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Syncopepper

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Interests
    EC, guitar, banjo, dulcimer, bones
    English and American traditional folk, nautical
  • Location
    Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA

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  1. Many years ago I was walking with my wife past a pawnship in the Washington DC area when she caught me giving lascivious looks at a red, mother-of-toilet seat, German anglo concertina. Low and behold a short time later it turned up as a going-a-way present when I left a job. I fooled around with it and learned maybe a dozen tunes but the magic had gone out of our union. Too much sucking and blowing. I didn't do much harmonica playing for the same reason. In those days I regularly attended a local english-style folk club - The Reston - Herndon Folk Club. Alistair Anderson was touring and did a concert at the club. I had the luck to sit with Alistair for dinner and discuss concertinas. He convinced me that the EC was the one for me. I traded Red in for a 48 key Trinity College tenor EC and never looked back.
  2. Since the start of the pandemic I have been regularly attending many ZOOM sessions sponsored by English and American folk organizations. I find I can get good results with a good Bluetooth microphone, original sound on with "suppress background sound" set to LOW, high fidelity music mode on, and echo cancellation. I also use a good Bluetooth speaker at least 8' from the microphone.
  3. Thanks, good to know that they weren't left-over Edeophone parts. Are these hook Aeolas very common? I wonder what design changes, if any, Lachenal made post 1900?
  4. My extended treble New Model, circa 1890, has round hook levers and several are long and convoluted. The longest and most convoluted one fell victim to this "Cranked Arm Syndrome" a few years ago (a problem that has been discussed here in the past). The solution was to replace that key with a riveted action and I have not had any problem since. When I first examined the action on the hook Aeola I immediately thought the design change would alleviate this problem.
  5. I have a tenor Wheatstone Aeola sn:35364 that I picked up a few years ago and have had fully restored. This unit was made in 1942 and has hook instead of riveted action (see photos). I have played a hook action New Model for years and have played numerous riveted Aeolas in the past. I have no problem with the hook action but am wondering how the flat type levers on this EC compare with the last Edeophones that Lachenal made before they went into bankruptcy. I have heard that Wheatstone used Lachenal parts during this period. Can anyone confirm that these flat hook levers are similar to the last Edeophones made? They are not like the hook levers in my New Model.
  6. In October I will be traveling to Ireland for several weeks and bringing a wood-ended Aeola with me. At home my concertinas live in a climate controlled music room. October will likely be cool and wet in Ireland and I'm wondering if I should be doing something to keep it from picking up too much humidity. I have read that silica gel packs may overly dry the wood and, of course, taking it out to play will quickly expose it to whatever conditions are in the room. I have a hydrometer to keep in the case for monitoring purposes and could use silica gel with discretion to control humidity. Does this sound like a good idea? Also is it possible I may run into too dry conditions? I would appreciate any advice from those who have travel experience.
  7. The legendary pianist, and Bach keyboard interpreter, Glen Gould would grunt and moan so much when playing that it was evident in his many recordings.
  8. I have an extended treble New Model without an air valve. Years ago I removed both high reeds and found they stored perfectly in the blocked off part of each reed chamber. If you ever need the note just take out the push side only and leave the other in. My Aeola has a thumb air release and I find the jury rigged one on the New Model both handier and able to move much more air.
  9. My original Stagi Tenor EC got the presale attention thirty-five years ago from the old House of Musical Traditions in Tacoma Park, MD. It's never been serviced and still plays fine.
  10. As a thirty-five year EC player I learned a lot about the duet from your great video!
  11. It should be interesting to see how they hold up over time. I believe my Trinity cost me $600 - $700 When I bought it about 38 years ago. The leather bellows have held up just fine. I suspect these fabric based bellow won't last that long.
  12. I noticed entry level Trinity concertinas now come with "fabric covered bellows". I have a Trinity that I bought new 30+ years ago that has decent standard skived leather bellows. In the pictures the current ones have a fabric-like weave on the outer surface. I wonder if the fabric is just covering some other air-tight material or if these bellows use some kind of doped fabric which has been made air-tight? Anyone out there have any experience with, or information about them?
  13. I was playing the uke, the guitar, and the tenor banjo by the time I was twelve years old. Through most of the ‘60s and early ‘70s I was a member of a folk group that regularly played at resorts in the mid-west booked through the Old Town School of Folk Music. Later when living in the Washington DC area I ogled a cheap German mother-of-toilet seat anglo in a pawn shop window while out walking with my wife. When I moved on from the job I had at the time the anglo turned up as my parting gift from fellow workers. I played around with the anglo for a year learning a few songs when I had the privilege of eating dinner with Alistair Anderson when he appeared at my local folk club. While we ate Alistair suggested I might like the EC better and the reasons why. After his performance that night I was hooked on ECs and traded in the anglo on a Trinity Tenor and never looked back. Years later I moved up to an early New Model lovingly restored by Wim Wakker for his daughter. Now Wim has just finished a complete restoration on a Tenor Aeola I recently acquired and I am eager to soon get my hands on it. As the years have past arthritis and tendinitis have taken their toll and I have had to curtail playing my stringed instruments. I am very glad to have the more ergonomic concertinas to fall back on.
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