Melodeon.net Forums

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Welcome to the new melodeon.net forum

Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Reeds stamped with an 'O'  (Read 4117 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

syale

  • The Terrier
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 708
  • When will this MADness stop?
Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« on: October 21, 2014, 12:55:03 AM »

I bought a melodeon on US eBay with no discernible markings to experiment on tuning the reeds. The box looks pretty bad but all the reeds are there and not a spec of rust on the visible ones. The reeds themselves have a circle or O stamped in the aluminium. Any idea what I have? This is the link. Other images attached
Logged
HA114 C/G/A/D, 2915 G/C. Liliput, Club IIB C/F Dino Baffetti Modell 22 B Twitter: @syale

forrest

  • Other Places::
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1001
  • digits still functioning
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2014, 01:44:29 AM »

 There are other threads about "O" reeds. They are actually pretty good sounding reeds. I think the manufacturer was DIX. Try the search box, I'm sure you'll get lots of info
Logged

syale

  • The Terrier
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 708
  • When will this MADness stop?
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2014, 01:49:52 AM »

Thanks Forrest! Looks like I hit gold then  ;D. They are zinc and not aluminium.

On closer inspection it looks like the reeds are milled across rather than the length of the reed. Maybe I won't practice tuning on them right away...

Stephen
« Last Edit: October 21, 2014, 02:36:15 AM by syale »
Logged
HA114 C/G/A/D, 2915 G/C. Liliput, Club IIB C/F Dino Baffetti Modell 22 B Twitter: @syale

malcolmbebb

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2609
  • In dampest Dorset, on the soggy south coast.
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #3 on: October 21, 2014, 07:41:07 AM »

Steve,
I recently got a cheap box, "Lilliputian" thread. Those reeds have an O or a circle on them. There's a photo, any similarity?
Logged
Dino BPII.
"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire."

old geezer

  • Regular debater
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 241
  • Hohner Melodeon
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2014, 09:04:25 AM »

here's a pic of the 'o' reeds that are in a "M Hohner" 2 row 2 voice 4 stop project atm.
it's tuned Bb / Eb with 4 reeds to the cords, the treble, bass and cord reeds are on zinc plates
I've had to make 2 reeds in D# on the Bb row of the treble end as they were broken


Logged
Jack Murphy    beyond the black stump

Steve_freereeder

  • Content Manager
  • Hero Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 7511
  • MAD is inevitable. Keep Calm and Carry On
    • Lizzie Dripping
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #5 on: October 21, 2014, 09:56:51 AM »

On closer inspection it looks like the reeds are milled across rather than the length of the reed.
All the reeds that I've ever seen are like this. It's standard practice. I do believe that some manufacturers offer reeds which are filed longitudinally, but I think they are the exception and definitely not the norm.

Quote
Maybe I won't practice tuning on them right away...
Just go carefully and you'll be OK.

Obviously before you even attempt any tuning, you will need to remove all the reed plates, clean off all the old valves and wax, then replace with new.
Logged
Steve
Sheffield, UK.
www.lizziedripping.org.uk

Theo

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13704
  • Hohner Club Too
    • The Box Place
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2014, 10:19:18 AM »

Reeds marked with the circle are the most common type I see in Klingenthal built boxes that have separate reed plates.  So no need to feel any reluctance to use them to use them to practice tuning. Length ground reeds, which may also be marked with the circle are a higher grade.   
Logged
Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

Proprietor of The Box Place for melodeon and concertina sales and service.
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook for stock updates.

A.J. Walker

  • Good talker
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 58
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #7 on: October 21, 2014, 11:45:55 PM »

Ah-HA! I had used the search box here for O and "O" reed plates before, but it wouldn't accept single letters. I got a 2-row Eb/Ab 3-voice box at a local auction recently. It has the circle-marked aluminum plates, looking like they're longitudinally ground. Made by a fellow in St.Louis, Missouri, USA in 1932 (signed on back of a cover plate).

Logged

triskel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3290
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2014, 03:04:38 PM »

Made by a fellow in St.Louis, Missouri, USA in 1932 (signed on back of a cover plate).

August J. Engelmann by any chance? (I've got a 25-key one by him: http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php/topic,14984.msg184793.html#msg184793)

A.J. Walker

  • Good talker
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 58
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2014, 03:46:08 PM »

August J. Engelmann by any chance? (I've got a 25-key one by him: http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php/topic,14984.msg184793.html#msg184793)
YES!! Just figured out his cursive handwriting yesterday and found him in census records. Looked like Eugel-something. Will post a couple pics at the end of your topic later when I get home.
Logged

lineol

  • Member
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #10 on: October 22, 2014, 10:29:15 PM »

Thats DIX reeds from Gera/Germany. The DIX Company moved in the 1960s to Kingenthal so thats why the most old Klingenthal boxes has reeds with o stamp.

