terribly dry well.

 

Now, there might not be too many folks in my situation, but I'm looking for some advice. Where I live, the outside temperature routinely dips below -40° C/F. So when I say we burn wood to heat the house, I mean we burn a serious amount of wood at high temperatures for months at a time. Things get dry, and you can only humidify the air so much before the doors freeze shut and other fun problems.

 

So, I keep some fun little moist sponges in my hard case of my concertina, not entirely different from the commercial humidifier in my acoustic guitar case. Does it actually do anything? I don't know. I have no way to test.

 

The humidity in the case is all well and good (I think), but I like to play. A lot. That's a lot of dry air being sucked in and pushed out. Is there anything extra I should be doing to avoid eventual costly repairs? I've heard the arguments, 'back in the Victorian days those boxes were played in unvented coal smoke hell holes and were fine' ... Well, in the Victorian days a decent concertina didn't cost thousands of dollar, people used cocaine to cure the ghosts in their blood, and lead was good for you, so I'm maybe looking for some more modern ideas.

 

But, also, transportation in the cold. How much thermal shock can these things handle? Has anyone ever pushed the limits? Snow mobile really is the way to get around here for about 6 months of the year, any ideas on transporting a concertina safely at, I don't know, -25°C? 

 

Maybe I'm thinking too much. Happy to hear advice, and I'll be updating this thread throughout the winter with things that seem to be working, or any failures.

 

 

[PaulDa321]

When I got my Clare, it had previously lived in the Utah dessert. The grain on certain parts of the walnut ends had actually pulled apart from the dryness and you could see straight through the cracks, especially in thinner areas of fretwork.  I ended up putting very thin amounts of wood glue in those cracks. I will say, the instrument otherwise played just fine, though it must have been quite dry for that to happen.

I used to play concertina in the bathroom while my child took a shower and the room got steamy, but somebody advised that this was probably too humid--you wouldn't want to trap condensation inside.  I don't know if it was a bad idea or not as it's unlikely been truly tested.  At the time, thought it might be a good way to humidify it during a New England winter. Maybe if your bathroom isn't too steamy, you could have a practice routine with a session after a shower?  Could be good to get a second opinion on that one.

[Chris Ghent]

Pumping dry air through is probably the worst. Humidifying one room might work. I don’t mean leaving water around, I mean a good technical humidifier, one that keeps humidity between two set points.  
 

The most climate proof concertinas have to be the ones made by Edward Jay.  
 

- 40° (C/F), life threatening!

Edited October 31 by Chris Ghent

[backfortyjordi]

This is some quality advice. Unfortunately, by bathroom is, well, outdoors, so not too steamy, and an electric humidifier would cost a fortune in gasoline to maintain. 

 

I'll update with any solutions or problems I find with how my Tedrow survives off-grid in the sub-arctic. Lots of fiddles survive somehow, and I've seen bouzoukis roll up like pretzels, so who's to say?

[David Barnert]

The one time I had to transport my concertina in subzero (F) weather I was able to tuck it inside my parka and still get the zipper closed.

[David Lay]

You need a Jay concertina, as suggested.  Unfortunately, he no longer makes them so you are limited to what you can find.  The next best option is an instrument with all of the components made of laminates ("plywood").  My Morse comes close as best I can tell as all of the panels appear to be birch plywood and the fretwork also looks like a laminate.  Only the hex frames are solid.  Such an instrument would better tolerate environmental changes.  A metal fretwork instrument with plywood pans might be available within the Chinese made options that would also suit your environment.  Perhaps a Marcus as well.  You will need to avoid letting condensation form on cold reed tongues as I have noted in other posts.  

Edited October 30 by David Lay

[Matt Heumann]

I hate to be a nay-sayer, but every acquaintance of mine who has put moisture (humidifiers/sponges) in the concertina case, has ended up with rusted reeds. Its better to keep room humidity up rather than inside the case. I lived in the below sea-level desert areas of the Middle East for 2 years and my Wheatstone showed no signs of impact from the dry & hot air. Likewise, in winter, while we only get down to -20 f/ -29 C, we don't humidify, except for the occasional pot on the stove if our sinuses are complaining. But the concertinas always seem just fine with it as is.

 

Monitor your reeds if you moisten your case!

[backfortyjordi]

Thanks Matthew, very helpful