Having ago at repairing a little vintage accordion

[Technical]

I have acquired a vintage Hero accordion like the one below for the grand old price of £7 and thought it may be fun, and a way to better understand how the accordion works, to have a go at repairing it the best I can. I know it won't make economic sense but it's just more of a little project and learning exercise especially as the risk couldn't really be lower, as long as I can get the bits to do it at a reasonable price. Possibly a stupid idea?

I think it will need the following as a minimum based on initial review:
1. bellows on the corners need some repairs, there are some holes. Any recommendations for this? I've seen metal corners but also seen an example of making/gluing leather corners.
2. Values replacing. Some are not flat and some are missing altogether.
3. Retuning. How do I know if reeds are ok enough to be kept and tuned or not? Looks like I need to remove some rust.

The treble reeds appear to have C, E, G written on them repeatedly for both sides (a pair per note) but I assume it should just be tuned diatonically (9 white notes) with each pair tuned slightly apart for the musette like sound but from memory I think it sounds different pulling from pushing, need to check again once I've reassembled it.

I've been looking online at websites, youtube and started making my way through https://accordionrevival.com/ but I wanted any insights from the community here too.

I've taken it apart so already have the pliers/screwdriver for that. I'm thinking I need something to repair the bellows holes with, new valves from somewhere, some appropriate glue and a file/scaper to tune the reeds with something to support the reeds.

Thanks.

 

[JerryPH]

This would be fun, but you know that you can easily drop £100 in to this little Chinese box without much effort? Would that be worth it for you and this kind of a project?

My opinion is that this is the kind of box that you learn how things work, rip it apart, gain the experience, get it back together without spending a dime on it, place on a shelf and enjoy from a distance.

 

[Ventura]

hi

umm.. not trying to be mean here, and anything you
do that gains you understanding of how something
works or sharpens your repair skills is good of course,
but
to put this in perspective, these tiny accordion shaped
objects were sold in countless numbers for between $5 and $10
dollars US for decades, they are toys, they do not accurately
reflect how accordions sound or work, they were never intended
to last longer than one cycle of a child beating on it getting
something like a fun sort of musical scream out of it then tossing
it into the trash torn and beaten

the idea of accurately tuning one i doubt was even considered at the
toy factory in China when they were originally born

the idea of repairing the paper and vinyl that held the bellows
together long enough to last the week or 2 of it's intended
lifespan in the hands of infantis horribilis is admirable but
will not gain you any knowledge that could help you build
or repair a true accordion bellows

can i possibly get you to re-direct your enthusiasm towards
an old junker accordion that might actually be useful to
learn function and repair on ?

i know if you were in my vicinity here in the States i'd
gladly give you a decent candidate.. if the guys knew where
you were in the UK maybe one of our old timers nearby could
help get you started with something more appropriate

glad you are interested.. good luck in future

 

[Technical]

Thanks for the advice from you both and that is kinda why I wanted to float the idea here to get a feel of things after an initial review. Obviously there is a reason there are tonnes of old second hand accordions which need repair and it won't just be due to lack of knowledge or interest.

I got the itch to get my hands on something after seeing my 120 bass Scandalli taken apart for repair and seeing this going cheap I thought, nothing to lose. Although this one is obviously simple as you say, I have enjoyed taking it apart, having a look at things for myself and understanding it as a starting point because it's not got an overwhelming number of parts and in a way is not completely different in principle from my Scandalli which is of a similar age I believe, just scaled up and of better quality parts.

I know part of the cost would be tools which I could reuse if I chose to do others but I guess the valves would be a big one for an instrument like this. In my head I was wondering, initial tools aside, I could do a cheap repair on the bellows just to achieve a decent level of pressure and then get a few replacement valves for the worst cases and try to reuse ones which are not completely flat.

I might consider your idea of getting an old junker, ideally something small like a 12 bass or similar but the main thing for me is whether it just needs typical repair or be too advanced as an initial project.

 

[Jose EB5AGV]

Thanks for the advice from you both and that is kinda why I wanted to float the idea here to get a feel of things after an initial review. Obviously there is a reason there are tonnes of old second hand accordions which need repair and it won't just be due to lack of knowledge or interest.

I got the itch to get my hands on something after seeing my 120 bass Scandalli taken apart for repair and seeing this going cheap I thought, nothing to lose. Although this one is obviously simple as you say, I have enjoyed taking it apart, having a look at things for myself and understanding it as a starting point because it's not got an overwhelming number of parts and in a way is not completely different in principle from my Scandalli which is of a similar age I believe, just scaled up and of better quality parts.

I know part of the cost would be tools which I could reuse if I chose to do others but I guess the valves would be a big one for an instrument like this. In my head I was wondering, initial tools aside, I could do a cheap repair on the bellows just to achieve a decent level of pressure and then get a few replacement valves for the worst cases and try to reuse ones which are not completely flat.