Foma

  • Member
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 21
    • Гармонь
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2014, 02:28:23 PM »

I've seen a reeds  stamped with an 'O',
stamped with  ‘Δ’.
I thought that since the front of the reeds.
Logged

911377brian

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1518
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2014, 05:18:09 PM »

I did'nt understand that Foma .......  ???
Logged

Graham Spencer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3538
  • MAD as a wet Hohner........
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2014, 06:33:58 PM »

I've seen a reeds  stamped with an 'O',
stamped with  ‘Δ’.
I thought that since the front of the reeds.

A box I'm currently restoring has its Gleichton reeds marked with a triangle.  No, I didn't know it was a club system when I bought it - another extra little job now to declub it........

Graham
Logged
Among others, Saltarelle Pastourelle II D/G; Hohner 4-stop 1-rows in C & G; assorted Hohners; 3-voice German (?) G/C of uncertain parentage; lovely little Hlavacek 1-row Heligonka; B♭/E♭ Koch. Newly acquired G/C Hohner Viktoria. Also Fender Jazz bass, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Epiphone Sheraton, Charvel-Jackson 00-style acoustic guitar, Danelectro 12-string and other stuff..........

Squeezing in the Cyprus sunshine

Theo

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13704
  • Hohner Club Too
    • The Box Place
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #14 on: October 23, 2014, 07:58:48 PM »

Very early reeds have quite a variety of markings, as well as the ones already mentioned I've seen squares, swastikas, and other things.
Logged
Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

Proprietor of The Box Place for melodeon and concertina sales and service.
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook for stock updates.

MikeK

  • Respected Sage
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 352
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #15 on: October 23, 2014, 09:22:22 PM »


A box I'm currently restoring has its Gleichton reeds marked with a triangle.  No, I didn't know it was a club system when I bought it - another extra little job now to declub it........

Graham

[/quote]

Pardon my ignorance but what is the difference between a clubbed box and one that has been declubbed?  Early on,whilst trying various melodeons to find one to suit, I had a Hohner Club111m in C/F.
« Last Edit: October 23, 2014, 11:58:28 PM by Tuechter »
Logged
I always respect my elders but they are getting fewer in numbers.

Graham Spencer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3538
  • MAD as a wet Hohner........
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #16 on: October 24, 2014, 05:37:20 AM »

Pardon my ignorance but what is the difference between a clubbed box and one that has been declubbed?  Early on,whilst trying various melodeons to find one to suit, I had a Hohner Club111m in C/F.


 In the "club" treble layout the fifth note of the scale on the inside row is repeated on the pull as well as the push, and you have to pick up the sixth note from the outside row. It's explained here: http://forum.melodeon.net/index.php/page,keyboard_25_row.html

"Declubbing" simply means replacing that pair of reeds (my box is a G/C, so the unisonoric pair is G/G) with the appropriate pair (in this case G/A) to make it into a conventional layout.  Actually my box isn't a true club, because it doesn't have a "helper" row, and the bass layout is conventional (the inside lower pair play the same note & chord on both push & pull).  A bit of a weirdie, really; really well made, very typically German but absolutely no identifying marks anywhere on the instrument.

Graham
Logged
Among others, Saltarelle Pastourelle II D/G; Hohner 4-stop 1-rows in C & G; assorted Hohners; 3-voice German (?) G/C of uncertain parentage; lovely little Hlavacek 1-row Heligonka; B♭/E♭ Koch. Newly acquired G/C Hohner Viktoria. Also Fender Jazz bass, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Epiphone Sheraton, Charvel-Jackson 00-style acoustic guitar, Danelectro 12-string and other stuff..........

Squeezing in the Cyprus sunshine

MikeK

  • Respected Sage
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 352
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #17 on: October 24, 2014, 10:17:09 AM »

Many thanks for that, Graham. The layout on mine was the same as the chart. I really loved the rich sound from it but struggled with the fingering.
Sometimes I wish I had kept hold of it and perservered for a while longer.
Logged
I always respect my elders but they are getting fewer in numbers.

Broadland Boy

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1243
  • Awful noises from Pokerwork, HA114G, BbEb Liliputs
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #18 on: October 25, 2014, 12:08:56 AM »

If the delta mark is seen on gleichton reedplates,  is it possible that this was used to readily identify unisonoric from diatonic reed plates ? are PA & other unisonoric system reedplates of this type / period found marked with a O or a delta  ???
Logged
Richard A
Venit ventus contrarius ventus egrediente,
Omnes prope quid ventum est circa

triskel

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3290
Re: Reeds stamped with an 'O'
« Reply #19 on: November 12, 2014, 04:38:36 PM »

I've discovered that I have a 1939 catalogue (from Hess in Klingenthal) showing the reeds stamped with a triangle, and it seems they are "Rundschliff" ("round-grind") with a semi-circular grinding along them, as opposed to the Dix "Langschliff" ("long-grind") lengthways-ground ones.

Here's the page, for anybody who's good at German:

Pages: [1]   Go Up
 


Melodeon.net - (c) Theo Gibb; Clive Williams 2010. The access and use of this website and forum featuring these terms and conditions constitutes your acceptance of these terms and conditions.
SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal