Dingo40
Been here for ages!
If you're 70+, you have nothing to be nervous about as you'll likely outlive any potential problems no matter how you store it!
Which way up should the accordion be when storing in case?
Ikesaccordions
Active member
hay look. i'll be 80 this month and i'm hoping to play incredible stuff flawlessly which i could hardly do with bad valves. i'll thank u young whippersnappers to show a modicum of respect and get back to practicing.If you're 70+, you have nothing to be nervous about as you'll likely outlive any potential problems no matter how you store it!
Shaddap, junior.
Dingo40
Been here for ages!
Same here!
You're too "optimistic" about how long it will take for the problem to occur.If you're 70+, you have nothing to be nervous about as you'll likely outlive any potential problems no matter how you store it!
It's a slow process, but even when you buy a brand new accordion with cassotto at the age of 70, and then proceed to always place the accordion on its feet, there is a fair chance the problem will appear before you die. But like many players you may not notice because it gets worse at such a slow rate that you may adapt to how the accordion behaves and start thinking that the slower response of the low notes is normal and was always like that...
Ikesaccordions
Active member
Learn the right way to pour wax and how to straighten bent leathers. There are many other things to learn. Ars lunga vita brevis.
Good advice! I traveled a little way down this road, enough to make most accordions I encounter playable. As Ike says, it's good to have the basic knowledge. I'm not smart (motivated?) enough to get into full tuning or intense fr4x programming because it takes all my available time (motivation) to play the songs I want to play. Who's going to cut the trees down and make the firewood? I do listen to accordion music/podcasts while I work.
Very good advice. Every accordion player should also learn how to free up a stuck reed that's blocked by a hair or other small particle of debris. I still find it unbelievable that (here at least) in the conservatory they do not teach accordion students to do any kind of minor repair, like fixing a stuck reed. This results in accordion teachers who cannot help their own pupils with any small issue they may encounter. They are all completely helpless and at the mercy of accordion repairers...
I was doing a lot of thinking. My Morino VI N was stored in it's case on it's "legs" and the think is going on 50 years. Does it need valves? Yes... a couple on the right hand, 3 on the bass side. One can almost blame that equally on the valves drying and aging as much as gravity.
My thing is that when storing them on my shelf, they are in a precarious position and can easily be tipped over and fall hitting a concrete floor, that means I would need to make custom bases for all my accordions to keep them safe. No one makes those things. Also, you place strains in other areas... like the bellows and keyboards, and IMHO, that is just as bad, if not worse for the accordion than having them sitting as they were designed to... on their feet on the bass side.
I made the choice to have them safer and sitting as they were designed to and I can easily replace the odd valve when needed. It is just the lesser of all "evils" for me in my case... just my 2 cents.
My thing is that when storing them on my shelf, they are in a precarious position and can easily be tipped over and fall hitting a concrete floor, that means I would need to make custom bases for all my accordions to keep them safe. No one makes those things. Also, you place strains in other areas... like the bellows and keyboards, and IMHO, that is just as bad, if not worse for the accordion than having them sitting as they were designed to... on their feet on the bass side.
I made the choice to have them safer and sitting as they were designed to and I can easily replace the odd valve when needed. It is just the lesser of all "evils" for me in my case... just my 2 cents.
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Dingo40
Been here for ages!
JerryPH said
" One can almost blame that equally on the valves drying and aging as much as gravity."
I'm possibly tone deaf, but some of my accordions have been either lying on their backs (in their carry cases on top of the wardrobe) or standing up on their stumpy little legs) for 30 to 70 years.
I'm probably just plain insensitive, but I can't detect any particular problems.
Still, "if ignorance is bliss, surely it's folly to be wise!"
I know of people who have ruined the bloom of their camera lenses through overzealous polishing , but I have also seen perfectly sharp photos taken using lenses deliberately obscured by bits of paper (or with seriously chipped and cracked front elements). Nowadays I hardly ever polish my 35 mm camera lenses at all.
(I admit that fingerprints and grease stains will cause serious flare on cellphone camera lenses and it's better to wipe them, especially if photographing against the light.)
" One can almost blame that equally on the valves drying and aging as much as gravity."
I'm possibly tone deaf, but some of my accordions have been either lying on their backs (in their carry cases on top of the wardrobe) or standing up on their stumpy little legs) for 30 to 70 years.
I'm probably just plain insensitive, but I can't detect any particular problems.
Still, "if ignorance is bliss, surely it's folly to be wise!"
