No sound on low E/F button on draw

[Jane_in_UK]

Apologies if this question has been asked multiple times before - I wasn't quite sure what search terms to use!
 

I've just (this week) switched from playing Irish style to English style, which means playing unfamiliar buttons.

 

All my buttons were working on both push and pull, as I check them regularly even though in ITM I didn't use them all, but today, when I was practising the F major chord using the low F on the accidentals row, the F suddenly died. On the pull the button still works and produces a lovely deep E note, but there's no sound at all on the draw, and it feels as if there's lots of resistance from the bellows when I try to play the note. 

 

My concertina is a fully-restored Lachenal C/G Anglo which I bought from Barleycorn in August 2025. As a concertina newbie I've never attempted any maintenance on the instrument and I'm a bit daunted about doing any tinkering. I've emailed Barleycorn but obviously it may be a few days before they get back to me. In the meantime, should I avoid using that button completely in case I make the issue worse? Is there an easy fix I can try? What could be causing the problem?

[David Barnert]

The good news is you won’t have to open the action box (the space between the reed pan and the end). But if you’re going to fix this yourself, you’re going to have to access the reed pan.

 

Remove the six bolts around the end, being careful to keep track of which one came from each hole, as these old instruments may have mismatched bolts. What many people do is punch six holes in the bottom of an inverted paper cup in a hexagonal pattern, mark the cup to remember its orientation, and put the bolts in the holes.

 

You should now be able to remove the end and expose the reed pan. It may take a little doing because it will likely be stuck to some degree, but there should now be nothing substantial holding the end onto the bellows.

 

Once you can see the reed pan (a hexagonal plate on which the reeds are mounted) you will see half the reeds, the ones that play on the draw, each in its own little chamber. The push reeds are on the underside of the reed pan (no chambers).

 

Look at the underside of the end that you removed while pushing the button that should play the note in question and observe which hole opens. Identify the corresponding reed on the reed pan (remember the arrangement will be a mirror image of the underside of the end).

 

Remove the reed pan by putting a finger through the big hole in it and giving a slight tug. Again it might stick a little but should come out fairly easily. Make sure you note which direction it should go back in. Then remove the reed by sliding it radially out of its dovetail slot and hold it up to the light. Look around the edge of the reed. You should see daylight continuously between the reed and the reed shoe. It’s a good bet you’ll notice that something is stuck in there. I once found a mosquito in mine. Take a piece of thin paper (newsprint, new currency, etc.) and carefully slide it between the reed and the shoe. Probably worth doing even if you don’t see a discontinuity in the light around the reed. You might also give the reed a “twang” by plucking the end gently with your finger. If it breaks that suggests it was already fractured and will need to be replaced.

 

Put the reed back in the dovetail slot. Give the reed a firm press with your thumb toward the center of the pan to make sure it is in the slot tightly (you don’t want air to leak around the shoe). You might now try blowing through the reed, putting your lips on the chamber that surrounds the reed and occluding the open end with a finger. You should hear that the reed sounds. Replace the reed pan in the same orientation. Replace the bolts, loosely at first until they’re all in place, then “finger tight” then finally tight (but not too tight).

 

That will most likely do it. If not, you may be dealing with a reed fracture, which would require obtaining a new reed, but reeds usually go out of tune when they fracture.

 

Since writing the above I have discovered this video by Simon Thoumire, the first half of which says pretty much the same thing. Simon has an 8-sided English concertina rather than your 6-sided Anglo, but the principle is the same. The 2nd half of the video addresses problems with a pad (he opens the action box), but if your problem were the pad both notes (both directions) would fail.

 

 

 

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

[malcolm clapp]

Tinkering (a lovely word!) can be a bit daunting, but it's a rare player who hasn't at some time had to take a concertina apart for what hopefully is a minor fault. May I suggest that you acquire a copy of Dave Elliott's Concertina Repair Manual. Google it, but don't be tempted by the rip-off price being asked on Amazon; plenty of far less expensive sources.

 

It is likely that your fault is due to some foreign body, even a very small dust particle, which has entered the reed chamber and has lodged between the F reed and the reed shoe. To remove it will likely entail taking the instrument apart. However, there is a simple trick known in accordion circles as a "bellows laugh". Open up the bellows half way; hold down the E/F button; also hold down the next two buttons on the same row; then push and pull the bellows briskly in and out half a dozen times and hopefully the vibration will clear the obstruction.

 

Worth a try, but doesn't always work (I'd guess my success rate would be around 75%) Of course, the downside is that said grain of dust may then migrate to another reed and cause a similar problem, but hopefully not.

 

There are other reasons for a non-sounding reed, most of which can be remedied quite easily if one is game to take the instrument apart, *as outlined in David's excellent post above. However, with its recent restoration history, most are unlikely scenarios.  But give the "bellows laugh" a go, and good luck.

Edited February 22 by malcolm clapp
*To aknowledge David Barnert's cross-posting

[Jane_in_UK]

@David Barnert and @malcolm clapp, thank you so much for taking the time to write such comprehensive instructions. 

 

I've printed off David's step-by-step instructions, but I'm glad to say that on this occasion Malcolm's 'bellows laugh' did the trick and all my buttons are currently back to full working order. 

 

I'm going to be brave and take a look at the reed pan tomorrow, though, to overcome my nervousness about tinkering now that you've shown that it's no big deal to do a bit of maintenance. 

[malcolm clapp]

12 hours ago, Jane_in_UK said:

....but I'm glad to say that on this occasion Malcolm's 'bellows laugh' did the trick and all my buttons are currently back to full working order.

 

Congrats   😂

[Alan Day]

I once played for a barn Dance in a Farmers Barn. As soon as the dancers started dancing a dust cloud appeared and at least three of my notes jammed up. It turned out to be particles of straw in the reeds.

In passing a rare jam up was caused by the leather valve being drawn up the hole and jamming the reed but it only happened once in all the years I have been playing.

Al

[David Barnert]

I’ve found another video that goes over a lot of the same material. Can’t hurt to have many (slightly different) versions of the same information. I don’t know who this is or whether he’s a member of concertina.net.