Wakker Replacement Action

[Hooves]

Would you do all or any of the above to a brass reeded plain mahogany ended Lachenal 'people's model' instrument?

 

Dave

 

 

Fair question, my humble answer is "I don't know".

 

I think the distinction betweeen the differing degrees of action treatment are worth noting, "restoration" vs. "replacement".

 

I prefer to pursue the philosphy of "If it ain't broke...", yet the the idea of ressurrecting antiques I think is a noble pursuit, but your point remains valid on the very low end models.

 

BTW I like brass reeds

 

I'm wondering if it would be easier to make brass "concertina" reeds which sound like vintage reeds rather than trying to get modern accordion steel reeds to sound like vintage reeds, but I digress, this is a thread about action replacement.

 

Thanks for the link to the site, the action looks very nice and well done.

Edited June 22, 2007 by Hooves

[wim wakker]

One reason for replacing the action in a concertina is to improve the way it plays, not necessarily because the action is worn...

 

A replacement action allows me to recalculate the best position and height of the pivot point, in order to get the maximum air flow to the reeds and at the same time get the best possible key pressure and key travel.

I’ve done maybe 50 or so instruments over the last 10 years and was able to achieve a considerable improvement in just about all of them. When you improve the airflow to the reed, the reeds amplitude and harmonics will improve. The instrument will have a richer tone, better dynamics, better swing cycle start (faster) and will sound better balanced over the whole range. By adjusting the position and height of the pivot point (I use 3 different heights in replacement actions), it is possible to reduce the key travel with 1+ mm and still generate the maximum airflow. The last advantage is the more even key pressure. Depending on the instrument, I usually can get the key pressure at 62/65 grams, with a maximum deviation of ca. 5 grams.

In general, concertina actions have a lot of room for improvement, not just Lachenal actions.. Personally I see a replacement action more as optimising the instrument, which is a common practice for many musical instruments. Many pianists replace their action with a Renner action….

 

Wim Wakker

Concertina Connection v.o.f.

[paperpunchr]

Doug,

 

one of the frailties of the Lachenal action is that the lever arms can twist as well as pivot up and down, this is usually on cranked arms that are shaped around other keys on the action. To recover this wear resulting from twisting, I have soft soldered reclaimed bits off broken brass reed tongues to the worn flank of the pivoting portion of the arm, and re-shaped its pivot profile as necassary. I then dress out the wear from the pivot post window, finally dressing back the repaired arm so that its a snug fit in to the window. The old reed tongue material makes a superb bearing surface.

 

This repair sounds more complicated than it is, and it works a treat.

 

Dave E

 

 

Thanks!

I'll pass that along to my friend...he's good with his hands...makes his living as a potter and pottery instructor.

 

Doug