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[Gareth Sprack]

Hi All, this is my very first post, so be gentle.

I have had the above instrument for well over forty years and now I am nearing retirement I thought I better learn to get a tune out of it, so since Christmas I have been getting down to it.
When I picked it up again I noticed I now have a silent reed on my top button, 2nd stop in from the front.  As I can't hear anything rattling I was wondering if I should have a look inside to see if its a simple cause and cure.  I know the note was there just under a year ago as I did get it out now and again.
Am I correct in thinking to get into the beast I just gently pull the four silver pins, or is there more to it than that?

Thanks..........Gareth

[Dick Rees]

Gareth...

Pulling the four pins is the simple part.  The shell fits over a protrusion of the bellows frame and is gasketed with very thin leather or, in some cases, a hefty paper.  After 40 years it is likely that the gasket material will be easily pulled apart as the shell and bellows are worked apart.  I'll let others suggest the best procedures for dealing with this part of the job.

Mute reeds often need only be tweaked free.  Again, I'll leave suggestions as to best methods to the more experienced.  Just make sure when dis-assembling the box that you do it over a tray or sizeable bin to corral any small bits which may escape...to say nothing of the forty years of music which has been waiting to flood out.  Keep a music mop handy.

[Tone Dumb Greg]

I think you may have found the road to hell, or heaven.

[Winston Smith]

Well, Greg, he can join the rest of us who started out hoping to become like the Forum angels sent from above! (Of course I'm talking about Theo, Mike, Lester, Rees etc. etc.) However, being full of good intentions, we're bound for that other place for the next 40 years or so, while we slowly gather experience.

Oh, and welcome Gareth, you'll find the MADness very comforting on here.

[Gareth Sprack]

Is the road to hell trying to get a tune out of it, or trying to get inside it?
Although my dear wife often thinks the former!

[Tone Dumb Greg]

Is the road to hell trying to get a tune out of it, or trying to get inside it?
Although my dear wife often thinks the former!

I deliberately wasn't specific

[melodeon]

Your wife and mine must have been chatting : )

Identify the reed, locate its position. Open the box ( there is always the first time, and yes it gets better)
Do a little light flicking and see what happns.

Best of luck !

[Steve_freereeder]

...Identify the reed, locate its position. Open the box ( there is always the first time, and yes it gets better)
Do a little light flicking and see what happens.

Yes, Melodeon's advice is good. That is usually the first approach and often is sufficient to remove a speck of dust or dirt which is preventing the reed tongue from vibrating properly. The push-note reed tongues are the ones which are immediately visible on the upper surface of the reed plates. These are easy to flick the reed tongues.

However, if it is a pull-note which is not working, it will be a reed tongue on the underneath side of the reed plate, and normally would be hidden by a leather or plastic valve. In this case use a wooden cocktail stick to gently lift the valve and push the stick through the slot in the reed plate until you feel the reed tongue and then gently flex the tongue a few times. A couple of millimetres or so is all that's needed. Then reassemble the box and 'see what happens'. Repeat the process if necessary.

if you still can't get the reed to sound despite the flicking process, something else may be at fault, so come back here and ask again...

[Nick Collis Bird]

Hi Gareth and welcome. A small thing but worth mentioning, if you pull both ends off make sure you replace them to the same side of the bellows they came from otherwise the pins won’t fit.
  Another small tip, try and replace the pins in same location they came from. It’s amazing how different the pins can be.