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Author Topic: Files  (Read 10413 times)

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Pete Dunk

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Re: Files
« Reply #20 on: May 02, 2008, 07:25:33 PM »

I don't know what calibre of person, or musician you are. You may be a highly sensitive individual who is well qualified to be a judge of all things pertaining to every aspect of the Button Accordion. You may be a masterful player, a national treasure of long standing and priceless cultural value. Or you may not be.

As a person I'm an everyday working man, bright enough to get by and always have a job but not bright enough to make loads of money.  :( As a musician I'm a fair guitarist but not more than that, I've always loved music but I'm not a natural musician at all, everything I've learned is through sheer dogged determination. I am very new to the melodeon so the standard of my playing would best be described as rank beginner.  ;D

My comments weren't intended as a put down and I'm very sorry if they seemed so.

Pete.
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Geoffleft

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Re: Files
« Reply #21 on: May 03, 2008, 01:37:07 PM »

Well now. I was the one who was appearing a little exaspirated.... sorry.

In all doctrines of worth, we usually come to the point of realizing that the more we know, the more we don't know.

And when there are real questions to be asked, and real facts to be communicated, It is sometimes sobering to realize that people who haven't come as far down the path as ourselves still need to have a voice. And we all need to be able to stand back and have a chuckle too.

I'm quite a mediocre player, but I do love all that there is about Button Accordion culture.

Tallship. You can play the guitar, you lucky barstard! All those chords and notes. We were just talking about it at the session last week. You've got it all over us single note players, and that includes the fiddlers. And I bet you have some great songs too. We'll just stop the tunes for a bit now, and let us dream off into some great song of old wonder.... ah





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Pete Dunk

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Re: Files
« Reply #22 on: May 03, 2008, 06:23:08 PM »

Well now. I was the one who was appearing a little exaspirated.... sorry.

No worries; funny old place t'internet, sometimes it's hard to get your point across without the possibility of misinterpretation.

Quote
In all doctrines of worth, we usually come to the point of realizing that the more we know, the more we don't know.

Quite so, I'm often alarmed by the degree of my own ignorance.  ::)

Quote
Tallship. You can play the guitar, you lucky barstard! All those chords and notes. We were just talking about it at the session last week. You've got it all over us single note players, and that includes the fiddlers. And I bet you have some great songs too.

Oh, some of the songs are great, my voice leaves a little to be desired though! Finger picking gives a lot of options regarding the accompaniment style and texture. It strikes me that the melodeon should be great for song accompaniment, if you can keep the volume down a bit that is. I'm nowhere near good enough to control the instrument yet but I've only been playing for about six weeks. I play English concertina so on top of learning a new instrument I have to cope with the alien concept of two notes per button and constantly changing bellows direction. I'm a long way off figuring the keyboard out well enough to be crossing the rows to smooth things out a bit.

I keep toying with the idea of sticking a song up on youtube for a laugh but it would have to be something traditional to avoid copyright problems so maybe not.

*Back on topic* ( ;D) If you are determined to use the diamond files on reeds for goodness sake take it steady, ruining a reed is very, very easy.  :o
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Squeezing on the Isle of Oxney, UK
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Hohner B/E, G/C, C/F, Bb/Eb G/C/F
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Theo

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Re: Files
« Reply #23 on: May 03, 2008, 06:29:54 PM »


*Back on topic* ( ;D) If you are determined to use the diamond files on reeds for goodness sake take it steady, ruining a reed is very, very easy.  :o

Oh dear, is that a recent discovery? 
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Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

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Pete Dunk

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Re: Files
« Reply #24 on: May 03, 2008, 06:53:23 PM »

Oh dear, is that a recent discovery? 
More a case of accumulated knowledge Theo, I'm sad enough to have read every single thread in 'Instrument Construction and Repair' both on this board and at concertina.net and that's a fair amount of reading. Without exception, every time the subject of reed tinkering comes up the experts pile in with dire warnings about how easy it is to completely ruin a reed using the wrong tools that cut too quickly and too deep. I was surprised to read that cleaning a reed with a fiberglass pen can significantly alter the pitch and that's more like polishing than abrading. My conclusion is to work slowly and with extreme caution at first until I have some idea of what I'm doing.
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Squeezing on the Isle of Oxney, UK
Primo (Serenellini) D/G
Isis D/G
Hohner B/E, G/C, C/F, Bb/Eb G/C/F
Liliputs D/G (G scale), C/F, Bb/Eb, Albrecht Custom D/G (G scale)

Theo

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Re: Files
« Reply #25 on: May 03, 2008, 07:40:43 PM »

In my experience the fibreglass pen has almost zero effect on steel reeds, though of course removing heavy dirt and rust with any tool will affect the pitch.

