Have you Seen this Before (Weird Pallet)

[RunClimbPlay]

I knew that heading would make you look.

I was refurbishing my Giulietti keyboard. This is the only pallet that has a cutaway. Have you seen this before? Any idea why it's there?

 

[debra]

Pallets with a cutout are quite common, even in new accordions being built today. They are mostly used for a few of the lowest notes, on the row of pallets that do not open far (the row of pallets closest to where the registers are). The cutout gives the air more room to enter and leave the accordion, so the note can sound a bit better and louder. Sometimes a thinner layer of felt is used, with a double layer of leather with the cutout.

 

[RunClimbPlay]

That makes sense. It's one of the bottom black keys, so close to the hinge. Just one though...odd.

 

[tcabot]

Just one though...odd.

I suspect this is done as a bug-fix and not as a planned "feature". Once the box is designed & built if pallet lift is insufficient for bass reeds to be stable, there's not much more you can do without performing major surgery. Cutting out a piece of a pallet is the cheapest option and it should do the job to a degree that airflow becomes acceptable.

 

[debra]

I suspect this is done as a bug-fix and not as a planned "feature". Once the box is designed & built if pallet lift is insufficient for bass reeds to be stable, there's not much more you can do without performing major surgery. Cutting out a piece of a pallet is the cheapest option and it should do the job to a degree that airflow becomes acceptable.

Nope. It's part of the accordion design. The pallets for the black keys do not open as far as those for the white keys and for the lowest few notes they simply do not open far enough, hence the use of felt+leather with the cutout and often one or two extra layers of leather as well (because the cutout is more stable in leather than in felt). When you order a set of pallets (wood plus felt+leather) for a specific accordion model from the accordion maker, you get a set that includes pallets with the cutout for the lowest notes. It is standard industry practice.

 

[kimric]

These cutout pallets are always leather, since using felt would leak. Since the leather is the seal and the felt is the pad, air would leak through the felt through the cutout in the leather.