There are certain requirements for the selection and verification of the button accordion. The room where the button accordion is tested must have an air temperature of 14-28 degrees, and a relative humidity of 50-60%. If before checking the accordion was in cold air, then it must be kept at the above temperature for at least 2 hours. Only after such adaptation of the button accordion to room conditions you can start to exploit it.
Checking the accordion correctly is a rather complicated process. Its complexity lies in the fact that the button accordion is made of several types of materials: wood, metals, plastics, leather, fabric. The design of the tool contains many adhesive compounds that naturally react to temperature extremes and high humidity.
All this can affect the sound quality of the button accordion. But it is quite possible to check the button accordion yourself. For example, no one ever taught me how to check accordions. I just picked up the instrument and tested it.
Fur check
We carefully examine the accordion fur. Stretching the fur slightly, we carefully examine fold after fold, paying attention to the quality of the glue seams. Next, we check the air chamber of the instrument for leaks. Without pressing the buttons, we stretch the accordion fur almost to the limit.
We unclench the fur rather slowly. Then we begin to squeeze the fur. In this case, the instrument should be silent - not hiss or whistle. A small natural bleed of air through the multiple valves of the mechanism is acceptable.
But, the less the bleed, the better the air chamber. If the air leaves the chamber when the fur is working in large quantities, then the accordion requires repair or fine-tuning.
Checking the mechanics
It's generally simple. Press the buttons without stretching the fur. The noise of the mechanisms of the left and right keyboard should be minimal. All kinds of jamming, sinking are unacceptable. The pushbutton mechanisms should work smoothly, the return of the buttons in should be fast enough without squeaking and clanking.
Remember that all kinds of extraneous noises will be a big hindrance when playing in the future. Cool accordions have special mufflers for mechanical noise.
A very important property of the accordion mechanics is the free movement of the buttons. Pay special attention to this. Check each button for push and return. All buttons on the left and right keyboard should be pressed with approximately the same force and freely return to their original position.
Checking votes is the most important operation. In a good button accordion, the reeds of the voices should sound equally good both when the fur is unclasped and when it is squeezed. They should emit a clear, rattling sound, both when the fur is weak (at low volume) and when the fur is moving intensively (at high volume). Each button of the accordion's right keyboard is tested in four modes.
Press the button, stretch the fur with weak effort. Then we squeeze the fur with the button pressed, also with little effort. At the same time, the sound is quite quiet, even, without any admixture of extraneous noise and uncharacteristic vibrations.
As you can see, checking the button accordion is not so difficult, and you can easily cope with this procedure yourself.
In order to exchange experience, as well as help a newbie, we will create a topic where gurus will share the tricks of repairing tools at home, beginners - to draw on knowledge, well, and DIYers - to brag about new master tools 🙂
ELIMINATING KNOCK AND IMPROVING BAYAN'S COMPRESSION
Even the highest quality "Scandalli" or "Roland" needs elementary care, sooner or later the stuffing and cushioning materials roll down, trample down and dry out, thus the instrument loses its former properties, ceases to hold air, unnecessary noises appear in the form of knocking valves or howling of planks. You can fix many of these and other problems yourself. For example - knocking and decompression. Knocking occurs when the valve plate hits the deck of the instrument. In most cases, the cushioning properties of the valve husky are very limited; it still transfers the valve shock to the curtain quite well. Sometimes manufacturers take care of this and stick the seal not on the valve itself, but on foam rubber, felt or cloth, which is then attached to the valve flap. But over time, this gasket dries up, gets confused and corrodes, from here there are annoying knocks, which are sometimes so loud that they are heard during the game, they often do not even give the opportunity to conduct a glissando. There is a need to eliminate them.
In order to carry out this procedure, you do not need to have a large mat-tech base and special skills. All you need is pliers, wire cutters, scissors, a straight razor (or a sharp scalpel / stationery knife), double-sided foam tape, and three hours of free time.
Having removed the valve grids from the bayan deck, we see the entire breech mechanism of the melody: two rows of valves at the top of the neck and one at the bottom. Valves and their levers are various designs, you can read about this in Fadeev's wonderful book "Repair of harmonics, button accordions and accordions".
After removing excess dust that may have accumulated on the deck, carefully, one by one, remove the valves from the bipod. It is most convenient to do this if the accordion is equipped with a wooden keyboard with wire bipods, where the valves are mounted on a semi-rigid nipple mount (photo). After completing this procedure, you can set the tool aside and deal directly with the valves.
First of all, you need to carefully separate the husky from the valve plate. If the instrument is old, the laika will disappear by itself, on button accordions made in the 70s - 80s. The husky was glued to thin foam rubber, which ensured the silent operation of the melody mechanism, but, unfortunately, after 30 - 40 years, this material tends to decompose, flow and crumble. Sometimes it is easier to peel off the BF glued with glue, rather than what is "held together" as a result of foam rubber corrosion. Otherwise, if the husky flatly refuses to be removed, but you need to save it, you should use caution or a scalpel, while carefully pulling back the separated edge of the seal.
After the husky is removed, it is required to clean the surfaces from glue, traces of foam rubber, felt, etc. If the valves are relatively clean, they can be wiped with acetone, thereby washing off the glue and degreasing the surface. This operation can be carried out for both metal and wood, plastic and Teflon valves. If foam, felt or other cushioning / sealing material remains on the valve and it is not going to be washed off with acetone, it can be washed in warm (or better - hot) water with the addition of any detergent... Later, when it gets wet (foam rubber), it can be removed with a brush or knife. If the valve is wooden, it should never be washed, otherwise it will lead! Then you should carefully scrape off the remnants of the matter with a knife or on an emery bar.
