Maintenance
I repair all accordions no matter if they are new or old. Brand and model names doesn’t matter. Many accordions can be put into good shape despite what labels the accordion is having. Accordions in poor shape just need to have proper treatment. Before fixing accordions, I’m checking your instrument carefully and you are given objective report about your accordion’s condition and also possible fixing timetable and price estimate. The checkup is free from costs.
Note that it is hard to give an exact price estimate without seeing the instrument because there are tens of places which need to be checked. However, very directional prices and estimates can be given easily even with e-mail.
Special and historical instrument repair
Next to accordions, I’ve worked with many free reed instruments such as traditional and pneumatic harmoniums and indian harmoniums. Oldest accordions I’ve fixed have been from mid 19th cenctury. Most of the historical instruments on my table are from 1920’s to 1940’s.
Why maintain the accordion?
The accordion has to be maintained regularly. Accordions are having – depending about the size – parts from 1000 pieces up to 7000 pieces. Because of this, the mechanisms has to be kept in good shape. There are two main reasons why to maintaing your accordion:
- to uphold your own playing comfort, and
- give listeners a positive experience.
When the accordion is maintained, instrument’s value is not sinking as fast as if the instrument is not maintained. Also, keeping your accordion in good tune encourages you to continue with music. A jamming button is not giving you any benefits. You should bring your accordion for checkups and possible maintanance every 3-5 years. The more you play, the more demand there is to maintain the instrument. In profesional use, you should maintain your instrument once in a year. Most common issues are with celluloid, varnish, air leaks, broken mechanism, and bad tuning.
Every accordion player need to know his/her instrument well. First step to check your own instrument is to be critical. Check air leaks. Are reeds working as good in both air directions? How is register switchers working? Is instrumet dirty? And so on. If you find something to repair, don’t hasitate to contact.
Old instruments might have a big repair to come. Renovation might be relevant to do, if the instrument is old and instrument’s history is not known. Let’s take an example: if the instrument has not been fixed within past 30 years, the wax on the reedblocks might be cracking or the mechanisms are having some backlash. In this case the instrument cannot be tuned and there is no reason to do any small repairs. Renovate the whole instrument is a good option.
All works are done by customers requests. The full repair for accordion is expensive work, but it is still a lot cheaper than buying a new accordion. There is also other benefits:
- the instrument is having more years on its lifespan,
- the instrument’s mechanical failures are fixed,
- the instrument’s air tighness gets better,
- the instrument is tuned.