Roland FR-1xb - replace felt on treble buttons

[Duckling]

I am waiting for a Roland FR-1xb to arrive, and I stumbled upon a video where someone replaced a plastic/rubber piece for the treble buttons with felt. This makes is somewhat more silent when playing, appearently. (As I understand it normally there is a felt-piece between the treble buttons and the base of the accordion, but on Rolands these are hard plastic in stead, which makes more sound. If playing with headphones, this will be more annoying to spectators).

I want to try this myself, but wanted to check if anyone has done such a replacement themselves? If so I would like to know how easy or difficult it was, and what size of felt I should aquire (should they match the button size precicely, or be 0,5-1 mm smaller)?

If nobody knows, I will wait for it to arrive, and measure the size on the existing pieces and try to use a similar size felt.

Also, have anyone actually done this and noticed any difference?

 

[debra]

You need felt rings which come in all different sizes. (Pick the right ones when you know the diameter of the buttons.)
Ever accordion parts store sells them. The link I included is for Carini (in Castelfidardo), where most repairers get their parts from.

 

[oldbayan]

I am waiting for a Roland FR-1xb to arrive, and I stumbled upon a video where someone replaced a plastic/rubber piece for the treble buttons with felt. This makes is somewhat more silent when playing, appearently. (As I understand it normally there is a felt-piece between the treble buttons and the base of the accordion, but on Rolands these are hard plastic in stead, which makes more sound. If playing with headphones, this will be more annoying to spectators).

I want to try this myself, but wanted to check if anyone has done such a replacement themselves? If so I would like to know how easy or difficult it was, and what size of felt I should aquire (should they match the button size precicely, or be 0,5-1 mm smaller)?

If nobody knows, I will wait for it to arrive, and measure the size on the existing pieces and try to use a similar size felt.

Also, have anyone actually done this and noticed any difference?

It's not hard plastic! It's a rubbery material and the buttons are very silent when you play. The pads are glued to the buttons, so if you want to replace them it's going to be a task.

I don't think you need or want to do that, but if you still want to, the outside diameter is 14mm and the inside diameter is 6mm. Thickness is 2mm. It's going to be non-reversible. Note that if the felt is too thick the notes are not going to sound well, and if it's too thin or soft you may damage the contacts. I would advise against it. But it's your accordion.

 

[Duckling]

It's not hard plastic! It's a rubbery material and the buttons are very silent when you play. The pads are glued to the buttons, so if you want to replace them it's going to be a task.

Ah, I had the impression they were more like plastic washers that were loose. But then again all this is based of a youtube video I found from a store which does this replacement as a paid upgrade, so it was not a step by step instruction. I have no intention of doing anything non-reversible to the instrument, as I certainly don't want to risk any damage due to lack of knowledge.

 

[oldbayan]

Ah, I had the impression they were more like plastic washers that were loose. But then again all this is based of a youtube video I found from a store which does this replacement as a paid upgrade, so it was not a step by step instruction. I have no intention of doing anything non-reversible to the instrument, as I certainly don't want to risk any damage due to lack of knowledge.

Most button accordions have buttons and felt washers that are separate, not the Roland.

 

[SteveBox]

Is this the video? I don't have a Roland, but I remember seeing this video when I was researching them a while back. It sure appears that the Rolands have separate plastic washers, not glued on.

 

[J. Eduardo]

I had the same questions about the Roland 1xb when I was thinking about purchasing one. I wrote the company in the video and here's what they said:

" The button upgrade is only for the FR-8XB, since the FR-1XB already comes with soft touch buttons."

So apparently it's not an issue with the Roland 1xb. Hope you've found that to be the case!
Ed

 

[Duckling]

I had the same questions about the Roland 1xb when I was thinking about purchasing one. I wrote the company in the video and here's what they said:

" The button upgrade is only for the FR-8XB, since the FR-1XB already comes with soft touch buttons."

So apparently it's not an issue with the Roland 1xb. Hope you've found that to be the case!
Ed

Ah, thanks for the information, that makes sense. My buttons have the rubber ones that are glued to the buttons, and they are silent enough I believe. If my wife disagrees I can practice in another room. Replacing them with felt does not seem necessary nor advisable anyway, but it was nice knowing why the video made sense. It was indeed the video in this thread I had seen.