Scandalli Bass Machine

[JIM D.]

All removable bass machines, German or Italian, contain all machine made parts with some hand assembly. They were and are used on
mediocre student models to reduce labor costs & selling prices.
The Chinese use this design bass machine on all models with inferior quality parts and poor craftsmanship.

 

[Col]

In my ongoing series of (1950s) Scandalli related posts ... The Bass Machine.

It's removable with only 2 clips
And the one I've got works fine, and the rubber bands haven't decayed

However it hasn't been cleaned in 60 years and a few of the pistons are sticking slightly.
They're only sticking slightly and It's not the buttons jamming so I'm thinking I should clean the machine.

So my theory is I can clean it without taking it apart - meths with a 1/2" paint brush, then IPA.
Possibly followed by a quick spray with (WD-40) dry PTFE.
Does anybody think that's a reasonable idea ?

From the front:



From underneath (brown marks are muck, not rust):



And some script on the end I can't translate:

No wd40. Silicone spray ok.

 

[Glug]

It's not "WD40" it's a spray on dry PTFE made by the WD40 company

See https://www.accordionists.info/threads/dont-oil-it.6857/

 

[Glug]

Well. that all worked

The naphtha did a fine job, as did the PTFE, and the buttons are pretty much all the same height.

I did discover some of the buttons are not very straight, and I think if I took the front plate off (the one with 120 holes) I could straighten them. On the Scandalli bass machine the buttons would still be attached to the bass machine so that should be simple. But they're working well enough so that's a job for later when the niggles get to me.

One thing I did find is that the bass pallet facings will rub on the bass machine when the pallet opens if the facing extends too far towards the bass register switches. I thought I was going to have a nightmare until I spotted the rubbing and cured it by removing 0.5mm of felt with a craft knife