A couple of questions

[tzirtzi]

So, I have a couple of problems/questions - hopefully they will turn out to be in the wrong section!

 

Firstly, the minor question - Could someone who has owned a Jackie English concertina confirm for me that to tighten the thumb straps I need to undo the little bolt that holds each strap in place and replace it in the next hole in the strap? It's too tight for me to move with my fingers, and I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing before taking any kind of tools to my instrument!

 

Secondly, the slightly more worrying issue - when I press the B key on the left hand side of the instrument I can hear a slight buzzing at the same time as the note sounds. I don't get this buzzing with any other key, and hadn't got it with this key before today. Is this just something environment (too hot, too cold..) that will pass, is it just a 'feature' of the instrument to be lived with, or does it indicate that I'm doing something wrong / need to do something right?

 

Thanks in advance for any replies!

[Roger Gawley]

You are right: you need to undo the bolt and move to another hole. This is a respectable way to do it: Charles Wheatstone used the same idea although the heads on the Jackie bolts are smaller. You should be OK using pliers with a bit of cloth to avoid marking.

 

About the buzzing B, I can only say that my Jackie does not do this. I would suspect a valve/flap problem but there will be others here who understand this much better.

 

(and no I do not normally play a Jackie but my usual instrument is in for repair)

[tzirtzi]

You are right: you need to undo the bolt and move to another hole. This is a respectable way to do it: Charles Wheatstone used the same idea although the heads on the Jackie bolts are smaller. You should be OK using pliers with a bit of cloth to avoid marking.

 

Thanks very much! I'll get my pliers out and have a go .

[Pete Dunk]

when I press the B key on the left hand side of the instrument I can hear a slight buzzing at the same time as the note sounds. I don't get this buzzing with any other key, and hadn't got it with this key before today. Is this just something environment (too hot, too cold..) that will pass, is it just a 'feature' of the instrument to be lived with, or does it indicate that I'm doing something wrong / need to do something right?

 

Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

Hello tzirtzi (how the devil do you say that?) I have a Jack baritone but I had a Jackie for a little while. Is the buzzing a true buzz like an angry insect or a gentler 'burble' like a large fairy farting?

 

Pete.

Edited November 18, 2008 by tallship

[RustyH]

My Anglo Rochelle has started to develop buzzes on a couple of notes (E and D), more a muting, like it's not vibrating from the rivet end but part way along the plate. I opened it up and cleaned what I could. The chrome is flaking/pealing off the levers and there are several plastic flaps that don't seat properly flat, thus air leaks, I assume. As well I have a couple of notes that have gone slightly flat, so that when I play their alternates they sound different.

 

One problem is that because the reeds are in little boxes there is only access to the ones showing, so I don't know how to get at the hidden ones to clean. I did find the screens weren't glued all the way down on a number of them so I went around with CA and glued them down.

 

I have found Chrome flakes, blue button fluff, small plywood slivers, glue drops, and general dust inside. Most of the cardboard bends inside the bellows are split and beginning to peel (it was always like that, as I opened it and had a look on the day it arrived). BUT, I'm still plunking away and having fun, just trying to find a way to buy a better instrument.

Edited November 18, 2008 by RustyH

[Pete Dunk]

This sounds like an issue for Wim Wakker to answer in person. Have you contacted him and voiced your concerns? He really is proactive you know!

 

My Anglo Rochelle has started to develop buzzes on a couple of notes (E and D), more a muting, like it's not vibrating from the rivet end but part way along the plate. I opened it up and cleaned what I could. The chrome is flaking/pealing off the levers and there are several plastic flaps that don't seat properly flat, thus air leaks, I assume. As well I have a couple of notes that have gone slightly flat, so that when I play their alternates they sound different.

 

One problem is that because the reeds are in little boxes there is only access to the ones showing, so I don't know how to get at the hidden ones to clean. I did find the screens weren't glued all the way down on a number of them so I went around with CA and glued them down.

 

I have found Chrome flakes, blue button fluff, small plywood slivers, glue drops, and general dust inside. Most of the cardboard bends inside the bellows are split and beginning to peel (it was always like that, as I opened it and had a look on the day it arrived). BUT, I'm still plunking away and having fun, just trying to find a way to buy a better instrument.

[tzirtzi]

Hello tzirtzi (how the devil do you say that?) I have a Jack baritone but I had a Jackie for a little while. Is the buzzing a true buzz like an angry insect or a gentler 'burble' like a large fairy farting?

Pete.

 

Hmm. It's quite a high pitched buzzing, and voiceless - if I heard it separately from the note, I wouldn't be able to identify what note it was (like you can for a fly's buzzing). It reminded me of playing the piano when someone had put a pile of stuff on top of it so that certain pitches made the whole thing vibrate.

 

As for the name - well, I can give you the X-SAMPA /ts)I@ts)i:/ or the IPA /t͜sɪət͜siː/ - but you'd be in the majority if you couldn't read those. Suffice it to say that "tz" is pronounced like t + s, the "ir" is pronounced like "ear" and the final "i" is an "ee" sound .

