It is prudent to remember, before even opening up an instrument, that the person who last gave attention to it was most likely an experienced person.

The reed body is normally aluminium and the reed tongue steel. The tongue is rivetted to the body. The unit has two reed tongues fitted each in its own close fitting slot.

The reed blocks are commonly secured with screwed clips or cleats or small diameter ‘bolts’ which engage with the side frames. The blocks are set firmly in place but not over-tightened.

Accordions are normally fitted with up to five banks of reeds and are referred to as ‘voices’. In a 5 voice instrument a common configuration of the reeds is depicted as shown below and is what is often displayed on the instrument’s tone change switches.

The skills required in dealing with these faults are probably mostly ‘mechanical’ though the expertise required when tackling larger bodywork celluloid repairs is definitely specialised.