Hey All,
I took apart my Acadian C today because it fell and one of my four stops got bent. After I re-glued the little block of wood (that the stop bar is attached to) to the long slat of wood (that opens and blocks the air coming into the reeds) I noticed that my 40 reeds are missing a total of 4 leather flappers and on the leather flappers that remain there are only 12 little thin metal strips on those flappers (out of 36 remaining leather flappers)
I took apart the bass side and noticed that 2 of those thin metal strips are missing.
My question is, were those metal strips and flappers once there? (I scoured the inside of the box for loose parts, but found nothing)
As a side note, I had not noticed any degraded sound quality from the box. Still sounds great.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave-

I don't think the higher pitched reeds have leathers on them. Maybe the top two to four reeds, depending on the box I guess.

Probably the metal strips are used to hold up the heavier leathers and aren't needed on the smaller ones.

Thanks Dwight.
I was thinking the same thing.
It seems that on two of the reed banks there are metal strips on the top three reeds, on another reed band there are strips on 6 reeds, while on another there are no strips. I can't figure it out, but I didn't build the thing either.

Dave-

Dwight is correct, all the reeds don't have leathers on them and all the leathers don't have the metal wire. If you looked inside the accordion for loose leathers and didn't find any, then you probably don't have anything to worry about.
Jude

You also should make sure the wax around the reeds hasn't come loose or cracked and look for missing screws holding the reeds in

Jim

I'm having a weird thing with my Regal D. Every now and then a little plastic strip will blow out of it. A guy at church said it's something to do with the reeds and all the little plastic thingies blew out of his Hohner, but it doesn't degrade the sound. I don't know what they are and how to put them back, if I should at all. It is a borrowed accordion and I don't want to return it broken.

This plastic thingy is a plastic "leather" I have a Regal from the 90's and they are not glued in very well.

When the plastics come off it makes it harder to play, more air is needed to play it. The leather can be glued back on easily, the trick is, finding out where it came off

Jim

GEEZ that's enough reason to give the box back and get a handmade one. And yes, i notice some reeds don't play. Those "leathers" are the one-way valve so air only goes in one direction so only that note plays. I can only imagine what's in the new chinese boxes (more plastic).

Ya know. I'm still a novice player with just a few tunes under my belt, Back Door, J'ai Passe, Allons a Lafayette, and a few others, albeit without all the fancy ornaments in between the notes. But after knowing now what's in those cheap accordions, I can only desire to buy a new or relatively new used handmade accordion. An Acadian would be great because Marc's only 15 minutes away so help is easy to get to if I need an adjustment, etc.

Thanks for the info.

Cheap boxes aren't so bad if they're taken care of properly and new

I love Savoy's boxes, they are by far the best in my opinion.

Jim

The plastic "leathers" are called Ventile.
You will find them on most european accordions now a days.

They are very light and react faster than the leather checks, but they are not as good in humid climates because they do not "wick" the water away from the reeds like the "real" leathers and your reeds can end up "rusting". (this is bad)

But in California, Arizon and New Mexico, they work great.

You can glue them back in with a little "Crazy Glue".
Be very sure not to get the glue anywhere but on the very end of the Ventile or you will be sorry. :(

(Too much glue will also "attack" the plasic and make it curl so it does not seal correctly. This is worse then not having it on at all.)

Keeping your leathers in good condition will help to extend the life of your reeds and also make your accordion respond better.

DP

Experimentation with such things must be done with very calm hands and sound mind. It's good you stressed that the very tippy bottom should have glue. I once screwed up a reed when glue leaked onto the reed, opposite. Luckily it wasn't much so I cleaned it out with fishing line.