Closing bellows

[Hilobox]

Point taken. Yes, scarily similar professional paths. I was a data architect in human genetics. Sorry, I’m just overly enthused with these boxes. And because of your invaluable help, I’m back practicing more on my Bravo III. My aging right hand is doing better. I do need help figuring out how to play chords that are not represented by buttons, ie major7ths and sixths. Can someone please point me to the appropriate thread? Mahalo.

 

[Tom]

Speaking of intricate and bizarre, the last repair I did was that and more. Bass mechanism. I don't know the technical terms.

You push a key, and a rod is depressed. The rod has prongs out the sides that pushes down (spring loaded) levers which open a valve, letting air pass the reeds. In this case, there were two levers which were ABOVE the prongs. Never seen such a thing! How could those levers have gotten above the prongs???? Player says it happened while playing very hard the Beer Barrel. Well maybe that explains it. Maybe pushing the bass button hard enough for the levers to be pushed around the ends of the prongs.

Anyway, never expecting such a thing, it took me 2.5 hours of poking around to diagnose the issue, about 20 seconds to move the levers back around below the prongs. How strange. He was so happy to have the accordion back as I happened to be coming to town to see my son.

Anyone ever seen this? Jim, Paul?

 

[Pipemajor]

I think it's not uncommon. Some time back I bought a "basket case" Maugein Cba from Marseilles in France which arrived in a black bin liner inside a cardboard box!!. It cost very little and I knew it needed work so I wasn't too concerned as I wanted learn to repair them.
This came with quite a few of the bass notes not sounding correctly (after I had replaced the leathers) and it was the same problem you had.
It was quite a challenge to find out which levers were misplaced.
On a slightly different note, the Cba has an "Accordeon Club de France" sticker on it and I assume it had been played in many smoky dives in France as it absolutely reeked of Galloise cigarettes which for some reason I quite liked the smell of. I fumigated it the best I could but 10 years later I still get the odd faint whiff when I open the case.

 

[Tom]

Thanks Pipe!

 

[Ventura]

LoL

reminds me of...

the famous Merv Cohn (infamous to some) lived a very long life and played until the end

he owned a million accordions (if you ever walked into his studio) but his beloved
Sonola Stroller, which he had used on a million Gigs, had some collapsed bass buttons
from some jolt it had recieved coming or going

(Merv had for years simply been chauferred to gigs, wearing his Sonola then
walking in playing it) he was pretty old by then

anyhow i stopped in to visit one day, i would sometimes get an extra fresh loaf of Bread
from Mama's Italian in Wheaton and bring him one.. noticed the collapsed basses as it
lay on his sofa... so i offered to look at it

quick fix (as i had seen this plenty of times) and the reaction from Merv
WAS JUST LIKE THE CHILDRENS STORY ABOUT PULLING THE THORN FROM THE LIONS PAW

a fond memory..