It's a good job I'm used to looking at big blank sheets of paper - or even areas of screen. Of course, now I've written this, it isn't blank any more.
Why am I doing this? Daft idea. Well, mostly to write about another daft idea.

I am - slowly and painfully - learning to play a melodeon, and more slowly (at present) concertina. At one point I bought, as many do, one of those little red, white and blue Chinese toy boxes off of Ebay.

Well, it's fun, it's about as airtight as a colander, it's in C (roughly) and it's far too small for my hands. That - apart, I hope, from the first bit - is about to change. How? Well, here's the plan.

1) Add a proper air button. Well, at least one that works like a Hohner air valve. If you don't know what a Hohner air valve is, nothing much after this point will make much sense to you anyway.

2) Seal the damn thing. The gussets and corners are made of a porous material and make the existing air valve largely superfluous. I have some thin leather, from Concertina Spares, poised waiting to go. Although, to be fair, very thin leather doesn't really poise that well.

3) Retune to G Major. Ah. The interesting bit. Using the original reeds. Even more interesting. And possibly not permanent. But, this is just the plan. Other reeds are available.

4) Ditto the basses/chords. Also move them down a peg, since the bottom button is presently the air button. New woodwork required, methinks. Also one reed refuses to play, but haven't looked in detail yet. And the thirds might be notional, need to get them out and have a play. The reeds. Oh, and add a unisonoric C bass on the top button. So, maybe not so major, but still G.

5) Remake the straps. I have some old melodeon straps (i.e. real melodeon straps. Real straps, from real melodeons) that are old, tired and too short. (For those who know me, just think it, don't say it.). I have the technology to make them shorter and thinner. (For myself, I don't need shorter and thinner will not involve a very sharp paring knife. Tired I have to live with, especially on Mondays. )

You may have realised by now that I am as interested in what makes them work as I am in learning to play. But there is a reason, for the toy box, it is something to take and practice on when waiting in the car to collect people, maybe at lunchbreaks, places where a real one is too big to take. So it will be used.