?Brown gummy stuff..
?Brown gummy stuff..
There is only procedure way to safely disassemble the bass machine:Thank you for the warning friend.. I have confirmed the issue lies with the pallets! Only excited because I know what it is now. With all my reed blocks off I depressed different buttons and very gingerly wiggled the felts with a pick, and reveal me them move freely back and forth. So now comes the real need for advice.. the bass machine.. how to disassemble in such a way I can put it back together?
While disassembling, clean all the crud carefully (without bending pistons or catorcetti) and when you put the mechanism back together, do not oil it at all. The bass mechanism, like everything else in an accordion, does not benefit from lubrication with any type of oil. The oil will work well for a short while but will attract dust and dirt and will eventually turn into a brown gummy stuff...Also looking for suggestions on cleaning whatever this poor thing got oiled with ? Brown gummy stuff.. brake clean safe to use? Like no each individual lever outside of the box?
I find that often the most important and difficult part of accordion repair finding the right diagnosis. It's even more of a challenge when you do not actually have access to the accordion itself. The repair itself is then mostly using a set of skills that anyone can learn and can do provided you have the right tools and materials. The only thing that can still distinguish between a really good repairer and a lesser one is the accuracy of tuning that can be achieved. My speciality in accordion repair is... tuning!Thanks for all the help! All pallets that needed repair have been. All inspected and bass mechanism thoroughly cleaned and all but 3 chord rows back in. Not so scary once you get in to it.. amazing that someone or rather many figured out the math of it all.. think I found a new hobby.. or maybe some side work to shoot for ?
The best tuning table is the accordion itself. I do have a separate tuning table to diagnose and fix voicing or valve issues, but never for tuning.Very good. I imagine I will be picking your brain when I start digging in to tuning. Have any recommendations on a tuning table? Or suggested reading? You a rotary tool or file man? With harmonicas I use sanding sticks mostly but a some harmonica guys use something called a greenie. It is a small green abrasive used in dentistry for polishing metal parts on dental work. Wonder if they would work in this realm?
You did very well indeed! Many people find working on the bass mechanism to be a daunting task. But really it is much more "a lot of work" than it is "difficult work". You just have to be careful to keep all parts in the right order and make sure you have lots of pictures as backup to your memory. After this, every other repair task will feel easy. And by now you know that it's not the repair that's the most difficult, it's making the right diagnosis of the problem. The rest is just a lot of labor.Thank you very much Jim! I have read a bit of it so far but would like to print it out and be able to ruminate on it. I will for sure not be a stranger and hope I won't annoy with to many questions ? glad to be a part of the community!
Thanks Paul! It is as you say.. A fair bit of work, and slightly tedious but not so scary once you understand what is going on. Would definitely hurt to get to the end and realize you missed something thoughYou did very well indeed! Many people find working on the bass mechanism to be a daunting task. But really it is much more "a lot of work" than it is "difficult work". You just have to be careful to keep all parts in the right order and make sure you have lots of pictures as backup to your memory. After this, every other repair task will feel easy. And by now you know that it's not the repair that's the most difficult, it's making the right diagnosis of the problem. The rest is just a lot of labor.