How to Care for Your Concertina
- Borne of a Victorian era mania for tiny machines, the concertina is an intricate instrument with many delicate moving parts – all designed to enable the production of a musical note by directing air from the bellows through the reeds.
- There are innumerable moving parts in any Anglo Concertina and in order for your concertina to operate and play efficiently these parts must function optimally.
- It’s important to note that concertinas are susceptible to changes in environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. They are also sensitive to rough handling and don’t like to be dropped!
- Also good to remember: concertinas are fussy travellers and need time to acclimatise to new environments.
- Bear in mind that your new concertina may take a week or two to fully settle into its new home and will continue to open up as you play it.
How to Store Your Instrument
The concertina storage tips below, courtesy of Chris Algar, will ensure your instrument stays in top condition for longer. They’ll also help you to maintain smooth action and playability. If your concertina should receive a knock, you’ll find some simple and easy repair instructions here too.- When not playing your concertina, always store your concertina in its hard case with the lid fastened to prevent dust or grit getting in and affecting the intricate internal mechanism.
- Concertinas hate extremes of temperature and humidity, we recommend storing your concertina, in its hard case, in a room with an ambient temperature of at least 18C but no more than 25C. Extremes of temperature or extreme fluctuations of temperature, may cause key functioning and moveable parts of the concertina to warp, sometimes to an irreparable extent.
- Humidity must also be kept constant, anything under 40% humidity will cause the concertina to react and will likely affect the reed pan and cause other issues that may make the concertina harder to play or may prevent it from playing at all.
- In winter keep a tray of water near the radiator in the room where you store your instrument to prevent the air from drying out – those of you on the East Coast of the US, be particularly careful as your low humidity during winter may lead to internal damage to the concertina.
- When storing your concertina, make sure that you keep the bellows compressed. Firstly, ensure that you have the bellows compressed by placing a tight elastic band around the instrument. Secondly, keep the concertina tightly packed in its hard case. Keeping the bellows compressed in this way prevents them from expanding and losing elasticity and means you won’t lose action on the concertina.
How to Repair Damaged Concertina Reeds
Sometimes rough handling in transit can dislodge or otherwise move a reed from its position. Even the slightest displacement of a reed can cause sound production faults including buzzing on the notes or no sound at all. Should this occur follow the steps below for repairing a reed on your McNeela Concertina. Please note these instructions are specific to the McNeela Wren 2 Concertina. For other makes and models please seek expert advice before attempting home repairs on your instrument. Step one: Watch this handy video we’ve recorded to help you with this very task. Step two: Follow these simple instructions. We recommend unscrewing the cover/end, then taking off the action pan and turning it over to view the reed pan. Take a look for dust or grit around the reed pans and reed tongues and remove by blowing off gently.
How to Repair a Sticky Button on Your Concertina
What Causes it and How to Fix it
There are four factors which can cause a concertina button to stick. Don’t worry, all are easily remedied! A sticky concertina button can be caused by:- Excess glue on the button
- An issue with the lever pad
- A lever that has been knocked out of place
- Not enough tension on the lever spring
Next, you’ll need to examine what is causing the button to stick
Compare the button causing issues to a button that is working perfectly. This will give you a good guide to how it should work.
This is how a concertina button should look:
Then examine the button or lever for the following issues:
1. Excess Glue on the Button
There may be a bit of excess glue on the button itself that is causing it to get stuck. If you do see any excess glue along the button or lever that is sticking, lightly sand it down to remove the glue.2. An Issue with the Corresponding Lever Pad
There could be an issue on the action pan with the pad for this button. It may have become misaligned during transit and may not be fully covering its corresponding hole. This can cause the pad to get caught on one of the pads beside it which could then cause the button to get stuck. If this is the case, you can gently bend the levers to allow the pad to cover the hole fully. You may have to bend the lever either slightly to the left or slightly to the right to achieve full coverage of the hole. A good rule of thumb in this situation is to compare the lever to one that is working perfectly and try to match that. Good lever action should provide smooth travel and good alignment of the pad over its hole
All buttons need to be running parallel to each other – refer to the above picture.
