I'm thinking of buying an accordion. I have been offered a c/f accordion but want to learn the b/c accordion. I want to now how easy/difficult it would be to change this accordion to a b/c. What exactly is involved. Cost will also be a factor, so is it and expensive job??
I think you've got to go on searching for a B/C......
.....difficult is not the word. I suspect it's not that it's technically impossible, merely not worth the bother.
For instance; the reeds have to fit the reed shoes. To tune, very simply, you file a little off the end of the reed to make it lighter, so it plays a higher note, or a little off the middle, so it's less rigid, and plays a lower note. It might be possible to take a C set down to B, but practically impossible to take an F set down to C.
Alternatively go out and purchase a whole new set of reeds, and change them all.
Just wait for a B/C to come along, it'll be so much easier. Someone's done all the work already.
In the late 1990s I changed a Castagnari accordion from D/G to C#/D. It cost me a few hundred dollars and involved ordering new reed blocks from Castagnari through a dealer. I was very happy with the results. It was worth it to me because I wanted to play THAT accordion, not some other one that might eventually come along.
Key to this approach was the fact that the Castagnari's reed blocks were easily removable, held in by only a few screws. I don't believe most accordions are like this, though.
It should be possible on other accordions to change out the reeds one by one. This should be done by a skilled repair technician who knows how to remove and reinstall reeds, which are held in place by a beeswax compound.
I had this done. Depending on the make of accordion it is sometimes ridiculously simple. Mine cost around $250. Don't think about tuning, that is for a few cents, not semitones. The person who did mine unwaxed the reed shoes and waxed on a new set, it didn't even take very long. Just find the right person...
The reed blocks on most two-row accordions are held in place by one screw, actually.
Most of the models with reedblocks glued to the table or soundboard or whatever you want to call it are one-row melodeons.
Conversion is possible but you'd need to find a repairman who has old sets of reeds lying around. Forget about retuning the rows. You couldn't tune the C reeds down a tone without ruining them, let alone moving the F reeds down a fourth.
You could reuse the C reeds, just have them swapped onto the inner row blocks. But a set of secondhand B reeds won't be the easiest thing to find. And not much on your bass side would be salvageable.
You could order a complete set of new reeds but that would set you back several hundred euros, pounds or dollars. And then you'd have to shell out more to have them fitted and fine tuned. Only worth doing if the rest of the box is in great shape.
So, unless it is an especially fine instrument, or unless you have a resourceful repairman to turn to, I'd suggest you take Pete's advice and keep looking.
follow the advice above... Specially Jeeves (always good ideas !)
if you put new reeds, buy B and C ones of the same make. Otherwise the risk of having a row with a sound and the other with another is great, reeds come in different qualities...
But the best would be : keep your C/F how it is - you never know when you'd be wanting it - and buy a B/C...
"You could reuse the C reeds, just have them swapped onto the inner row blocks."
Maybe, but you might find that some of the reeds won't fit on the other reed block, owing to the difference in size of the reed shoes. If, like boxist's Castagnari, the reed blocks are easily removeable, then you can have new blocks fitted; if not, it is possible to adapt the reed blocks to accommodate smaller reeds, but probably not larger ones.
"Singing - If you learn to play a B/C box, you have no trouble in playing in C and F anyway"
I'm not a box player, but I imagine it is easier to play RH chords in C and F if you have a C/F box. It all depends how you want to accompany your singing.
Changing a c/f accordion to a b/c accordion
Changing a c/f accordion to a b/c accordion
Hi,
I'm thinking of buying an accordion. I have been offered a c/f accordion but want to learn the b/c accordion. I want to now how easy/difficult it would be to change this accordion to a b/c. What exactly is involved. Cost will also be a factor, so is it and expensive job??
Thanks in advance,
Darragh
# Posted on October 25th 2010 by Darragh Ó C
Re: Changing a c/f accordion to a b/c accordion
I think you've got to go on searching for a B/C......
.....difficult is not the word. I suspect it's not that it's technically impossible, merely not worth the bother.
For instance; the reeds have to fit the reed shoes. To tune, very simply, you file a little off the end of the reed to make it lighter, so it plays a higher note, or a little off the middle, so it's less rigid, and plays a lower note. It might be possible to take a C set down to B, but practically impossible to take an F set down to C.