During the operation of the tool, minor malfunctions may occur. Every accordion player needs to be able to eliminate them. Faults are external and internal. External: sinking keys, malfunctions of valves, springs, backlash of buttons, malfunctions in mechanics, breakage of the body and fur. Internal: poor state of likes on voice bars, violation of gaps between voices and voices, detuning of voices.
External faults. Key trap. The main reason for this is dampness. The instrument should be stored in a dry place at a temperature of approximately 4-20 °. When the keys fall down, first of all, you should check the serviceability of the springs and the entire mechanism with valves. The valve can move and cling to adjacent ones. If the instrument is slightly damp and individual keys sink, then rubbing places should be greased with a lead. (It has dry lubrication property). Occasionally, the right keyboard key gets stuck due to a malfunction of the wire rod on which the keys are strung (it runs along the entire neck).
Lagging buttons on the left keyboard are often associated with poor mechanical performance. Sometimes it is enough to tighten the stand, which is attached to the roller closer to the main pusher rod, on which the bass or triad button is located, as the button no longer sinks. The bass buttons on the left keyboard may sink due to poor wire connection of the standoff on the valve arm. The wires wear out quickly and must be replaced. The triad buttons sometimes sink because the triad pushers are very tight in the mechanics and cling to each other. It also happens that by pressing the grate with our left hand, we press the fifth or sixth row bedside tables (the edge of the grate bends inward).
To skillfully eliminate external malfunctions, one must be well versed in the structure of mechanics. Different measures can be taken depending on its design.
If the button is too loose on the screw, remove the screw and screw it into a piece of leather, and then screw the button together with the leather and cut the leather along the plane of the button. Sometimes it is better to replace the button.
Internal malfunctions. It is more difficult to eliminate them, it requires a certain skill and special tools.
Often a spoiled husky interferes with a good sounding of voices. If the husky bends strongly, then it can be scraped from the top in the middle and it will straighten. Often the husky gets stuck inside the vocal compartments (under the slats). In such cases, we advise you to remove the resonator and correct the husky, sometimes even cut off its edges.
Often, problems "arise in the voices. For example, the voice" does not sound "because a speck has fallen into the gap between the edge of the window and the voice. clings to the edge of the window (with poor riveting).
The tuning of the voices is done by musicians with certain experience. If the voice sounds lower than it should, then it is necessary to undermine the end of the voice plane slightly. If it sounds higher, then they undermine the voice closer to its base. In any case, a thin metal plate is placed under the voice.
For self-elimination. internal malfunctions of the accordion, you should purchase several files of various shapes with fine notch, emery stones, sticks, a large needle for pulling out the voice and a thin metal plate for placing under the voice.
To rivet new voices, you need to have pieces of voice steel, scissors with which to cut out the voices, a needle for marking voices on the window, a small nail with a row of holes of various sizes, punch and riveting hammer. You must also have two different sizes screwdrivers, portable pliers, vise, wood glue, husky and some small spare materials.
Right-hand mechanics of the Jupiter 64/106 button accordion in the process of assembly.
So, the price of the same button accordion, the photo of which flaunts on my profile picture, is 350,000 rubles. Do not look for Swarovski inlay on the case, it is not here. This is an ordinary serial button accordion. The fact is that the manufacture of button accordions is a long, laborious, almost non-automated process.
The creation time of this musical instrument is longer than the time of bearing a human baby. A long eleven months pass from the start of work until the birth of the finished button accordion. Eight different masters are involved in this difficult process. 80% of all production is done by hand.
Left Mechanic Finish Elective Accordion, Experimental. The process of developing a new tool model. Designer - Lavrov Viktor Petrovich.
If you decide to start making harmonics, you should not google the technical schools and universities that produce the corresponding masters. The creators of these musical instruments will have to be taught from scratch. The training process for one professional takes at least 2-3 years.
For the birth of one button accordion you will need:
Master in Nodal Mechanics
Furrier
Hull Craftsman
Resonator Master
Left hand mechanic assembler
Right Mechanic Assembler
Tuner
There is not a single person who would combine all these specialties. It is very very rare to come across a master who is fluent in two of these eight wisdom, but no more.
The salary of the capital's harmonica maker is about 35,000 rubles. Taking into account the cost of renting premises, it is better to organize production somewhere in the province, and maybe outside our vast homeland.
Manufacturing of resonators: installation and gluing of partitions.
Master - Mikhail Ivanovich Kudar
Perhaps the largest harmonica factory is located in Pyongyang. It employs 1,100 people, of which only 80 are managers, and the rest are workers. Mostly accordions are made there. This factory and the Moscow company "Jupiter" are linked by close friendly and partner relations.
Levers assembled with valves of the right mechanics of the accordion Jupiter
Pasting the mesh of the right mechanics.
Master Rybin Mikhail Nikolaevich
Pasting the mesh of the right mechanics
Making the right accordion mechanics Jupiter 4-voice.
Master - Platonov Konstantin Mikhailovich.
This is how the production of a musical instrument takes place. The instrument turns out to be very, very nice.
The last step in creating a harmonic is tuning.
The last step is setup
By the way, the accordion is the button accordion's younger brother, and not vice versa, as many think.
Accordion. Photo taken by Alexey Bondarenko
In general, there are a great many harmonics. For the meticulous, here is the harmonic classification scheme
And here is Alexei himself in the process of creating his new avatar
Alexey Bondarenko is photographed on a new avatar
In the factory, there are even inscriptions on the dust about music
In general, the button accordion is by no means something irrelevant, as they like to say on the open spaces of the Russian Internet, but popular, interesting and very serious musical instrument... Here.
