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JS336

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Everything posted by JS336

  1. I was googling various modern concertina makers and found this place in Dublin: https://irishconcertinacompany.com/ I like the look and sound of their instruments- they sound amazing and seem to play well. Has anyone had any experience with them- any owners of their products recommend them?
  2. @ hjcjones I've been playing DG melodeon for well over 20 years now and find no difficulty in playing G tunes on the D row. I can literally play the instrument upside-down and so can't imagine being fazed by inversion of the two rows, Having had experience with anglos in the past I'm also used to the differences between the note arrangement of concertina vs melodeon. As for converting or ordering a c#/d/g box, while the thought has crossed my mind, having owned both a castagnari mory and a hohner corona III at different points in my life I can unequivocally state that I am less than a fan of big, heavy boxes- I find them sluggish and unresponsive. I've been after a Frank Edgley since I played one at a friend's house many years ago. When I do have the cash to order one I'll be having a heritage model to get that classic concertina sound- I own a late 90s model saltarelle nuage with three stops, one with a "concertina" sound that to my mind sounds very little like a concertina. As for difficulties with tuning, I owned a c#/d box a few years ago and found it very intuitive and easy to pick up- it was a doddle compared to the c/g system or indeed the b/c system which I found nigh on unplayable. 90 percent of what I learned on both the d/g and c#/d boxes was off my own bat, so I don't find a lack of teaching materials to be much of a hurdle.
  3. Thanks all for your replies so far- I wasn't aware my proposed layout would put a potential instrument in the baritone range- which would, as you rightly point out, raise the cost, perhaps considerably. I think I may revise the note ranges slightly- I doubt I'd need to go beyond G3 in a session. @Tradewinds Ted that's definitely an interesting take on the idea; my original vision was indeed to have an instrument that felt familiar to me as a box player, but one that felt like two distinct systems- having the d and c# right next to eachother makes sense to me coming from melodeon- I would treat the c# row as a row of accidentals and would rather have it on the outside, with the d row as the "main" row to provide the basis of any key I might need without having to involve the g-row at all outside of English music. As for the right hand layout, it was really the only way I could think of fitting all the octaves I wanted, into as few buttons as possible, in a system similar enough to the melodeon that I wouldn't have too much to readjust to.
  4. @Little John Thanks for your response. I have tried, struggled, given up on, tried again and struggled again (repeat ad nauseum) with the c/g system and it just doesn't seem to stick no matter what I do. I daresay the g/d tuning may well be the answer; after 20 plus years on the D/G box this tuning is what comes most naturally.
  5. @alex_holden Thanks for your response; would you be able to say how much, if any, extra work it would involve? IIRC when I contacted Frank Edgley about the possibity of using this tuning, he mentioned something about having to re-work the design for the reed pan.
  6. Some time last year I had some money burning a hole in my bank account and I thought I'd ask Frank Edgley to make me a concertina. Long story short- my budget at the time was, unfortunately, incompatible with my desired options (though I will admit, as I did in a further email to Mr. Edgley, I did ask for rather a lot without thinking about the amount of extra labour it would involve). I would still like an Edgley concertina one day (sufficient funds pending) though with something of a shorter list of options. Anyway. The point of this post was to mention that I had it in my head that I wanted a custom layout of g/d/c# with a view to being able to play both Irish and English trad music on the same instrument. I went ahead and, after about a week of checking and revising, put together a diagram of a potential layout with a template I found somewhere. The real question, though, is "is this potential new layout doable and/or workable, or is the idea completely insane and only fit to be abandoned and set on fire?" I would be very grateful if a few more seasoned concertinaists could take a look at what I've drawn up and tell me whether or not it would work. I welcome any and all comments, constructive criticism, etc; please feel free to weigh in.
  7. No answer so far; it's been a good few hours now. Doesn't look like anything's going to happen at this rate.
  8. Sent an email to Frank Edgley hoping to discuss potential options for a custom concertina; haven't heard back in several hours. Don't know if a wait is expected or not; though I would imagine he's quite busy filling orders etc. Just wondering if anyone here knows as I'm quite keen to hear back from him.
  9. Now sold via external website
  10. Now lowering the price to £1000- your chance to grab a 60 key extended treble for a bargain! Only £30 postage anywhere in mainland UK
  11. Putting this back up for sale here: a Lachenal New Model 60 key extended treble. A quality, classic, vintage Lachenal instrument dating from the 1930s. The treble range extends upwards beyond the range of a 48 key, with the very highest A having been converted to an air button. Bought from Barleycorn Concertinas a few months ago for £1450, going now for only £1150 o.v.n.o. with postage to anywhere in the mainland uk for only £30.00 (or, if you're nearby, you're more than welcome to collect in person!) . In great condition; looks very smart and plays extremely well with a smooth action and lovely mellow tone; a joy to play. Made a tough decision to sell it because I hardly play it at all and I'd rather it went to someone who'll use it. If you have any questions I will be happy to answer them.
  12. I paid £1450 for it. I did ring Chris Algar for a reminder as I'd forgotten the final price. I let it slip that I was putting it on the forum here and he made no offer to buy it back from me; in fact he sounded offended, so I am assuming that that is not an option, and I'm not interested in another concertina.
  13. Hi, I double checked just now and it does indeed end with a (very high) A. I wonder why the range goes so far up- I'd think there would be enough range in the first two octaves to play pretty much anything. As for the air button, the pattern of notes is so fiddly up that end of the keyboard it's hard to tell exactly what I'm hitting. Chris Algar included a note with the concertina when it first arrived that mentioned which reeds had been removed, but I seem to have misplaced it.
  14. Hi, I can confirm the note range is extended upwards. I believe it goes two octaves beyond the normal range, though admittedly I know very little about the technical side of these instruments.
  15. It's mostly to do with the arrangement of notes in the English system, yes. I find that many tunes I play nowadays require quite complex fingering patterns and quite a bit of thinking about which finger has to end up where in order to play the next phrase. It reminds me of struggling with the piano accordion. I have to admit that after playing an anglo concertina for a while, and comparing the two systems, I much prefer the anglo for ease of access to all notes without having to contort my hand into odd positions to play passages on the lower part of the scale. The concertina itself plays beautifully well. It was refurbished quite recently and handles like a dream. It's the most responsive instrument of its kind that I've ever played. I love it, but I hardly use it at all, and would like it to go to a good home.
  16. Hi, it seems the file sharing site I was using is having issues displaying the album properly. I've gone ahead and added some pictures here.
  17. Price now reduced to £1200 I bought this from Barleycorn Concertinas a month ago and after careful consideration have decided to put it up for sale. I went back to the English concertina after not having played one for about four years, and I found that, while it plays certain tunes very well, it’s less-well suited to the many Scottish and Irish tunes I’ve since added to my repertoire. It is a fantastic instrument and plays very well with a fast response, smooth action, and mellow tone. Sadly now all it does is collect dust and I'd like it to go to someone who can get plenty of use out of it. Please be aware that the highest note on the left side has had the reeds removed to allow it to function as an air button. I have added pictures to this ad owing to some issues with the file sharing site I was using not displaying the pictures I'd posted. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have about this instrument. Now also advertised on ebay. Buyer welcome to collect in person. Happy to send via courier, but with adequate protection, the cost is just over £85.
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