Workshop (Concertinas) - Concertina Maintenance and Repair with Alex West
Multimedia Room, King's College Conference Centre, Old Aberdeen, AB24 3DR
Sunday 16th November 2025
An introduction to diagnosis and simple Fixes.
I'll be concentrating on “vintage” style instruments with traditional concertina reeds and actions rather than hybrid and accordion reeded instruments although some of the aspects will be similar. The intent is to try to keep the instrument in good playing order and to attempt to remove some of the fear of opening up the instruments and fixing the commonly occurring issues such as broken springs, poorly performing valves, loose pads and choked reeds. I’ll bring examples to demonstrate on, but attendees are encouraged to bring their problems along, I’ll draw the distinction between things that the average player should be able to fix and when to call for the professionals!
I'll be concentrating on “vintage” style instruments with traditional concertina reeds and actions rather than hybrid and accordion reeded instruments although some of the aspects will be similar. The intent is to try to keep the instrument in good playing order and to attempt to remove some of the fear of opening up the instruments and fixing the commonly occurring issues such as broken springs, poorly performing valves, loose pads and choked reeds. I’ll bring examples to demonstrate on, but attendees are encouraged to bring their problems along, I’ll draw the distinction between things that the average player should be able to fix and when to call for the professionals!
