Reed doesn’t sound at low volume

[Wheezer]

I have one reed that doesn’t speak at low volumes on a bellows push. If I hold the note at a low volume and slowly increase belows pressure, it seems to suddenly break loose and speak as expected at a volune bust below medium. On the bellows pull, it behaves perfectly.

My guess is that the reed tongue is touching the base plate, and bound up until the force from the bellows is enough to dislodge it.

Does my diagnosis sound right? Is this something that I can fix with my 10 thumbs, or should I take it to an accordion technician?

 

[JIM D.]

The reed your speaking of has 2 reed tongues. It seems one of the tongues has accumulated some
small debris and jamming. See here for a fix. ----

 

[debra]

If the note doesn't want to start at low volume but starts when you push a bit harder then the gap between reed tip and reed plate is too large. Because it is on pull it's the reed on the outside of the reed block, so you can visually inspect it to see whether the gap is larger than that with the adjacent notes. You can *gently* push the reed inwards (not at the tip but over its entire length or towards the center), not too far so the tip does not hit the wall inside the reed block. Repeat until the gap is right.
If you make the gap too small then you have a reed that starts very well at low volume but will choke at high volume (with an accent).
When there is some dust blocking the reed movement then you either get no sound at all (not even at high volume) or the reed will sound with some effort, but way out of tune. (That happens when the dust particle is closer to the rivet, thus effectively making the moving part of the reed shorter.)