alex_holden

I'd suggest a vintage duet, which for availability reasons probably means a Maccann or Crane. The 42 button Crane here might be a good option if it's still available:

To be clear, I only said it was possible. Personally I wouldn't do it.

I mean you can remove the valves if you convert to single action. They are there to prevent the push reeds opening and wasting air when you are pulling and vice versa. If you only have reeds for the push direction it doesn't matter if they leak when you pull to refill the bellows. You would of course need to block the wind slots where you removed the pull reeds.

I doubt removing half the reeds would help much in that respect. The only benefit I can think of is that you can do away with the valves, which might make them slightly louder and faster. I think some of the reasons a single action bass that is designed that way from scratch may be faster are: The reed chambers can be narrower, which gives you more space on the reed pans for longer reeds in longer chambers. Some of them have double-decker pans, which also helps to fit in longer chambers. If the reed chambers take up less area you can potentially make an instrument with a smaller cross sectional area (double decker pans help with this too), which increases the pressure you can generate in the bellows for a given amount of physical effort.

You mean remove half of the reeds, block the wind slots of the missing reeds, remove the valves from the remaining reeds, and add some air intake flap valves? Yes, but I'm not sure why you would do so. It would reduce the weight but not the overall size of the instrument.

I happen to have a Lachenal one here: Looking more closely at it, what I initially thought was a rolled edge is actually a piece of silver(?) wire, about 1.8mm diameter, silver soldered along the inside edge.

It should be possible to use walnut for most things, though 5mm is quite thin. You could probably make it work if it's already flat and smooth and you don't need to remove any more thickness.

You won't damage anything but you might sometimes hear a brief 'stuttering' sound from the valves, particularly on bass notes.

The better quality rests have a rolled edge that helps you grip it. Occasionally they are lined with thin leather. I believe Wheatstone originally intended that you would put both third and fourth fingers on the rest, and only push buttons with the first two. Most players today grip the rest with their pinky and play with three fingers, while some advanced players ignore or remove the rests and use all four fingers. Henrik Müller's modifications take that a few steps further and replace both thumb straps and finger rests with a diagonal hand rest and hand strap.

I use pig suede.

To some extent yes, though I also want them to be played and enjoyed by as many people as possible, and that wouldn't happen if I held onto them. There's also the thing that after I've spent months working on one instrument I'm itching to get it out of the door and start the next one.

Thanks very much! There are some demo videos on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@alexholden I recently finished an English concertina but haven't put a video of it up yet.

It looks like a Concertina Connection Jackie or Jack English concertina: https://www.concertinaconnection.com/jackie-jack.htm

I don't think they were ever intended as cheap disposable instruments, even if they weren't of the highest quality. If the reeds are in good condition, tuning down a semitone should be safe enough.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... In the final episode of the recent Disney+ TV series, Star Wars: Andor, there is a marching band scene on the planet Ferrix, featuring what looks like an Anglo concertina with some spiky bits.

http://www.scatesconcertinas.com/pdf/RE ACTIONS - thinking inside the box 1.pdf I also would have guessed Jones.

I use fish glue because you can wash it off with water if it ever needs replacing again in the future. Liquid hide glue would work too. Try not to use a lot of it or it can make the chamois hard.

The issue might be that Marcus Music has a turnover low enough that they are not required to register with the government to collect VAT on sales (currently £85,000). That is the position that I am in. When I sell an instrument to a UK client I'm not required to collect VAT on the sale, which makes the price paid by my UK customers 20% lower than it would be if I was VAT registered (on the downside, I can't reclaim the VAT I pay on materials and tools, so my costs are higher). That used to also be true for sales to other EU states, but since Brexit the EU states charge VAT on imports from the UK regardless of whether the seller is VAT registered. As I understand it a larger business that is VAT registered can/should zero-rate their products for export so their clients don't get double-taxed and the final price works out similar for a UK customer or an EU customer.

I have a Lachenal English here with twin bowing valves. The left hand one has a check valve on it so it only lets air in on the draw. The right hand works in both directions, though I'm not sure if that's what it's supposed to do or if it originally had a check valve that opened in the opposite direction. I don't really understand how they were meant to be used while playing. They have quite a small pad hole so they let air in/out far slower than the air button on a typical Anglo.

To add to the other answers: ESB was a model of Anglo concertina made by the Button Box. ESB=Extra Special Baritone. The term "baritone" can mean slightly different things depending on the system, but in this case it is a C/G that plays one octave below a standard instrument. Instruments made by the Button Box are also often referred to as "Morse" because the company was started by Richard Morse. Edeophone was the brand name of a range of concertinas made by the Lachenal company, typically at the higher end of the quality scale with better reeds, recognisable for having twelve sides. Most of them are English, some duets, rarely Anglos. Aeola was the Wheatstone equivalent of the Edeophone brand, but with (usually) eight sides rather than twelve. To answer a related question you didn't ask, Linota was what Wheatstone called their Anglo models prior to WWII.

Could well be. They look very clean.

Hi Paul, the description says it has bone buttons and brass reeds, but the photos seem to show silver tipped buttons and steel reeds.

Is it the Crane keyboard that you particularly like, or something about the playability/sound of your individual instrument?

That does not fit my understanding. In the UK we have to pay VAT on imports from everywhere now, except for low-value gifts. It appears that the import duty for 9205901000 (Accordions and similar instruments) is currently 0% from the EU and 2% from the USA. https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/commodities/9205901000?country=US Edit: note that some goods (e.g. food, not concertinas) confusingly have a 0% VAT rate but might have a higher duty rate.

With a maximum 0.003" depth of cut, assuming it doesn't snap when you breathe near it.