Replacing Pads

[Dave Gray]

I have a question with regard to replacing pads on a vintage instrument. Are the small strips that glue over the top of the leather grommet to the pad necessary in order to effect a successful long term repair?

 

On vintage instruments I have seen, they have these small strips. Of the modern makers, Suttner, Carroll and Dipper seem to use them where as Edgley, Tedrow and Wakker do not.

 

I would like to make sure that the pads I replace last at least as long as the originals (probably many decades). What would your recommendation be based on experience? Also what are these strips made of?

 

 

Dave

[Theo]

In my experience the most common reason for replacing pads is that moths have eaten the felt, second most common is that the leather has hardened making them noisy and leaky. Sometimes pads fall off, but very often the former conditions exist too. So for longevity I would suggest keeping the concertina out of dark storage places (moths avoid the light when egg laying) and get the best soft lambskin for the pad facings. Those leather strips over the pads are unusual on Lachenal and Wheatstone instruments that I've worked on.

[d.elliott]

The leather strips seem to be a feature of crabb concertinas amongst one or two others, On very large pads on bass & some baritones they will lend some stability to the assembly, but I do not fit them habitually.

 

Dave

[Robin Madge]

I would fit them if they were fitted originally. As other parts of the action wear it helps to have a bit more stability when you can get it.

 

I have recently been having a problem with pad delaminating on one concertina which Steve Dickenson re-padded about 20 years ago. The leather is coming unglued from the felt, and I've had about 10 affected in 6 months. A batch of glue that had a limited life-span?

 

Robin Madge

[Frank Edgley]

The strips are, I think, a bit of insurance that the pads will not fall off. With modern glues, they're usually pretty secure, if enough glue has been used on them. As to stabilty, I'm not sure about that. The pads should be able to flex a bit where attached to the leather nuts, to make sure they will always lay flat against he action board for a good seal. That's why I, and some other makers, use small leather mounts between the pads and the leather nuts.

[Stephen Chambers]

I would fit them if they were fitted originally.

Robin,

 

That would be my philosophy too.

 

I have recently been having a problem with pad delaminating on one concertina which Steve Dickenson re-padded about 20 years ago. The leather is coming unglued from the felt, and I've had about 10 affected in 6 months. A batch of glue that had a limited life-span?

I've had plenty of problems with one batch of pads he made using double-sided tape, and they slide apart over time. The trouble is that I used them in my own Edeophone, and in plenty of repairs that I did too, and they keep coming back to haunt me!