Suddenly flat middle C on Morse Albion EC

[Ubizmo]

The subject header says it all pretty much. I just picked up the concertina and immediately noticed that middle C sounded off. Playing it alone with the low C made it obvious. The tuner shows it about 40 cents flat on the pull, 25 on the push. And the tone is slightly off, not as clean.

 

I searched and found a thread about a similar problem on a Wren Anglo last year, and the likely problem was a cracked reed. I don't know if the same would be true here. I have zero experience trying to repair these things, but I'm willing to try, unless I'm likely to cause even more damage.

 

[Tiposx]

It is more likely to be that the wax around that plate has cracked, so the plate is loose.

Both reed tongues are very unlikely to have cracked.

 

 

[Ubizmo]

That makes sense. This doesn't sound like a DIY job for someone who doesn't know anything about this stuff.

[David Lay]

25 minutes ago, Ubizmo said:

That makes sense. This doesn't sound like a DIY job for someone who doesn't know anything about this stuff.

I see you are in Philadelphia..  Liberty Bellows is there and could possibly help.  614 S 2nd St.  They are primarily an accordion shop and will know how to wax.

[Ubizmo]

30 minutes ago, David Lay said:

I see you are in Philadelphia..  Liberty Bellows is there and could possibly help.  614 S 2nd St.  They are primarily an accordion shop and will know how to wax.

Yup. They would be my first option. I've done business with them before. If I didn't have a damn apocalyptic snowstorm in progress I'd take it down there tomorrow. 

[Jody Kruskal]

You could also send it off to Bob Snope. Still doing Morse repairs in Asheville, NC.  

 

[Don Taylor]

As a temporary measure you could try to compress the wax around the reed with your finger which may reseal it for a while.  Make sure that the reed is flat against the reed pan first.

[David Lay]

I have fixed a couple of waxed reed shoes.

 

[Ubizmo]

Update: I brought the concertina down to Liberty Bellows and they fixed it while I waited. Apparently it was the wax seal that was the problem. The technician tested all the reeds while it was open and found two more that were likely to have a problem, which she showed me. So she fixed those too. Cost, $96, which included the $59 minimum "bench fee", since I didn't buy the instrument from them.