Discussions > Instrument Design, Construction and Repair
Different Internal Reed valves?
ChrisLDD:
I'm in the process of converting an oddball Serafini Darwin box back to something more normal.
Stripping down the reed-blocks, I noticed that all the internal valves all are a single piece of soft leather (no springs), while the external valves are all what I would consider to be a more modern 'plastic-leaf and leather' combination.
Is this something that just got done to all the external valves because of accessibility, or is there something subtle going on here? I.e. that within the protected confines of the reed chamber, a single piece of leather works better?
Should have mentioned ... this is just on the chord reeds.
Steve_freereeder:
--- Quote from: ChrisLDD on September 23, 2017, 09:46:09 AM ---Is this something that just got done to all the external valves because of accessibility....
--- End quote ---
Yes, I suspect this is probably the case. I would guess that the valves were originally all leather. I've often observed that as leather valves age, the outside valves seem more prone to curling (and damage) than the inside valves. Possibly someone has renewed the outside valves but left the inside ones alone, maybe because they were OK, but more likely to avoid removing the reed plates from the wax. A bit of an ill-advised short-cut in my opinion, as the type of valve material can affect the sound quality, and ideally you want the push and pull reeds to sound as similar as possible.
Lester:
I cannot tell a lie it was me that replaced the chord reed valves with 'plastic-leaf and leather' combination.
They were replaced because, as discussed previously in ChrisLDD's other thread, due to the close proximity of the bellows to block the original valves were all damaged by becoming trapped in the bellows folds and curled. I offered to replace them all with the same type of valve but the customer (always right) wanted the least costly solution.
ChrisLDD:
--- Quote from: Steve_freereeder on September 23, 2017, 10:25:08 AM ---
--- Quote from: ChrisLDD on September 23, 2017, 09:46:09 AM ---Is this something that just got done to all the external valves because of accessibility....
--- End quote ---
Yes, I suspect this is probably the case. I would guess that the valves were originally all leather. I've often observed that as leather valves age, the outside valves seem more prone to curling (and damage) than the inside valves. Possibly someone has renewed the outside valves but left the inside ones alone, maybe because they were OK, but more likely to avoid removing the reed plates from the wax. A bit of an ill-advised short-cut in my opinion, as the type of valve material can affect the sound quality, and ideally you want the push and pull reeds to sound as similar as possible.
--- End quote ---
Ahh ... I see from Lester's post, your suspicions were totally correct - I will replace with leather valves, as originally fitted.
ChrisLDD:
--- Quote from: Lester on September 23, 2017, 10:45:02 AM ---I cannot tell a lie it was me that replaced the chord reed valves with 'plastic-leaf and leather' combination.
They were replaced because, as discussed previously in ChrisLDD's other thread, due to the close proximity of the bellows to block the original valves were all damaged by becoming trapped in the bellows folds and curled. I offered to replace them all with the same type of valve but the customer (always right) wanted the least costly solution.
--- End quote ---
Thanks for the info Lester - the box internals are definitely tight for space around the reedblocks.
Just wondering about the supplier of the valves you used - they're nice quality, and better than anything similar I have to hand.
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