Incidentally I think the fibreglass pen is the best tool by far for tuning brass reeds. 
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Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

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Geoffleft

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Re: Files
« Reply #26 on: May 04, 2008, 04:49:01 AM »

Fibreglass Pen? What's that?

I know a guy who is seriously into Harmonica tuning. Great, great player but oh what a strange person. But this might be right down his alley. Imagine tuning a harp!! Carazy. But there is a whole bunch who are right into it.

I have a little jewellers screwdriver which has been sharpened that has always been fantastic for cutting the rust and dust off dirty reeds. A scalpel with a small curved blade is also good, and can cut away any burr from the side/tip of a reed after tuning with a file.

Has anybody tried using 'Cratex' rubberized abrasive rotary tools in their dremel for cleaning or tuning? They are available in a range of grits from jewellery suppliers. I don't use them. Just wondering if anybody else has.
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Lester

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Pete Dunk

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Re: Files
« Reply #28 on: May 04, 2008, 08:43:06 AM »

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=3932&doy=4m5&C=SO&U=strat15
That's the one, and where I got mine from in fact. These are used by electronics types to clean up the tracks on printed circuit boards prior to soldering, I'm sure you'll find them somewhere in Oz at an electronics supply house or a well stocked hobbies shop. Do heed the health and safety warnings, nasty stuff fibreglass.
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Squeezing on the Isle of Oxney, UK
Primo (Serenellini) D/G
Isis D/G
Hohner B/E, G/C, C/F, Bb/Eb G/C/F
Liliputs D/G (G scale), C/F, Bb/Eb, Albrecht Custom D/G (G scale)

Theo

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Re: Files
« Reply #29 on: May 04, 2008, 09:12:44 AM »

Has anybody tried using 'Cratex' rubberized abrasive rotary tools in their dremel for cleaning or tuning? They are available in a range of grits from jewellery suppliers. I don't use them. Just wondering if anybody else has.

Not tried that, in fact I dislike using power tools on reeds, not controllable enough for me.  But Maplin also do this polishing block, which is abrasive in a rubbery matrix that does a fine job of cleaning rust, though you sometimes need a scrape with an old screwdriver first if its really crusty rust.
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Theo Gibb - Gateshead UK

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Geoffleft

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Re: Files
« Reply #30 on: May 04, 2008, 02:08:41 PM »

One could use the 'cratex' wheels as a hand held abrasive too. They would be a bit more flexible than the rubber block from Maplins as they can be got in a range of sizes/shapes. I was just trying one out and for reed cleaning could be very good. Safer than a sanding stick. An old style ink eraser could work also.

I was once told a very convincing story about why serious instrument makers never but never used any machine tools (ranging from table/band saws through thicknessers/jointers to finishing tools) on wood that was to be used in a top grade instrument. Sandpaper was an absolute no no too.

Well the time came when I met some utterly top grade makers. One a famous bluegrass mandolin maker, the other a highly regarded violin maker for the classical musicians. I asked both if there was any truth in the story.. both regarded it as an hilarious piece of rubbish.

But Theo. I agree that you have much more control and feel if you are tuning reeds with a file. There is far less scope for a slip, or a bit too much grinding. As I mentioned, I had an accordion damaged by a careless tuner once, and he never got a second chance from me!
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TomB-R

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Re: Files
« Reply #31 on: May 04, 2008, 04:14:38 PM »

I don't know what the "why" was in that story, very possibly completely spurious, but there is a well documented and valid approach to violin making that uses no power tools and no abrasives either. Johnson & Courtnall's excellent book is based on a "no power tools" approach.
It's often repeated that makers in Stradivari's time simply didn't have abrasives. They "may" have used sharkskin but I've never some across any reference to whether the stuff actually works.
(I guess there's also the possibility that "sharkskin" was a name for something else, just as "moleskin" cloth has nothing to do with moles!)
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