My very first concertina! I'm so excited.

The long awaited package finally arrived today. I even took the day off from work today to wait for it!

I took everyone's advice and got a Stagi instead of a Hohner. The model I bought is the B1, a 20 button anglo.
One thing that worried me is that it looks like a Stagi B1 but says in big letters E.M. Wilson by Stagi. Did I get the wrong one? It sure looks like a B1 from all the pictures I've seen online.
Another thing that worries me is the keys sometimes stick. Am I holding it wrong or pushing the buttons weird or are there any adjustments/tricks/tips that you recommend to make them not stick?
I am really pumped to learn this great instrument. Next stop will be the music shop to pick up a few books!

Any suggestions are totally welcome! I'm so new I have no idea what I'm doing or where to start.

Sean Kelly

Yup! You've got concertina lust in a big way.

Ahhhh. . . This is only the beginning Did you sleep with it on your pillow??

You know what's funny I had actually though about it. I did bring it to the bedroom last night but my wife gave me a really bad look so I left it in the dining room.
lol

Any ideas on the sticking buttons? It seemed to get a little better after goofing around with it last night. Maybe after playing with it a little more will loosen it up a bit? Suggestions?

Sean Kelly

Sean,
To begin with: enjoy your concertina!!

As I played for more than 15 years with a Hohner 20b, I have some experience with sticking buttons. What helped more or less, was a treatment of the buttons (and the button-holes) with teflon-spray. However the sticking buttons-problem is more or less inherent to Hohner concertina's and maybe also to a Stagi (??? ). It is related (at least with the Hohner) with the poor connection between the buttons and the levers. Nevertheless it became a challenge for me to "unstick" a button while playing, with a (at that moment) free finger

So when I changed from my Hohner to a Marcus I became in heaven!! I hope however you will be "in heaven" for a long time with your Stagi!

have fun!!

Oh my! Bluegrass banjo and now concertina (I am similarly afflicted)! The sticking buttons are not your fault. As you become more familiar with this intrument's quirks the sticking button "thing" will decrease but not stop altogether. Pop it back out with your pen knife or jeweler's screwdriver (I have one of the latter in my banjo and concertina case) an' just keep a' goin'! A sparkling version of "Blackberry Blossom" may be just over the horizon.

Question: How have your Bluegrass folks reacted to the introduction of a concertina into your life?

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

Acutally Blackberry Blossom was one of the first things I tried to figure out on the tina!!!! That's so funny!

I still haven't come out of the concertina closet yet. My family (all are bluegrass musicians) thinks I'm a little nuts. I don't know how to break it to the guys in my bluegrass band.

I will always be a banjo picker but I have a new love in my life now too. The banjo will just have to share a room with the tina. I hope it doesn't get jealous and do anything stupid to it's new baby sister like string her up or something.

Well, if the banjo threatens to harm the tina, you can threaten right back...
... Tell the banjo to behave, or you'll cut its strings and turn it into a bodhran.

By the way, have bluegrass bands succumbed to the bodhran craze, yet?

Well, family has to love you anyway. Others...they will too. My BG friends were puzzled with the little box. They new I did this "other thing". "Blackberry Blossom" and "Raggtime Annie" won them over. I always take along my English Concertina to Bluegrass jam sessions. If they squint at me funny, I leave it beside my chair and tell them it's just my box of 45 rpm records. Sooner or later it comes out and the fun begins.

As far as your banjo's reaction...just keep the 'tina on a high shelf!

Not that I have seen. Most bluegrassers are pretty much anti-drum.
I did hear a newgrass group once with a bodhran, didgeridoo, and sitar. It actually sounded really cool. Bill Monroe was rolling over in his grave, that's for sure.


Sean Kelly

No bodhrans have been sighted by me Jim. Would be cool though. Any percussion other than the mandolin or banjo "chop" may not be well received.

Sean, I've just finished with a biography on Bill Monroe "Can't You Hear Me Calling". It's the author's contention that Bill developed that off the strong beat mandolin chop in effort to inject a bit more texture into the string band sound. Maybe if you'd caught him on a good day, he'd have even gone for bones! Who am I foolin'.

Just remember, Sean, that the Dixie Chicks have a concertina player in their road show (as spotted in the "Traveling Soldier" video). Since some of their material is pretty darn close to bluegrass (says the Kentuckian who grew up near Renfro Valley), I'd say break out of the norm and become a bluegrass concertina player!!!

I am a BG/OT banjoist as well.

I have a few tunes on the banjo that I play with wife Klarion concertina.

Mountain Road
Durang's Hornpipe
Kesh Jig (jigs are amusing on BG banjo)

Welcome to Stagiworld! The sticky button thing is well known among those of us who are Stagi owners. There's been a lot of discussion about it , and there are things that you can do to alleviate theproblem. What happens is that the buttons tend to shift up and down the lever which holds them, sending them through the holes at an awkward angle; if you open up the box it's easy to see what's going on. Most people that I've spoken with say that the best fix is to replace the little rubber sleeves with the fuel line tubing from model airplane kits. See the repair/maintenence topics for details.
As for bluegrass tina, it's hard to go wrong with "Redwing"
Hope you have a lot of fun!

Yeah, that's exactly what's happening. I'll have to check the repair/construction section and see what I can do.

As for the bluegrass concertina part, I just bought my first beginners book yesterday and it's full of bluegrass and fiddle songs!
It's called: "The best method yet. Best concertina method."

It really is pretty cool. I can't read any music so this works really well for me. It has a numbering system along with the music which is really easy to follow. After a while I found myself not looking at the numbers but at the music notes!!!! How cool is that?!?!

Sean Kelly