Ideas For Noise Reduction On A Lachenal

[Daniel Hersh]

I've got a 20-bone-button mahogany-ended Lachenal (serial number in the 150,000's) that plays nicely but has a pretty noisy action. I realize that Lachenal actions are a bit noisy by nature. However, I have a couple of ideas that I think might help a bit that I wanted to run by those more experienced than I.

 

First, the concertina doesn't have the felt washers that damp the sound when the buttons hit the action pan. Instead, it's got what appear to be tiny leather discs (same diameter as the buttons) intended to do the same thing, but the leather seems to have dried out over the years. Would it do any harm to add felt washers to see if that would help quiet things down? I suppose that it might be better to replace the leather discs, but the idea of making 20 little tiny perforated discs without leatherworking equipment seems a bit daunting.

 

Also, there are what appear to be little snippets of leather glued to the insides of the wooden ends of the concertina to dampen the sound when the tops of the pads thwack against the ends. Some of these are dried out and others are partly or completely missing, though there are glue marks that show me where the missing ones used to be. I tried using pieces of sticky felt (I had some lying around) to replace some of the missing ones, and it helped a bit. But I would think that leather would be better. If so, can anyone recommend a good type of leather for this use, and a good type of glue to attach it with? I'd prefer not to have to heat up a pot of hide glue but I'm willing to try pretty much anything else.

 

Thanks!

 

Daniel

[Theo]

Also, there are what appear to be little snippets of leather glued to the insides of the wooden ends of the concertina to dampen the sound when the tops of the pads thwack against the ends.

 

Originally your concertina would have had leather baffles behind the fretwork. Almost certainly what you are seeing is small pieces of material (often cork) placed there to support the baffles and to space the leather a few mm away from the rear of the fretwork.

 

The levers should not be able to strike the underside of the end plates. If they do it suggests that the levers are travelling too far. Fitting thicker felt dampers under the buttons to reduce noise will also have the effect of reducing the button travel (and also the lever travel) and could well solve both problems.

 

The design if Lachenal pivots is inherently more noisy that a riveted lever as used by Wheatstone. If you really want the quietest possible action then you would need to replace all the action. On a 20 key Lachenal it would be hard to justify that on cost grounds.

[Greg Jowaisas]

Lachenals are also known to be noisy due to a lack of felt bushing between buttons and ends. This is the area where the button's sides contact the fretwork. ("A chattering of Lachenals" is my endearing term for a gathering of these unbushed instruments!)

 

I have been tempted (but never attempted) to bush a few of the finer examples of 20b Lachenals that have come through my hands. It is necessary to ream out the button holes to accomodate the felt bushing. Dave Elliott's book describes the general procedure for bushing an instrument.

 

Lachenal did make even some lower end instruments with outstanding reeds. Great sound, but noisy!

 

I just added bushing to a 30b metal ended Lachenal. It really quieted everything down and made it feel tighter and faster.

 

Another approach might be to count the noise as part of the "discreet charm" of an authentic Lachenal akin to the percusive accompaniment of the hand to banjo head noise of old-time clawhammer banjo.

 

Greg

Edited April 17, 2007 by Greg Jowaisas

[Daniel Hersh]

Thanks, Theo--this is helpful.

 

Any thoughts on what kind of shop in the US might sell felt washers? I have e-mailed Button Box but haven't heard back. I realize that I can order from David Leese, but a domestic source would be simpler if I can find one.

 

I've thought about replacing the action but reached the same conclusion that you did.

 

Daniel

 

Also, there are what appear to be little snippets of leather glued to the insides of the wooden ends of the concertina to dampen the sound when the tops of the pads thwack against the ends.

Originally your concertina would have had leather baffles behind the fretwork. Almost certainly what you are seeing is small pieces of material (often cork) placed there to support the baffles and to space the leather a few mm away from the rear of the fretwork.

 

The levers should not be able to strike the underside of the end plates. If they do it suggests that the levers are travelling too far. Fitting thicker felt dampers under the buttons to reduce noise will also have the effect of reducing the button travel (and also the lever travel) and could well solve both problems.

 

The design if Lachenal pivots is inherently more noisy that a riveted lever as used by Wheatstone. If you really want the quietest possible action then you would need to replace all the action. On a 20 key Lachenal it would be hard to justify that on cost grounds.

[d.elliott]

talk to a piano repairer

[Daniel Hersh]

Thanks for the tip. I actually know a piano technician who also works on free reeds and plays a bit of concertina too. I have e-mailed him.

talk to a piano repairer

[Dave Prebble]

Thanks for the tip. I actually know a piano technician who also works on free reeds and plays a bit of concertina too. I have e-mailed him.

talk to a piano repairer

 

 

What you should ask for is thin (say 1 to 1.5mm) bushing cloth. This is a stitched felt rather than the ordinary craft type felts which are loose and tend to break up fairly quickly.

Regards

Dave

[Daniel Hersh]

Thanks very much, Dave. This makes me wonder...the discs that are already there are about 1.5 mm thick, so their thickness is correct. But their outside diameter is slightly smaller than the button diameter, and I'm hoping that discs with outside diameter that's slightly larger than the button diameter would make things better. Will this actually help, or is the current setup already giving me as good a result as I'm likely to get?

 

Thanks for the tip. I actually know a piano technician who also works on free reeds and plays a bit of concertina too. I have e-mailed him.

talk to a piano repairer

What you should ask for is thin (say 1 to 1.5mm) bushing cloth. This is a stitched felt rather than the ordinary craft type felts which are loose and tend to break up fairly quickly.

Regards

Dave