Hi there folks. I finally received my McComiskey B/C three days ago. The package was great, but a not too careful handling and a too long trip in terms of distnace and time has damaged the thing.
When I opened the bellows I felt as though something fell inside and move, then I noticed that I couldn’t close them again. Besides the inner row didn’t produce a sound. Quite obvious than one set of reed was loose. I opened the box and took out the inner row set. a small crack in the wood where the screw attaches the set to the box had caused the set was loose.
I’ve glued the crack and sealed with bee wax the leaks. Now it fits again and both rows sound ok. I’m quite excited fumbling with fingering and so on. The point is that while the loose block of reeds has been moving freely into the bellows two or three reeds have been damaged. The reeds themselves are perfect, but two longish thin copper or tin (seems to me) sticks covering the leather straps were seriously curled. I’ve managed to get them into their original position and although they are much more straight, I haven’t been able to achieve in them to press the leather strap again as the other ones do. Far from being flat in in contact with le leather all alonf their stretch, they have a 35-40 º angle interferering with the other block and producing a metallic vibrant unpleasant sound when playing two or three notes.
My chances to find a luthier nearby are quite odd. My question is how can I flatten the tin sticks to make them lay on the leather strap again.
I would have sent the thing directly back to the maker without messing with it at all, as it’s his business to get the thing to you in good condition, and to pack it properly so it doesn’t get broken.
You should also make a claim against the postal insurance or carrier for the damage and cost of repair.
A photograph would confirm, but it rather sounds like the reeds themselves (the tin or copper strips you describe) have been damaged, and no amount of your bending them back into place is going to get them to sound in tune again. It’s a specialist repair job, and who better than the maker?
The leather straps you describe sound like the valves, that prevent air going through the wrong way on the push or draw.
There are makers and distributors nearer you than McComiskey - in Spain, France and Italy, though whether they would do a repair on someone else’s box is doubtful.
My first thought was, like Martin, that your “sticks” are in fact the reed tongues, but I wasn’t sure because you seemed to know what the reeds were. The leather straps anyway are the valves that stop the reeds moving when air is going the other way through the bellows.
I don’t see why any tuner shouldn’t tackle your problem though, if you can’t get the box sounding properly yourself. There’s a list of makers, repairers and tuners in France here: http://perso.orange.fr/diato-amateurs/adresses.htm.
The best thing to do would be to send them the entire instrument, but a cheaper alternative would be to send the reedblocks only. The danger with this approach is that apparently there can be a slight difference in pitch when the blocks are put back into the accordion - but a tuner should be able to allow for this by tuning the repaired or replacement reeds against the rest of them.
You could try posting in the technical forum at http://melodeon.aimoo.com/. There are some knowledgeable types that hang out there and may have a suggestion for straightening your “sticks”.
Actually the metal reeds are ok, I’ll make some pictures tonight to show you the damage. But it sounds as the valves. Yes, every reed has at its side a rectangular hole covered by a leather strap. Some of those straps are on their own, but some other (low notes) have a tiny piece of very thin metal (apparently helping the strap to close completely the valve.) Two or three of them have lost their original shape and position.
I thought the same at first about returning and complaining to post office but there’s no evidence of the prior condition of the box. Besides, I trust the seller and I’m pretty convinced that the box was perfect when he sent it. It was properly packaged in a hard paper box full of foam and then a hard suitcase containing more foam. The thing has taken 55 days to arrive, it’s been sealed with wax, no glue. Heat has been terrible this summer down here ant it seems that this makes a terrible combination.
Thanks for the list, I’ll have a look at it and see my options. Pictures will help to show you the problem.
Thanks again, soon I’ll start bothering you with other questions. This fingering is quite a challenge for a flute player! I like the fact that I’ve found lots of repeated notes all along the keyboard and the sound of the box is pretty decent. There’s some music inside waiting for me to take it out.
Also, keep in mind that Billy McComiskey is not himself a “maker”. The accordions he sells under his name are made to his specification in China, and then shipped to his business address in Maryland (which I think is the garage or basement of his business partner in the Learner Accordion venture, Deborah Brower). It’s from there that they are packed and shipped to customers. From your original post, Sylvester, it seems that you think there was not a problem with the packaging, but rather some rough handling en route that resulted in the damage.
