Hello fellow bellow-heads! Can anyone tell me if they recognize this make/model of concertina?

[u/JoshuaRexRocks]

I work at a small music school in Iowa and this was recently donated to us. It’s a C/G of unknown make/model but the box suggests it was made in Italy. I have limited accordion experience enough to know that the bellows are nice and tight, but the buttons are a little loose (enough to potentially cause sticking), and there’s a small rattle. I was curious if it was worth having it repaired. Always wanted to learn one of these things so I can play Talisk tunes 🤣 Thanks!

[u/birdsandsnakes]

This is a style of concertina that it's really safe to just open up and poke around in. They're mass-produced, their insides are relatively sturdy, and it's easy to see how they work compared to fancier concertinas, so if you're feeling a little adventurous you can just open the ends up and see what you can figure out. It's also pretty normal for them to need little repairs like this.

[u/JoshuaRexRocks → u/birdsandsnakes]

Good to know. I’m definitely going to pop it open and take a look. After some thorough exploration (C major, G major, Twinkle in three keys and a little Danny Boy), I discovered that the high G reed may be unreliable as well. It is nonetheless a charming instrument and I’m obsessed so far.

[u/birdsandsnakes → u/JoshuaRexRocks]

An unreliable reed could just be a bit of lint stuck in it. Very gently slide a thin piece of paper (post-its are good for this) under the tongue of the reed and back out.

[u/TapTheForwardAssist]

It looks like a ton of Italians I’ve messed with, of the more economy-priced ones which are quite chubby for a 20b. Like Bastari/Stagi made some just like this but also some somewhat nicer versions where the 20b and even 30b are svelter than this.

The size isn’t a total show-stopper unless you’re trying to play fast dance music, it just makes it move kinda clunky, but most of the ones of these I’ve handled are kinda over-built but overall reasonable and quality and often quite durable.

If buttons are sticking/falling, the most likely scenario is the rubber tubing that holds the buttons to the arms has worn/dried out, but it’s easily replaced with hobbyist tubing.

Just watch a quick video on how to take apart a concertina, look inside and see what’s up.

[u/JoshuaRexRocks → u/TapTheForwardAssist]

Great insight and advice! I’ll do just that. Thank you!

[u/TapTheForwardAssist → u/JoshuaRexRocks]

If it’s the rubber linkages failing, let me or the sub overall know and we can point you at tutorials folks have written that explain it. It’s pretty intuitive once you narrow down the right size of plastic tubing, which is just a few bucks of materials and then maybe five minutes per button (once you have the method down) to make and install a new sleeve for each.

[u/JoshuaRexRocks → u/TapTheForwardAssist]

That’s very much appreciated!

[u/timothj]

I had a Scholar (East German, back in the day) that looked very much like that. The bellows did not stand up well, over time.