hiya! How would you recommend to adjust reed tongue tip heights with bass reeds that are quite big and also old? i really don't want to replace them if I can help it as it's a pre-war instrument. I've been spending days cleaning them all haha
Hello , you have to be very careful! To reduce tip height i would use a small flat head screwdriver and press down about half way down the reed - you have to press enough to get the reed to permanently bend but not so hard as to break it. To increase tip height I would slide a craft knife under the reed - again about half way up and gently bend it up . It's always best to take your time with these kind of delicate operations! 😁😁
Hi Rich, I've taken the plunge into uploading videos here on RU-vid so I can share progress on this accordion project. At your convenience I hope you'll take a peek - Mark.
Hello Mark As a general rule the tip of the reed should protude at a height of the thickness of the reed ( not the width of the reed but the thickness which could be 1mm or less) Any reed tips which are sitting flush to the plate or indeed under the surface could "choke" and not sound - any reed tips which are sitting too high will either need a lot of puff to get them to sound or simply won't play at all .😁
@@richedwards9646 Thanks Rich! On my first cuppa here (GMT -6). That would explain why some of my tones have so much delay, even with the other sister banks masked off. By the way, I found a BIG online resource for specific repairs and went to look for the author's book but it appears to be no longer in print (Piano Accordion Owner's Manual And Buyer's Guide by George Bachich). So here are my questions for today 🙂 1)Are the reeds themselves something you could replace, or would you have to by a completely assembled plate with the two reeds factory installed? I'm asking this in case once I get started I find that any of the reeds are snapped off. I'm able to do small rivet peening if the answer is the reed itself can be replaced, and 2) If you have to shift a reed sideways because it's rubbing on some part of the plate passage, do you re-peen the rivet or is it good to go?
@@markjones7063 Hi Mark If a reed tongue has snapped or is in such poor state that it can't be brought back to life , then you would replace the reed plate with both reeds attached . I have always kept reeds from accordions I cannot fix - and organized them in pitch order so I can easily find a replacement. If a reed tongue is not sitting exactly in the center of its slot then what I do is hold it up to a window ( to get a good view of if it is positioned centrally ) and then carefully encourage it into the right position using a small flat blade screwdriver or similar. Hope this helps,!😃
@@richedwards9646 Thanks Rich! I've watched a few videos on recentering a reed, but they don't mention if they re-peened the rivet. Can they be repeened if necessary? It's wonderful that you've got all those spares handy, guess it's a good reason to purchase an "as is" accordion on the cheap.
I HAVE JUST BEEN SCRATCHING MY HEAD ABOUT RECENT WEEK REEDS, I THOUGHT IT WAS METAL FATIGUE,OVER THE YEARS I HAVE DUMPED A COUPLE OF FAIRLY GOOD ACCORDIONS THINKING IT WAS METEL FATIGUE ,IF ONLY I HAD SEEN THIS VIDEO YEARS AGO.
@richedwards9646 thanks for getting back. I've got a 2 voice Hering 80 bass. Bass not to bad but trebble in need of a tune up. Plus one squeaky key (D1 on push and pull). I'm in Greater Manchester. Looking for a ball park figure initially but as I'm new to this instrument I guess there may be more needs fixing?
@@ton-gle4137 hello sorry for my slow reply - sometimes I struggle to keep up with messages . I'm sorry but I have a bit too much in my intray - five accordions waiting for attention ! But I wish you well with your accordion. 😊