I know of people who have ruined the bloom of their camera lenses through overzealous polishing , but I have also seen perfectly sharp photos taken using lenses deliberately obscured by bits of paper (or with seriously chipped and cracked front elements). Nowadays I hardly ever polish my 35 mm camera lenses at all.
(I admit that fingerprints and grease stains will cause serious flare on cellphone camera lenses and it's better to wipe them, especially if photographing against the light.
)
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When you have leather valves with metal booster springs there isn't really very much of an issue as the booster springs help to fight gravity.
The trouble is most with leather (real or fake) with plastic booster springs. These valves have no lasting support against gravity. Smaller leather valves without booster springs will also sag due to gravity.
The trouble is most with leather (real or fake) with plastic booster springs. These valves have no lasting support against gravity. Smaller leather valves without booster springs will also sag due to gravity.
Be one ever so agile he ain't a gonna outrun time.
The leathers will eventually do you dirt given enough time regardless of storage position.
Stored in the playing position the leather valves on the primary RH valves- small enough not to have boosters but still pretty long relative to their width- will eventually sag in a sort of a twisting fashion leading to wierd sounds as they fail to close flush. The cassotto and bass leathers will be held lengthwise and half will presumably sag less than they would- but old age will catch up with them/us all.
Stored on their feet the RH non cassotto valves will eventually stiffen and then remain lifted away from the reed plates anyway, as the stiffer leather fails to fully spring back closed as the instrument is played and the valves are blown open.
How big an issue will it be in how much time? Individual tolerance to the fore. A gradual process and some may never have an issue- folks have brought me instruments which "have a sort of a rattley sound" which when opened look like an expolsion in a valve leather factory. The owners were perfectly content, having gotten acclimated over the years. Same theory as the frog in a pot on the stove boiling to death becaue they never quite note the heat build up
Never had occasion to test that one (too rough on the frog and I'm sort of soft hearted/headed) but surely saw pretty convincing evidence on the analogy's applicability when applied to perfectly content average accordionists.
Off to annoy the neighbors from the porch while the wife takes the dog on his evening stroll and sniff.
The leathers will eventually do you dirt given enough time regardless of storage position.
Stored in the playing position the leather valves on the primary RH valves- small enough not to have boosters but still pretty long relative to their width- will eventually sag in a sort of a twisting fashion leading to wierd sounds as they fail to close flush. The cassotto and bass leathers will be held lengthwise and half will presumably sag less than they would- but old age will catch up with them/us all.
Stored on their feet the RH non cassotto valves will eventually stiffen and then remain lifted away from the reed plates anyway, as the stiffer leather fails to fully spring back closed as the instrument is played and the valves are blown open.
How big an issue will it be in how much time? Individual tolerance to the fore. A gradual process and some may never have an issue- folks have brought me instruments which "have a sort of a rattley sound" which when opened look like an expolsion in a valve leather factory. The owners were perfectly content, having gotten acclimated over the years. Same theory as the frog in a pot on the stove boiling to death becaue they never quite note the heat build up
Never had occasion to test that one (too rough on the frog and I'm sort of soft hearted/headed) but surely saw pretty convincing evidence on the analogy's applicability when applied to perfectly content average accordionists.
Off to annoy the neighbors from the porch while the wife takes the dog on his evening stroll and sniff.
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Ventura
Been here for ages!
we may be responding the wrong way to the original posted question
it reads ".....when storing IN CASE "
in case of what exactly ?
fire
flood
a wife that has watched you bring one too many accordions home ?
(you know who you are)
this is a need to know kinda thing in order to answer this question fully
it reads ".....when storing IN CASE "
in case of what exactly ?
fire
flood
a wife that has watched you bring one too many accordions home ?
(you know who you are)
this is a need to know kinda thing in order to answer this question fully
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Ikesaccordions
Active member
Seriously, The Settimio Soprani Ampliphonic reed blocks for ex-maple LMMH 4/5 all the blocks are crossways to normal.
In plyaing position 1/2 numerically of all the leathers are attracted to China.
I have seen how S.S. made springs out of D shaped strip of paper creased on one end of the "D". But of course on lower-pinched reeds, the leathers would rate having steel boosters.
"It depends"
Less storage and more playing will make you famouser.
In plyaing position 1/2 numerically of all the leathers are attracted to China.
I have seen how S.S. made springs out of D shaped strip of paper creased on one end of the "D". But of course on lower-pinched reeds, the leathers would rate having steel boosters.
"It depends"
Less storage and more playing will make you famouser.
In my case it's far more likely to make me "infamouser..."
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