Cost of repairs
I accept all major credit and debit cards.
Visits to my workshop are by appointment only.
Repair Work
All repair work is charged at £75 for the first hour, which covers initial assessment and workshop time.
Thereafter, work is charged at £50 per hour, plus materials.
Inspection & Valuation
Inspection and guideline valuation: £25
(This fee is included in the cost of any subsequent repair work.)
I occasionally offer while-you-wait or same-day repairs (weekdays only). These are typically simple jobs completed within an hour and are priced from £80, depending on the work required.
VAT
I am not VAT-registered, so VAT is not added to these prices.
I provide estimates as a likely minimum–maximum range, based on the anticipated time required and the cost of materials and parts. If additional issues become apparent during the work, I always discuss with you before proceeding.
Worth saving?
I am frequently contacted about older piano accordions. Many are no longer economically repairable. Occasionally they can be restored if they have strong sentimental value. I regularly restore family heirlooms where preservation matters as much as practicality.
The advice is different for concertinas. Vintage concertinas tend to have a strong value if they are restored, but there is a distinction between old makes, such as Lachenal, Wheatstone, Jones, Case, Jeffries etc, plus the more modern quality makers, and the cheap mass produced (often German made) concertinas. I am happy to advise.
The cost of a reed overhaul (removal, cleaning, re-valving and tuning) depends on several factors: the number of reeds in the instrument, their condition, and how many require restoration.
Reed work is labour-intensive. The cost reflects the number of reeds involved and the time required to work carefully on each individual reed.
For illustration here are a few examples of the cost of accordion and concertina repair or restoration :
Restore a small piano accordion to playable condition – for instance two voices on the RH and 48 basses – 7 to 15 hours.
Tune a 21 key/ 8 bass, 2 voice melodeon – 2 to 4 hours.
Overhaul bass reed block on piano accordion (24 reeds – remove/clean/re-valve and tune) – from 3 hours, depending on the condition of the reeds.
Concertina repairs can be anything from 2 to 20 hours, plus materials and parts. English concertina 48 button reed overhaul and re-tune to A=440Hz (concert pitch) 7 to 10 hours.
Custom made accordion bellows – from £350. They are made in Italy. The process entails: take measurements, place order, wait (up to 12 weeks), receive bellows, remove old bellows from accordion, fit new bellows.
Concertina bellows: I can often repair these or get them custom made. Cost varies but from £350 for replacement.
Bellows repairs: I can replace metal corners and patch bellows tape, but I do not offer a complete bellows re-tape service.
Re-valve, re-wax an old Hohner Pokerwork 21 key 2 voice melodeon – from 8 hours plus parts.
Complete overhaul of a full sized 41 key, 120 bass piano accordion. 20 to 30 hours, plus parts. Most old accordions are not worth this kind of expense. The keyboard is often problematic and not great to play compared to a modern accordion. They are often warped and the keys ‘sag’ and move around. If you bought the accordion from a charity shop or found it in a garage or attic my general experience is that they are time consuming to repair. I am happy to advise.
Please note the above is NOT a price list, but is for illustration.
How to get your instrument to my workshop
You come to my workshop
Probably the best way is for you to bring it to me, by appointment, and then we discuss your needs and I can give you an estimate.
Use a courier service
I can advise on courier services – accordions are sent by courier all the time and weight and size aren’t much of a restriction these days.