eil
Newbie
Greetings!
I inherited my father's PANitalia accordion and have been learning to play since about July of last year. He was a polka guy and I'm trying to learn some of the same songs that he knew and played. As well as going my own path and learning songs that are interesting to me.
The accordion is in great cosmetic condition but needs some attention here and there. I am an avid DIYer, so I'm not afraid to jump into projects that are new to me. You can see the pictures for yourself but to summarize, it's a 41-key, 120-bass LMH accordion. No idea what era it's from, but he had it for as long as I've alive. It doesn't seem to be (much?) out of tune but needs some other work.
I've been to accordionrevival.com and it is an awesome site, I just have a few questions and would be grateful for any advice on the following:
1. Leather valves. Most are fine but some of them are curled, a few quite badly. I was going to try replacing them all for peace of mind but not only would that be extremely tedious, it looks to be cost-prohibitive as well, just for the leathers themselves. Above $100 for a full set. I've searched the web, checked ebay, etc. Are there any other options I should look into? Do these not come in strips or sheets that I can cut myself?
2. There are supposed to be covers over the holes in the bass section. When I was a kid, one of these was always missing, now the other one is gone too. Where can I get replacements? My last resort was going to be basically calling around to every accordion repair shop in the country. Which unfortunately probably wouldn't take very long. Maybe you guys know of a more expedient method? Assuming I can even find them, what do I use to glue them back on? Cyanoacrylate (super glue)? Very thin epoxy? Whatever was used originally was a surprisingly small amount.
3. Excuse my lack of terminology here but two of the plastic treble key tops are starting to come loose from the piece of wood that they should be bonded to. Results in a rattle or click that you can feel when playing. Should I (gently) pry them off completely and sand off the old glue from both surfaces, or am I okay to just squirt some superglue in there and clamp them up?
Greatly appreciate any advice, this seems like an awesomely helpful forum.
Thanks,
Charles
I inherited my father's PANitalia accordion and have been learning to play since about July of last year. He was a polka guy and I'm trying to learn some of the same songs that he knew and played. As well as going my own path and learning songs that are interesting to me.
The accordion is in great cosmetic condition but needs some attention here and there. I am an avid DIYer, so I'm not afraid to jump into projects that are new to me. You can see the pictures for yourself but to summarize, it's a 41-key, 120-bass LMH accordion. No idea what era it's from, but he had it for as long as I've alive. It doesn't seem to be (much?) out of tune but needs some other work.
I've been to accordionrevival.com and it is an awesome site, I just have a few questions and would be grateful for any advice on the following:
1. Leather valves. Most are fine but some of them are curled, a few quite badly. I was going to try replacing them all for peace of mind but not only would that be extremely tedious, it looks to be cost-prohibitive as well, just for the leathers themselves. Above $100 for a full set. I've searched the web, checked ebay, etc. Are there any other options I should look into? Do these not come in strips or sheets that I can cut myself?
2. There are supposed to be covers over the holes in the bass section. When I was a kid, one of these was always missing, now the other one is gone too. Where can I get replacements? My last resort was going to be basically calling around to every accordion repair shop in the country. Which unfortunately probably wouldn't take very long. Maybe you guys know of a more expedient method? Assuming I can even find them, what do I use to glue them back on? Cyanoacrylate (super glue)? Very thin epoxy? Whatever was used originally was a surprisingly small amount.
3. Excuse my lack of terminology here but two of the plastic treble key tops are starting to come loose from the piece of wood that they should be bonded to. Results in a rattle or click that you can feel when playing. Should I (gently) pry them off completely and sand off the old glue from both surfaces, or am I okay to just squirt some superglue in there and clamp them up?
Greatly appreciate any advice, this seems like an awesomely helpful forum.
Thanks,
Charles