[LDT]

Hello tzirtzi (how the devil do you say that?) I have a Jack baritone but I had a Jackie for a little while. Is the buzzing a true buzz like an angry insect or a gentler 'burble' like a large fairy farting?

Pete.

 

Hmm. It's quite a high pitched buzzing, and voiceless - if I heard it separately from the note, I wouldn't be able to identify what note it was (like you can for a fly's buzzing). It reminded me of playing the piano when someone had put a pile of stuff on top of it so that certain pitches made the whole thing vibrate.

 

is it like the sound on this at about 1.26

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kmwZtL7dEE8

[tzirtzi]

is it like the sound on this at about 1.26

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kmwZtL7dEE8

 

Hmm.. Quite possibly - it's hard to tell because the difference in the sound from the live player's perspective and from a recording is quite significant, but I would guess that it is the same kind of buzzing.

 

Did you find the cause of yours?

Edited November 18, 2008 by tzirtzi

[LDT]

is it like the sound on this at about 1.26

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kmwZtL7dEE8

 

Hmm.. Quite possibly - it's hard to tell because the difference in the sound from the player's perspective and from a recording is quite significant, but I would guess that it is the same kind of buzzing.

 

Did you find the cause of yours?

I closed and opened it to the full extent and it got quieter. Then the more I practiced the less it buzzed...now it doesn't do it anymore.

[tzirtzi]

I closed and opened it to the full extent and it got quieter. Then the more I practiced the less it buzzed...now it doesn't do it anymore.

 

Interesting - hopefully, it's just a problem in the way I'm playing, then.

[Pete Dunk]

Hmm. It's quite a high pitched buzzing, and voiceless - if I heard it separately from the note, I wouldn't be able to identify what note it was (like you can for a fly's buzzing). It reminded me of playing the piano when someone had put a pile of stuff on top of it so that certain pitches made the whole thing vibrate.

I don't know how long you've had the Jackie but Wim Wakker mentioned in a previous thread somewhere that this series of instruments has what might be best described as teething problems, random reed buzzes etc which settle down after a while. If the B reed was catching the side of its slot the buzzing would be pitched with the note, if it happens on both push and pull then it's not likely that both reeds on that plate are suffering exactly the same problem. Perhaps something is vibrating in sympathy with that particular pitch of note.

 

Some time ago I started a thread for Jack/Jackie/Rochelle owners who have encountered problems but it keeps getting buried ten pages back in the Construction & Repair section. Look through the pictures and you'll see that the keys have no cross bushing where the levers pass through, to my mind this is a potential source of buzzing caused by sympathetic vibration.

 

That might be utter tosh of course and knowing me it probably is.

 

Pete.

[tzirtzi]

I don't know how long you've had the Jackie but Wim Wakker mentioned in a previous thread somewhere that this series of instruments has what might be best described as teething problems, random reed buzzes etc which settle down after a while. If the B reed was catching the side of its slot the buzzing would be pitched with the note, if it happens on both push and pull then it's not likely that both reeds on that plate are suffering exactly the same problem. Perhaps something is vibrating in sympathy with that particular pitch of note.

 

Some time ago I started a thread for Jack/Jackie/Rochelle owners who have encountered problems but it keeps getting buried ten pages back in the Construction & Repair section. Look through the pictures and you'll see that the keys have no cross bushing where the levers pass through, to my mind this is a potential source of buzzing caused by sympathetic vibration.

 

That might be utter tosh of course and knowing me it probably is.

 

Pete.

 

Sympathetic vibrations would certainly make sense.. I'll keep on playing for a while in the hope that it is indeed a 'teething problem' and simply solves itself . Thanks for the link, btw - I've read and bookmarked the thread, and will return to it if I ever have to open up my instrument!

[RustyH]

Thanks for the link tallship, (it would be nice if it was it's own permanent topic) the information provided is what I've more or less done. I'm not in the least disappointed with the Rochelle, as "ya gets what ya pay for", and regardless of sound it's the button pushing I need to learn and they have been working flawlessly.

 

Having read Bob Tedrow's article on making bellows, I'm game for giving it a try. As well, I'd like to make a custom set of end plates (lots of woods available in my woodturning shop for this, and with years making silver jewelry, I have hundreds of hours of fret work).

 

I have noticed that working the suspect reeds does seem to improve them (like it re-aligns them or gets rid of whatever reduces the clearance). The problem of the plastic film not seating correctly seems to be the result of the glue forming a slight wedge at the top where they are attached, although one seems to have a slight curve upwards, if I remember correctly.

 

I guess I should let Mr. Wakker know what I've experienced, just never thought of it.

 

Anyway, the Rochelle is a transition instrument, I'm still very pleased with it, as it owes me nothing and is still giving me hours of fun and frustration.....