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Switching buttons on Acadian

Has anyone ever switched buttons on an Acadian (plastic to metal)? Or at least does anyone know how they are attached?
I've got one with plastic buttons that I want to switch to metal.

Re: Switching buttons on Acadian

They are probably just glued on with wood glue. His later models also have a screw. What you first need to check is the button diameter. Most commonly used metal buttons are slightly less diameter than plastic buttons, and if so, the button hole will have some finger catching gaps around it.

Re: Switching buttons on Acadian

Why not send it to the builder of that box and see what you get

Re: Switching buttons on Acadian

I have done that, but I did it by sending it back to Marc. At the same time, I had him do a small change in the tuning.

-David

Re: Switching buttons on Acadian

I took the plunge and did it myself and it turned out great. It took me only a few days instead of the many weeks it would have taken to send it to LA and back from Seattle.

Got some stainless steel buttons - not chromed steel. Turned out the diameter was the same as the installed plastic buttons, that was nice.

The old buttons were indeed glued on and I got them to release with a heat gun.

The tricky part was getting the height right. After experimenting to find the right thickness, I epoxied hardwood shims onto the bottom of steel buttons and then used titebond to glue wood to wood.

Once the old buttons were off, how would I know how to align the new ones? (I had the end piece of the finger board off, the part with the finger holes.) I tried making a paper template but that didn't really work because I had no way to clamp or tape the pieces in place while the glue dried. So in the end I just put the finger board back together and eyeballed the alignment using the existing holes. I had to tie the flappers shut so the buttons wouldn't sink into the holes when I taped them in place for glue to dry.

I was prepared to have to do it more than once if I didn't get the buttons placed just right. But it turned out great on the first try - how often does that happen?

Anyway, I'm really happy I did it. It took me many months to get used to the plastic buttons when I first got the accordion (my first box has the steel buttons.) I never really liked the slight dome shape they have. Every time I would switch between C and D box the difference would kind of bug me. Now they feel the same.



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