Hot Rodding A Stagi

[Paddy Smith]

I saw refrence to a photo essay by Bob Tedrow on "Hot Rodding a Stagi". Couldn't find it on Bob's webpage. Anyone know where to find it?

 

Thaanks

 

Paddy

[Bob Tedrow]

Ah Paddy,

 

Those pages are part of history now. Years ago before I began making my own concertinas, I spent hours and hours trying to upgrade Stagi concertinas into a better instrument.

 

I'm afraid that all the effort I spent doing that only resulted in a marginally better instrument.......in spite of what you may hear to the contrary.

 

So out of humility I took the pages down.

 

 

Bob Tedrow

Tedrow Concertinas

http://hmi.homewood.net

[Ken_Coles]

Granted all that you say Bob, but your idea with buttons in particular was very clever and I have seen it used to great effect, e.g. by Len Rheaume. I still feel it would be of use to folks to see what you did; you could label it "here is something you might want to try on your Stagi even though I wouldn't bother doing it myself."

 

Just a thought. Still, perhaps I'd better revise the reference in my Italian story.

[RoyJanik]

Well, you know, nothing posted on the internet ever truly dies. Just to prove a point, here's the stagi upgrade page, ala 2001, courtesy of The Wayback Machine:

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20010727154028/...ewood.net/hmic/

Edited September 2, 2004 by RoyJanik

[Bob Tedrow]

Mercy,

 

It's like a bad relative that won't go home.

 

 

I hope it is helpful

 

 

Bob Tedrow

[RoyJanik]

You cannot suppress the truth, Bob.

 

Well, okay, technically you can ask archive.org to remove the pages from their site and they will. Maybe that should be You cannot suppress the truth without a minor amount of inconvenience, Bob!

[bill_mchale]

Bob,

I find that craftsmen are often their own worst critics. While it may be true that you were not happy with the Turbo-stagis and that they are not a real replacement for a really good concertina made with either accordion reeds (like yours) or real concertina reeds, they do offer hope for the many for whom even the $300-$700 range is a real stretch of their budgets.

 

Lets face it, in an ideal world everyone would be able to afford fine musical instruments at easily affordable prices, but in the real world many amateur musicians of various stripes must be satisfied with student level instruments in the low price range mentioned above (except those damn whistle players who pretty much top out the price of instruments at $350 or so). In Button Accordions I can think of several decent choices that will cost $700 or less (while a hohner is not perfect, it is perfectly servicable and will give decades of service with moderate care); I am not an expert on other instruments but I am sure the same is true for most.

 

With concertinas the Stagi is definitely the best of the worst. Even if your improvements did not make it a great instrument it most certainly made it a servicable one (my only current concertina is a second hand Turbo Stagi).

 

All that being said, I think you should be proud that you improvements have made concertina a bit more accessable to those who are financially not able to step up to one of the better instruments.

 

Oh.. on a completely unrelated note... you ever going to put sound files up on your web page again? I would be interested to hear what your concertinas sound like now... from various stuff you and others have written here I get the impression that you have been working on improving their tone?

[Bob Tedrow]

ok,

 

Here is what a 2000 upgraded stagi sounded like:

 

http://hmi.homewood.net/ship.ram

 

Here is what a 2004 Tedrow sounds like:

 

 

http://members.cox.net/eskin2/sport.mp3

Edited September 3, 2004 by Bob Tedrow

[JimLucas]

Here is what a 2000  upgraded stagi sounded like:

http://web.archive.org/web/20010619071303/...d.net/ship.html

That link didn't work for me, though this did. Is that you playing, Bob?

[Bob Tedrow]

ok I fixed it.

 

and yes, that is (was) me playing.

[Ken_Coles]

It might make sense (with Bob's blessing) to repost the Stagi upgrade pages here on C.net, preceeded by his amusing disclaimers. Let me know Bob!

[Bob Tedrow]

Well, it looks like it won't go away.

 

You may as well load it up....with disclaimers.

 

Bob

[bill_mchale]

How about this for a disclaimer:

The following article has been found useful by some however the Author, Bob Tedrow, disavows any knowledge of its contents. Bob maintains that the improvements suggested will provide a best marginal improvement to any Stagi you might choose to perform these modifications on. Should you disregard this advice and find marked improvement in the performance of your instrument, Bob will be forced to disavow any knowledge of your existence. This computer will self destruct in 10 seconds

[Ken_Coles]

OK, great, but don't inspire a disclaimer contest or there won't be room for them all!

[JimLucas]

...but don't inspire a disclaimer contest or there won't be room for them all!

Spoilsport! I would say, "Here's my entry," but... well, read it.

DISCLAIMER:  I hereby disavow any and all responsibility for any and all content on this web site, including but not limited to this disclaimer, and whether authored by myself or someone else.  State and local laws may deem otherwise, but I'm not responsible for them, either.  In other words, I'm irresponsible and and unresponsive, but you may not quote me on that.

...........

 

I seem to recall a "competition" some years back in which people were to submit disclaimers from actual software they had bought. The winner was one that said something like, " If something goes wrong, if this software doesn't meet your needs, doesn't work, or even causes damage, that's tough. We accept no responsibility. The difference between this disclaimer and those on the other software you've purchased is that we tell you this in plain English, instead of using fancy language to try to deceive you into thinking that we're saying the opposite."

[Paddy Smith]

Thanks to everyone!

 

Bob initially - your too modest

That guy who looks like my son for finding the link &

The other guy for suggesting it go up here!

 

I'm one of those no$ players. I have invested big bucks in instruments I can play but prefer to get an affordable instrument into the best possible shape before missing a mortgage payment or 3 ;-) Bob's info looks like it will do it

 

BTW - this is the first concertina I've actually had to put out $ for - I usually trade services or car parts so you can imagine what I've had in the past (read other Bastardi/Stagi products) This one seems pretty good although I wish my friends with Lachenels would need a transmission or rear end

 

Obviously I haven't been able to check the posts recently or I'd have responded sooner :-)

 

Thanks again to all

 

Paddy

[pibgorn69]

I can't seem to view all of the pictures. So I will ask if the brass buttons simply rest on top of the action lever, while the aluminum bushing helps to keep the brass button in the proper place right on top of the action lever? Does this modification give the the buttons and overall instrument a better, more solid feel? It also appears that this makes the buttons a bit shorter, and much less prone to sticking in the action box. By the buttons being shorter, I assume that causes the action lever to move considerably less, opening the airway just enough to sound the reed. Does this cause a considerable difference in the action of the instrument?

I'm a newbie, so please don't kill me over any "improper" terminology.

Thanks for the info....

Also, anyone have a second hand/ used 30 button stagi anglo for sale that has been hot-rodded?

[Ken_Coles]

Yes, in this modification the brass rods, widened at the inside end, simply rest on the levers. Len Rheaume did his Stagi up like this and let me try it, and it was a very worthwhile improvement in feel over the usual wobbly buttons. Still, Len moved up to another box (a Morse, I think) not long after.