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Author Topic: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.  (Read 1979 times)

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arty

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Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« on: September 17, 2017, 05:37:08 PM »

Everything was alright yesterday but today, a note on my Castagnari Laura G/C is refusing to speak!
The highest note 'E' on the C row is making no sound at all. 

Is this something I can fix myself? If so, how do I do it? I have absolutely no idea !
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Lester

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2017, 05:46:54 PM »

Depends on how confident you are, probably just something caught in the reed. So take the treble end pins out, remove the treble end, remove the reed block with the least reeds, ping the two shortest reeds which should remove the blockage, reassemble and Robert is your father's brother.

Thrupenny Bit

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2017, 06:25:30 PM »

Being a total Melodeon mechanic numpty ( official title ), I've done this on a couple of occaisions.
The worst bit it starting!
It's worth  go and if you can sort it ( odds on it's a spec of dust ) then you've learnt something and had  huge sense of achievement.
I always keep my boxes stood on their bass end feet. On the odd time I've laid them flat it's happened so I conclude it's dust that collects moving to a position where it gets into the reeds, whereas on their feet it doesn't happen.
Probably talking total bolleaux but seems to make sense!
Good luck
Q
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Thrupenny Bit

I think I'm starting to get most of the notes in roughly the right order...... sometimes!

arty

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2017, 07:04:09 PM »

Lester and Q, thank you very much. I will have a go - a speck of dust - how annoying! If it doesn't work or I get into trouble, I'll be back !

Living in Jersey, as I do, is an absolute pain if something goes wrong. Jersey is not part of the UK, neither is it in the EU, so parcels sent to England get stopped by Customs. It can take weeks to sort out and sometimes 20% import duty has to be paid. The fact that it is an instrument being repaired and returned, doesn't interest them at all.
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Lester

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2017, 07:09:34 PM »

Lester and Q, thank you very much. I will have a go - a speck of dust - how annoying! If it doesn't work or I get into trouble, I'll be back !

Living in Jersey, as I do, is an absolute pain if something goes wrong. Jersey is not part of the UK, neither is it in the EU, so parcels sent to England get stopped by Customs. It can take weeks to sort out and sometimes 20% import duty has to be paid. The fact that it is an instrument being repaired and returned, doesn't interest them at all.

I'm available for house calls at a very reasonable cost  ;)

arty

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2017, 07:27:34 PM »


I'm available for house calls at a very reasonable cost  ;)

Ha Ha Ha! If I win the lottery Lester :-)
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Theo

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2017, 08:34:25 PM »

Before you start taking things apart it's worth trying the non-invasive method.  Hold down the button and then pump the bellows onand out as hard as you dare.  Doesn't always work but so simple it's always worth trying.
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arty

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #7 on: September 17, 2017, 09:49:41 PM »

OK, I will, thanks Theo !
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mselic

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #8 on: September 17, 2017, 10:07:26 PM »

I've had this happen to me on numerous occasions and nearly every time the cause of the problem was an obstruction of some kind, whether it be a speck of dust, wax, and even hair! I've found that you really have to look closely and carefully, as the offending object is often barely visible to the eye.

The only other cause that I've come across is reed gap that was set too low. To fix this, I would carefully pry "open" the reed in question and it would sound fine, at least for a time, after which it might settle back down a bit too low again, necessitating a repeat of the same procedure.
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playandteach

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #9 on: September 17, 2017, 10:21:40 PM »

Knowing how you value your instruments I would use the right pulling pliers and maybe protect the case with thin card or plastic until you get used to the amount of force needed - it's easy for the pliers to slip (or for you to 'lever' the pins out which is bad) if they're the wrong type. It's the sort of thing that is dead easy after the first time,
Some people advise keeping a note of which pins went into which holes - though this is unlikely to be necessary on your box. If the pins don't go back in easily, question whether you have compressed the bellows gasket enough (or even put the treble end on backwards).
Not trying to put you off a very simple job Arty, but other people's mistakes are worth learning from.
Obviously none of this is necessary if Theo's extreme air works.
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arty

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #10 on: September 17, 2017, 10:37:52 PM »

Thanks Pete and mselic. Hopefully it will all go easily!
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Malcolm Clapp

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #11 on: September 17, 2017, 10:41:29 PM »

Before you start taking things apart it's worth trying the non-invasive method.  Hold down the button and then pump the bellows onand out as hard as you dare.  Doesn't always work but so simple it's always worth trying.

Taking this advice a step further, I have found it can be more successful if, in addition to the button relating to the fouled reed, a couple of other adjacent buttons are also held down. I don't know why this tends to work; possibly sympathetic vibrations? Worth a try anyway....

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Tuner/repairer, now retired, but still playing! Happy to offer advice on repairs etc., and might be persuaded to undertake the odd emergency job for local and longtime  customers. Selling a few melodeons from my collection currently....

Steve_freereeder

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #12 on: September 18, 2017, 02:26:45 AM »

Some people advise keeping a note of which pins went into which holes - though this is unlikely to be necessary on your box. ...
I do this as a matter of course and regard it as best practice. I stick the bellows pins into a bit of expanded polystyrene (e.g. from a pizza packaging base). Other people are more sophisticated and have a nice block of wood with holes drilled in it to take the pins loosely. Also I've found that Italian instruments often seem to have bellows pins of slightly different diameters on the same instrument  ::) so yes, on a Castagnari Laura I would regard identifying the bellows pins locations as important.
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Rob2Hook

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #13 on: September 18, 2017, 07:50:54 PM »

I have several boards like that - I'd not thought to use them for bellows pins, I usually just lose a few pennies at cribbage!

Rob.

P.S. There is a principle applied on boats that everything should serve at least two purposes, so that's another one sorted.
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arty

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #14 on: September 18, 2017, 09:04:57 PM »

Before you start taking things apart it's worth trying the non-invasive method.  Hold down the button and then pump the bellows onand out as hard as you dare.  Doesn't always work but so simple it's always worth trying.

GOOD NEWS!!!! I got my top 'E' back. Thank you Theo, it just blew out after about 10 goes, without having to take the box apart. Phew!
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Thrupenny Bit

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #15 on: September 18, 2017, 09:13:00 PM »

Result!! Excellent news, without surgery too.
Well done matey......
Q
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Thrupenny Bit

I think I'm starting to get most of the notes in roughly the right order...... sometimes!

Theo

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Re: Help! a reed has stopped sounding.
« Reply #16 on: September 18, 2017, 09:26:46 PM »

Before you start taking things apart it's worth trying the non-invasive method.  Hold down the button and then pump the bellows onand out as hard as you dare.  Doesn't always work but so simple it's always worth trying.

GOOD NEWS!!!! I got my top 'E' back. Thank you Theo, it just blew out after about 10 goes, without having to take the box apart. Phew!

Very pleased to share tricks of the trade.
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Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

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