Is the ideal to have an accordion completely air-tight where you can hang it by the bass strap and it stays completely closed?
What degree of leakage is acceptable? Don't lighter springs cause a lighter seal of the valves?
I hear all the time of players who ride the air button as they play to make the bellows move quicker and with less pressure.
Excellent reeds such as those made by Binci require less air to speak, so some leakage is not really a problem, in fact it seems it may be an advantage.

Your more experienced comments appreciated.

John in Austin.

John,
I understand that you worry a litle about your new accordion?
Lighter springs give a certain amount of leakage when you push hard without playing. But why do it, be careful because you can make weak spots weaker (more leaking). When you play, there are always flappers open, so you don't have this leaking problem then.

But I don't know how big the problem is and how to find out where it comes from. Would be nice to ask others for some tests. (Under water is not recommended, blowing colored smoke might be a good option, but then you need a hole forst.

Many accordions have some = very little leakage. Not worth worrying.
You mention reeds: sometimes the reeds are in a slightly open position that they can leak air as well (possibly played with a strong arm). his can be fixed by an experienced person, I unerstood. Maybe somebody else has experience with this?

Gus

I guess I'm responding to the thread below about gaskets. I really don't have any problems with my Le Capitaine. I can still hardly believe how much easier it plays than my Gabb King and how much better it sounds. There are no leaks in the valves, no ghost notes. I don't believe there is anything "wrong" with it. I have quickly learned to play more lightly than my King. When the bass is going and I am playing two and three and four key chords/octaves, it glides so easily, Everything is more relaxed. I haven't had any problems with running out of bellows. When I close the accordion and set it down, the bellows will slowly expand a couple of inches on its own. This tendency of the bellows to expand allows it to "play itself" to some degree, requiring less muscle power on my part. Makes playing it much smoother.It is also louder than my King (another reason to play more lightly so as to not disturb the neighbors too much).

My main point is that a totally air-tight accordion may be an unneccessary (if not impossible) goal. A genuinely leaky accordion will be unplayable, but some degree of the right kind of "leakage" may actually be a good thing.

i think that it doesn;t really matter much
because if you are actually making sound,
that is much more of a 'leak' than any
loose flappers might produce

plus if you do have any flappers open,
the pressure or vacuum in the accordion
is greatly reduced, reducing the air that
could flow through holes or 'closed' flappers

i would say, a little doesn;t matter

if you can play it, it;s ok

if you can;t, don;t go looking for
details to blame it on.. :)

wle.

I've come to the conclusion that, if you're not running out of 'breath' in either direction, it'll do.

BJ