I got these vintage accordion reeds from ebay ages ago. They have been sitting on my shelf for over a year. I’ve calculated that they have gained as much as 1% more vintage in that time.
These accordion reeds are unlike their neighbours who came from pump organs. Accordion reeds have steel tongues (not brass), and the frames are made from aluminium (not brass). Beyond that there are no material differences. Only morphological ones.
Don’t you just love jigsaw puzzles? I don’t. I’ve only ever done them out of selflessness or spite.
But what if, instead of interlocking pieces in a two dimensional grid (if you’re lucky), each piece was smooth. Instead of aligning tabs and a picture (if you’re lucky), each piece is instead had a similar resonance to its neighbours. And what if, instead of a two dimensional puzzle, it’s one dimensional. There aren’t any corners, but on the other hand, it’s all edges.
Start with Part 1.
Bellows are a mystery to me. Even now. There are plenty of tutorials showing you how to draw lines on paper and then fold them up, but my brain doesn’t find it easy to visualise it. Easily solved, I’ll just make a model.
Start with Part 1.
I just wanted another portable harmonium. Whether that meant buying or building one.
I saw one on eBay, listed as a fixer-upper that doesn’t play. I had to get it. In the best case I would have a harmonium. In the worst case I would have learned something.
The seller was quite open about it not working. I took the gamble, and met him in a car park off the M4. It looked exactly like its photo.
I should be clear that I already have a harmonium. It has three octaves, two ranks (voices) and knee-pedals to operate the swells. It’s small, and folds up smaller. If you saw me carrying it you might mistakenly think I was struggling with a very heavy suitcase.