19/01/2026
Repair, restore: What to expect.
What do we mean by repairing or restoring an instrument, and what can you expect?
Well, we are just making a video showing several instruments, that arrived at the same time, showing how we assessed them, and necessary repairs.
When someone brings an instrument to us, we assess it, usually from the position of "what would I do if this were mine, and being prepared for sale on our website", and nearly always work out a quote. That is a fixed price for the work, any experienced repairer should be able to do that, as long as the instrument can be dismantled.
Frequently we have to re-do poor quality repairs, sometimes wrong materials used, or work not done correctly. Sometimes we even have to correct manufacturing faults. In an ideal world we would always do everything that we considered necessary, but there is inevitably a compromise between what is ideal, the economics of the repair, and what the customer wants. Frequently the customer has just bought the concertina, perhaps from a dealer, and supposedly restored, but has already found it is not as good as it should be!
Shown here is a Lachenal & Co. 32 key C/G Anglo, this has been repaired for our own stock, and is currently available for sale on our website.
This is a typical repair. When this came to us it was scruffy and neglected, but thankfully had not suffered from any previous poor repairs, as so many have. It was not particularly well assembled when made, so it was necessary to also make several changes to the action. Thankfully the reeds are very good. This is what we have done, and this is what you can expect if you bring us a concertina for repair: Replacing defective parts, repairing faults, and making it play better than when new!
Following an assessment this is what we have done:
Dismantle, clean throughout, reglue unstable woodwork (and previous historic action crack) remove old valves. Remove moth-eaten pads. The action has been overhauled, there were several levers that had been assembled wrongly, and several loose pivots. The end supports were wrong, and the angle of some of the levers meant that the ends were pushing down on those levers, causing sticking buttons and some air loss, probably from new. Buttons cleaned and bushed, extra chamois dampers (as original) were added, pads and mounts were replaced, lever-washers as necessary, end supports adjusted, some springs replaced (some were altered to improve the feel of the action as many of the buttons were very heavily sprung or pulled to one side). All the buttons were then levelled. New straps were fitted, and a missing strap-screw was replaced with a matching original Lachenal part (we have large stocks of original parts for use in the repairs we do). End-bolts cleaned, slots re-cut and metal fittings cleaned and polished as necessary. The original bellows were repaired and will be good for many years to come. The reed-pan support blocks were re-glued where necessary, reed-pan seals adjusted, and the reed-pan fit into the bellows frames corrected. The reedpans were cleaned to remove previous valve glue (thankfully original animal glue, not the Evostik that we come across all to frequently!) and the reeds were cleaned, reset, and tuned (in this case to A=440hz equal temperament, but other tunings are possible). New valves added, and any missing valve-stop pins replaced.The reeds were tuned again, and again, and again, and again....etc. until we can be sure they will remaiin in tune for a long while to come. The tuning process takes several weeks, there are no short-cuts! We play the concertinas we repair, so if there are any problems they can be found and remedied. We have improved the external finish locally where necessary, but we would not refinish an instrument (French polish) unless the finish was very bad. (likewise with the end-plating) unless it is really bad, we would always aim for a more subtle, sympathetic repair, retaining it's originality where possible. Finally, after many hours work (and remember this is a typical repair, with all the same attention applied to all the repairs we do) we put on our label, sign the repair, and date it. If a repairer has any pride in his work that work will be clearly marked, and it's history will be known, if there's not a label and date, it has not been repaired by a professional - it's as simple as that!
If that sounds a lot, it is! However it is all necessary to get the concertina playing as it should, usually better than new!
Next time: More of the same! "The world's worst Wheatstone"? (or what happens when curiosity gets the better of your judgement!)
Photo's: Lachenal 32 key C/G (extra buttons have useful notes). showing repairs done using correct pattern parts, looking almost as it would have when first made, but playing much better!