Alternatively go out and purchase a whole new set of reeds, and change them all.
Just wait for a B/C to come along, it'll be so much easier. Someone's done all the work already.
# Posted on October 25th 2010 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Changing a c/f accordion to a b/c accordion
If you ever intend to sing and are (as I assume) a bloke, keep it! C and F tuning provides great keys for singing to.
I must add, I don't sing myself - I'm going by singers I've heard who've been accompanied, or accompanied themselves, with a C/F melodeon.
# Posted on October 25th 2010 by nicholas
Re: Changing a c/f accordion to a b/c accordion
In the late 1990s I changed a Castagnari accordion from D/G to C#/D. It cost me a few hundred dollars and involved ordering new reed blocks from Castagnari through a dealer. I was very happy with the results. It was worth it to me because I wanted to play THAT accordion, not some other one that might eventually come along.
Key to this approach was the fact that the Castagnari's reed blocks were easily removable, held in by only a few screws. I don't believe most accordions are like this, though.
It should be possible on other accordions to change out the reeds one by one. This should be done by a skilled repair technician who knows how to remove and reinstall reeds, which are held in place by a beeswax compound.
# Posted on October 26th 2010 by boxist
Re: Changing a c/f accordion to a b/c accordion
I had this done. Depending on the make of accordion it is sometimes ridiculously simple. Mine cost around $250. Don't think about tuning, that is for a few cents, not semitones. The person who did mine unwaxed the reed shoes and waxed on a new set, it didn't even take very long. Just find the right person...
# Posted on October 26th 2010 by cag
Re: Changing a c/f accordion to a b/c accordion
The reed blocks on most two-row accordions are held in place by one screw, actually.
Most of the models with reedblocks glued to the table or soundboard or whatever you want to call it are one-row melodeons.
Conversion is possible but you'd need to find a repairman who has old sets of reeds lying around. Forget about retuning the rows. You couldn't tune the C reeds down a tone without ruining them, let alone moving the F reeds down a fourth.
You could reuse the C reeds, just have them swapped onto the inner row blocks. But a set of secondhand B reeds won't be the easiest thing to find. And not much on your bass side would be salvageable.
You could order a complete set of new reeds but that would set you back several hundred euros, pounds or dollars. And then you'd have to shell out more to have them fitted and fine tuned. Only worth doing if the rest of the box is in great shape.
So, unless it is an especially fine instrument, or unless you have a resourceful repairman to turn to, I'd suggest you take Pete's advice and keep looking.
# Posted on October 26th 2010 by Jeeves Tones
Re: Changing a c/f accordion to a b/c accordion
follow the advice above... Specially Jeeves (always good ideas !)
if you put new reeds, buy B and C ones of the same make. Otherwise the risk of having a row with a sound and the other with another is great, reeds come in different qualities...
But the best would be : keep your C/F how it is - you never know when you'd be wanting it - and buy a B/C...
# Posted on October 26th 2010 by Nikita Pfister
Re: Changing a c/f accordion to a b/c accordion
I recently bought a B/C accordion by accident and am looking to sell it, interested?
dlunney(at)gmail.com
# Posted on October 26th 2010 by dlunney
Re: Changing a c/f accordion to a b/c accordion
Singing - If you learn to play a B/C box, you have no trouble in playing in C and F anyway
# Posted on October 26th 2010 by Free Reed
Re: Changing a c/f accordion to a b/c accordion
"You could reuse the C reeds, just have them swapped onto the inner row blocks."
Maybe, but you might find that some of the reeds won't fit on the other reed block, owing to the difference in size of the reed shoes. If, like boxist's Castagnari, the reed blocks are easily removeable, then you can have new blocks fitted; if not, it is possible to adapt the reed blocks to accommodate smaller reeds, but probably not larger ones.
# Posted on October 26th 2010 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: Changing a c/f accordion to a b/c accordion
"Singing - If you learn to play a B/C box, you have no trouble in playing in C and F anyway"
I'm not a box player, but I imagine it is easier to play RH chords in C and F if you have a C/F box. It all depends how you want to accompany your singing.
# Posted on October 26th 2010 by CreadurMawnOrganig