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: Do old melodeons tighten up with regular playing?  (Read 1417 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Peadar

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1939
Do old melodeons tighten up with regular playing?
« on: May 17, 2019, 09:16:37 AM »

I get the impression that my old 3 stop - barely playable on arrival -is improving. It gets picked up and played for a couplke of minutes most days. As the patina has worn off the bass buttons the valves and bellows seem to have tightened up somewhat.

Have others noticed old boxes becoming more playable with use or am I deceiving myself?

Logged
Why should the devil have all the best instruments???

Helena Handcart

  • Nine-box Nellie
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2218
Re: Do old melodeons tighten up with regular playing?
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2019, 09:22:44 AM »

Have others noticed old boxes becoming more playable with use or am I deceiving myself?

Nope, but I have noticed how you can get used to something that's a bit rubbish by playing it more often  ;D
Logged
Sideways typing on the wooden handbag (now with added electric typewriter).

 Green Man Sword | Helena Handcart on Soundcloud| Squeezebox from Scratch |

Chris Rayner

  • Respected Sage
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 467
Re: Do old melodeons tighten up with regular playing?
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2019, 11:35:02 AM »

Hmmm.  Loosen I think more than tighten.  Bellows seem to become more pliant, buttons, and their associated mechanisms, more swiftly acting with less friction.  I suppose that the dust and debris of ages could have become wedged in the little leaky interstices, but my experience is that things tend to deteriorate in the long term with use.  Guitars, and similar stringed instruments tend to develop tone and playability with age, but I think this has more to do with wood drying out and changing its internal chemical structure slowly over the years.
Logged
Elderly amateur musician hoping to stave off dementia by learning to play the melodeon.  Main instrument a Tommy, also D/G and G/C pokerworks,  a single row 2 stop Hohner, and a new addition to the free reedery, a rather splendid Paolo Soprani four voice 120 bass c-system chromatic button accordion.  Very shiny, very loud, and about the same size and weight as a small car.  Now I’ve traded me Benny with (ahem) a cash adjustment, to a three voice 60 bass Castagnari K3.

Tone Dumb Greg

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4929
    • Dartmoor Border Morris
Re: Do old melodeons tighten up with regular playing?
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2019, 11:42:35 AM »

I suspect Helena is on the right lines.  As you get used to a box it can get/seem easier to play. You're starting to learn how to control it. It's called progress.
Logged
Greg Smith
DG/GC Pokerwork, DG 2.4 Saltarelle, pre-war CF Hohner, Hohner 1040 Vienna style, old  BbEb Hohner that needs a lot of work.

ACCORDION, n. An instrument in harmony with the sentiments of an assassin. Ambrose Bierce

Peadar

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1939
Re: Do old melodeons tighten up with regular playing?
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2019, 05:39:44 PM »

Progress sounds good (:). I had wondered if the valve leathers were seating better.
Logged
Why should the devil have all the best instruments???

rees

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4734
  • Windjammer
    • Wesson Accordions
Re: Do old melodeons tighten up with regular playing?
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2019, 11:27:11 PM »

Progress sounds good (:). I had wondered if the valve leathers were seating better.

Quite possible. Also the pallets will bed in better the more you play it.
Logged
Rees Wesson (accordion builder and mechanic)
Gungrog, Welshpool, Wales, UK
www.melodeons.com

TedK

  • Regular debater
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 121
Re: Do old melodeons tighten up with regular playing?
« Reply #6 on: June 12, 2019, 03:37:16 PM »

Every instrument I've owned seems to have mysteriously improved after a few months of playing!
Logged

Winston Smith

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Online Online
  • Posts: 3769
  • AKA Edward Jennings
    • "Our Luxor B&B" Luxor life, slice by slice.
Re: Do old melodeons tighten up with regular playing?
« Reply #7 on: June 12, 2019, 04:01:38 PM »

I believe that your exclamation mark gives the game away there, Ted. They get better as we get more used to playing them, would be my explanation. Of course, the better the player, the quicker any "improvement" will become apparent. (It takes about 6 months in my case! LOL.)
Logged
At last, broken and resigned to accept conformity.
Oh, how I LOVE Big Brother!

Peadar

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1939
Re: Do old melodeons tighten up with regular playing?
« Reply #8 on: June 12, 2019, 06:41:42 PM »

It is also entirely possible that I have discovered that bellows can be opened beyond 12 inches without damage, which will have worked wonders for air supply.
Logged
Why should the devil have all the best instruments???
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