I might consider your idea of getting an old junker, ideally something small like a 12 bass or similar but the main thing for me is whether it just needs typical repair or be too advanced as an initial project.

Did you take pictures of the inside of it?. That way we could have a better idea if what you have there.

I am all for fixing things and, lately, accordions have just began to show on my workbench . I decided that my first real project would be a junker one, as you can see on my post about it:

https://www.accordionists.info/threads/my-fifth-project-paolo-soprani-25-24-aka-alpha.14496/

That one, even being small, has a similar building than a bigger accordion. I would say something similar could be a good project for you.

Jose

 

[Technical]

Good idea, I will.

To be fair the current accordion I play while I wait for my Scandalli needs work so that would be an option but it's nothing special like your project. I wouldn't want to mess up an instrument that can currently play though even if it could do with some work

 

[Technical]

 

[Jose EB5AGV]

OK, as a test bed could work, it is better than I expected, as it uses wood reeds blocks, wax and nails to fix them, standard looking valves and even the bass block is removable. Perhaps the bellows is another thing but anyway you can learn plenty of things with that IMO, as revalving, rewaxing, tuning. Of course, to certain level. But better than nothing!

 

[Technical]

OK, as a test bed could work, it is better than I expected, as it uses wood reeds blocks, wax and nails to fix them, standard looking valves and even the bass block is removable. Perhaps the bellows is another thing but anyway you can learn plenty of things with that IMO, as revalving, rewaxing, tuning. Of course, to certain level. But better than nothing!

That was my thought, just a mini version of a real accordion. The bellows is probably the weakness due to it not being typical materials but even the case itself is a proper wood, possibly because it's from the 50/60s. Keys and buttons feel good too. It will probably come down to the cost for the consumables/new parts. Just getting it in a decent playable state would be an achievement.

 

[Glug]

Valves and wax are really quite cheap and you don't really need special tools to rewax/revalve.
Replacing bellows corners is more expensive but still fairly cheap.

The most expensive bit about accordion repairs is the hours of expertise required to fully restore an accordion.
So if it's a junker and you fix it yourself you've got almost nothing to lose

I bought a £100 Orfeo LMM and after repairing the bellows + replacing missing reeds + revalving + rewaxing it's probably still worth about £100.
But I did learn a lot

 

[Squeezebox Of Delights]

You may be interested in this video:

Upgrading a toy melodeon isn't exactly a wise idea but the end result can be very fun! I just picked up a modern plastic John Lewis box for a fiver in a charity shop, and I plan on doing some stuff to it. I suspect the nasty rubberised cloth corners and gussets aren't salvageable, so I'll probably build a new set using more traditional materials. On the other hand, I could lean into the plastic body of the box and try and make a fully waterproof set from plastic/rubber!

 

[Technical]

Valves and wax are really quite cheap and you don't really need special tools to rewax/revalve.
Replacing bellows corners is more expensive but still fairly cheap.

The most expensive bit about accordion repairs is the hours of expertise required to fully restore an accordion.
So if it's a junker and you fix it yourself you've got almost nothing to lose

I bought a £100 Orfeo LMM and after repairing the bellows + replacing missing reeds + revalving + rewaxing it's probably still worth about £100.
But I did learn a lot

Looks like much more than £100 to me.

If that really is the case, I'd be tempted to give it ago atleast. Any suggestions on the best place to get supplies? I've had a look but not found anything too appropriate so far.

 

[Technical]

You may be interested in this video:

Upgrading a toy melodeon isn't exactly a wise idea but the end result can be very fun! I just picked up a modern plastic John Lewis box for a fiver in a charity shop, and I plan on doing some stuff to it. I suspect the nasty rubberised cloth corners and gussets aren't salvageable, so I'll probably build a new set using more traditional materials. On the other hand, I could lean into the plastic body of the box and try and make a fully waterproof set from plastic/rubber!

If that can be done with a plastic one then this one probably has potential too being all wood. Replacing the bellows is probably too advance but I'd atleast try to patch them enough.

 

[Glug]

Looks like much more than £100 to me.

If that really is the case, I'd be tempted to give it ago atleast. Any suggestions on the best place to get supplies? I've had a look but not found anything too appropriate so far.

CGM Musical Services (Scotland) used to be the place, but Charlie has retired.

Ebay does have some suppliers, I've only really used one but that was for some complete sets of pallet facings.
However they mail fast and stock everything: Akkordeonwelt

Security measure

www.ebay.co.uk

eg. valves https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/17148378...G8D1CA&hash=item27ed3aecd6:g:24sAAOSwXxhZ5VT9

There are several well known vendors that somebody will quote.
eg. https://www.stringsandboxes.de/en_GB