When placing the endplate back in place, make sure the buttons are all standing upright and slowly lower it back in place. This may take some time and concentration, but it should not be too hard!
3. A lever that has been knocked out of place
In the Wren Concertina, the buttons are situated on levers that run parallel to each other. They are designed to be a certain length, and to fit on the action pad perfectly. Unfortunately, even the slightest bump in transit can knock them out of place. This can cause the end of the lever – where the button sits – to catch on the metal bar where the levers rest. You will notice this if you press the button with the endplate off, it will stick down. If you refer to the below photo, you will see where the arm is getting caught (circled in red).
The solution for this is very simple. Firstly, don’t move the lever, as this might result in the pad not resting on the hole properly.
Instead, using a pliers, gently snip a tiny bit off the end of this lever. Just the tiniest adjustment will stop this button from sticking.
NB Be careful not to cut too much off or the button will not sit on the lever properly.
4. Not enough tension on the lever spring
There could be an issue with the spring for this button, causing the pad not to apply full pressure on the hole. If this is the case, we will be able to send you a replacement spring that you can put in place yourself. Simply email service@mcneelamusic.com and we will pop a replacement spring in the post for you.Browse our full range of new and antique Anglo concertinas for sale.
I am loving my new Wren concertina! I am having one sticky key,and once i am brave enough, will try one of these remedies!
Don’t worry, we’re here to assist you, Nance. Just email service@mcneelamusic.com if you need any help at all. It’s as easy as changing a guitar string!
I am having a grand time with the lessons using my new Wren concertina. I have two issues, 1st is the button layout is smaller and tighter than my old Stagi. Is there a way to raise the level of the hand rest? If I slide my hand back to comfortably reach the inner row, my thumb can't touch the air button.
2nd, as I started to add in the harmonics to Jack Talty's oro Se do Bheatha bhaile, the button on the left hand inner row (LH6) sticks. I can press it and slightly move it forward and it frees up until It is needed again in the tune. Any suggestions.
I'm leaving it alone until the morning, when I am clearer of mind. Then I will try my hand at looing inside for one of the suggestions found in your article.
Thank you for such a lovely instrument!
Geno Summers
Hi Geno! Unfortunately, the handrest isn't adjustable. However, I would recommend adding some padding manually so that it gives you that lift.
Regarding the buttons, I would suggest following the instructions in our article first, but if the issue persists please don't hesitate to contact us at this email:
service@mcneelamusic.com
my previous request for help shows how tired I am. I have a Swan concertina, not a Wren.
Thank you,
Geno Summers
P.S. thinking a bit of Jamison may be in order.
I had knocked one of levers out of place on my new Wren and I was a bit intimidated, but this guide made fixing it super easy breezy!
Glad to hear it, Zane!
I would say there are 5 reasons for a button to stick, and I have done this myself! The fifth is some crass beginerpressing the button at a silly angle! Fortunately this is fixed by gently wiggling the button.
Thanks for the tip, Brenda!
I have very much enjoyed learning how to play my new Wren Concertina. However, it started to leak air through the c#/d# valve, whether I was or was not depressing the button. I contacted the McNeela service department. They immediately emailed me back and asked me to send them a video wit sound. I did so, and they told me that the repair may be far more complicated than simply taking it apart. So they asked me to post it back to them. They will refund my postage. It is now on the way there. I'm really glad to know I not only have a great sounding instrument, but McNeela Music actually stands behind every instrument they make!
First night with my new Wren and I absolutely love it. It feels wonderful, sounds beautiful, and in less than 30minutes I can play the G scale forwards, backwards, and every way in between.
I have tried to fix air button with no success following your directions also the black button on the right hand top middle button has fallen in and I found it hard to get the silver end back on.
I will have to go over to the shop when the weather gets a little better as I’m in my 70’s and afraid to drive in frosty weather
The bellows of my Wren concertina have gotten very leaky. Is there any substance that I can apply to the worst gussets to 'seal' them? Any other options? Or will I have to replace the entire bellows?
I'm in Texas
Excellent info