You could ship the box back to Billy in Maryland for repair, and they would I hope have it repaired and shipped back to you at their expense. (And if they agree with you that the damage was caused by the shipper, they might try to recoup the costs of the repair from the shipper - provided there was some insurance taken on the original shipment, which would have been your responsibility to pay for as part of the shipping costs, of course.) But if you do send the box back to Billy, he (or more likely Deborah) will just have to ship it back to China for repair, or have it fixed by a repair shop more local to them. (There are a couple of concertina makers I know of in Maryland who could probably repair an accordion with no problem.) Of course, they could also swap out your damaged box for a new box and send that to you, assuming they have one available.
But given that you are in Spain and would be shipping the box back across the Atlantic only so that it can then be sent somewhere else for repair, and even then it would not be repaired by the original maker, since it was made on an assembly line and not by an artisan, it seems to me that you’d be best off to just find a shop near you (i.e. at least within Europe) and have them fix it for you. Surely such a shop exists somewhere. (Which is not to say that you may not end up having to pay more to get the box fixed than you paid for it in the first place. Again, hopefully you had insurance on that original shipment to cover the cost.) If you were playing the Ferrari of accordions I would not be suggesting that you get it fixed by any old repair shop; I’d have you send it to a Ferrari shop. But you’re playing the Yugo or Renault LeCar of accordions, so in that case any repair shop ought to be up to the job of fixing it.
And have you at least contacted Learner Accordions to see what they’d suggest you do?
Actually, Sylvester, it seems now from reading your second post that you bought the accordion used rather than directly from Billy’s business. In that case, I think your only option would be to find a repair shop local to you. Also, from what you’ve said you don’t seem to have had the shipment insured against damage, so you’re probably going to be stuck with paying the repair cost yourself, unless you can get the seller to pony up for all or part of it. As they say, caveat emptor, alas…
Not contacted with Learner yet. I think the solution is far from being in Maryland. I’m checking adresses in France, Italy and Spain, but I’ll anyway let them know about the problem. They certainly could know someone near.
I didn’t mean anything disparaging by that comment. Billy and Deborah acknowledged from the beginning that they were creating a basic, inexpensive transportation option for people who wanted to learn Irish accordion - an option that would hopefully carry the learners over until they were ready for and could afford a better ride. I think they succeeded admirably. But in accordions as with automobiles, basic transportation does turn into a beater after a while, with the attendant maintenance woes. There’s no way around it, really. Eventually it’s gonna get totaled, i.e. broken and costing more to fix than it’s worth in the first place. Hopefully that will not happen to you before you find your better ride!
I didn’t mean anything disparaging by that comment. Billy and Deborah acknowledged from the beginning that they were creating a basic, inexpensive transportation option for people who wanted to learn Irish accordion - an option that would hopefully carry the learners over until they were ready for and could afford a better ride. I think they succeeded admirably. But in accordions as with automobiles, basic transportation does turn into a beater after a while, with the attendant maintenance woes. There’s no way around it, really. Eventually it’s gonna get totaled, i.e. broken and costing more to fix than it’s worth in the first place. Hopefully that will not happen to you before you find your better ride!
I tried in Galway much more expensive boxes (around 700-800$) and even I could perceive an alarming lack of response and a terrible tuning. Thanks to Billy’s and Deborah’s project this is my first approach to the box. I know it’s a basic, beginner instrument, but it has most things a learner needs in terms of tuning, response, bellows action and sound. I paid only 270$ including delivery. I was unlucky with transportation, that’s all. To my surprise, now that I’ve had a close view I notice it’s a delicate and fragile instrument inside a sturdy shell and look.
The box is fully playable and well tuned, it doesn’t have any leak through the valves, buttons or basses; but I’d like to fix the valve problems to prevent from malfunctioning in the future and to get rid of that metal vibration in two buttons due to the curled metal strips touching each other (not reeds)
Hopefully I’ll be worth to upgrade in some time. I’m not in a hurry. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
BTW, have any of you ever had a loose set of reed due to a crash, fall or bump?
