gtotani

I believe Blazefine is another Cheap China-made concertina, but please take a look at the link. It is a result of 3.5 months of practice (100 hours) on a Blazefine by a concertina beginner. Pretty amazing, isn’t it?

You may also enjoy easy harmonic arrangement of “Grandfather’s clock” arranged by Ryo.

Zdenek, I feel it is a pity that you will have to exclude all the publication from Rollston Press, though, I understand some people prefer "amazon free" life. Good luck!

Hi, Zdenek. Having purchased almost all the concertina materials from the rollston press, I would suggest it would be a good idea to start from "Easy Anglo 1-2-3" to step up from easy 1-row melody line to more complex ones using multiple rows. For instance, you may enjoy playing "Aura Lea" in "Easy Anglo 1-2-3". You already have this sheetmusic as it is also on page 17 of "american civil war" songbook.

I have sent an inquiry to McNeela and got some reply The Skylark is essentially a Phoenix with improved components. It has a stainless steel faceplate and buttons which reduce the occurrence of 'sticky buttons'. The action is also slightly better making fast play easier. The reeds are the same Czech-a-mano accordion reeds so the sound will be identical.

Now Mr. Holm’s 1st “Viking” concertina is done. You can see some photos and videos of it on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Y2WdTKmXX/?mibextid=wwXIfr

@d.elliott, Just by curiosity, could you please explain in what way they are “variant of accordion reed” and not “true concertina reed”? How is “true concertina reed” defined? Can I find such description in your “The Concertina Maintenance Manual”?

The Irish Concertina Company now claims that To explain there is angling done on the inside of the shoe to allow for better air flow as the reed tongue travels through the Brass shoe / Plate. This produces optimum sound performance. This angling allows for better airflow as there is less friction on the tongue as it passes through the Brass Plate/shoe and this in turn gives the reed a more mellow sound. The Irish Concertina Company | The Eirú Professional

I am also curious to know. Also, what are the difference between "variant of accordion reed" and "true concertina reed"? Surely, they should sound different. What makes the difference? I wonder how "true concertina reeds" could have been mass produced in the past. (or were they NOT mass produced?)

Have you visited Harmonikas website? HARMONIKAS - Home

Robert Robbie Holm of South Africa will start to provide concertinas under his own brand name “Viking” in two weeks time. It looks like concertinas are made by him. Me. Holm writes that reeds are NOT accordion reeds. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16ZWrGqrTf/?mibextid=wwXIfr

As I have mentioned in another thread, a Japanese company has been selling "generic" McNeela concertina models under the shop's own name for some years. Just like McNeela models, they are all made in China. Furze (Wren2?) Shamrock (Swan?) Heather (Phoenix?) The shop also sells China-made 40 button Anglo. (currently out of stock) https://celtnofue.com/store/concertina.html

Sorry, I have no clue. Better ask Celtonofue directly. The website is not very English-friendly, but they have good command of English. The shop usually responds to inquiries in a day or two, but Japan is enjoying a big holiday season (so called "Golden week") and responses at this time of the year may be delayed. FYI, the listed price includes domestic 10% tax in Japan, and you may be able to ask for discount since your purchase is not a domestic consumption. Should this work, the discount may offset some portion of S&H cost. Use this link for inquiry to Celtonofue. You need to fill in the fields: Your Name Your email address Title of inquiry Detailed inquiry https://celtnofue.com/contact/contact.html

I play Minstrel and used to own Rochelle-2 and McNeela Swan. From my experience, there is a huge "jump" between Rochelle-2 and Minstrel and they are not really comparable. Minstrel is budget Clover but not luxury Rochelle/Rochelle-2. Yet, if your budget is really limited to 700USD, which is far less than the price of a brand-new McNeela Swan, Rochelle would not a bad choice as a starter instrument. FYI, there is a shop in Kyoto which specialises in celtic music. The shop sells generic(?) McNeela concertinas at the shop's own brand names. They tend to be generally lower-priced than McNeela and you may consider buying one from the shop. For instance, Shamrock (equivalent to Swan) is priced at JPY153,700. This is something like USD1,080. I do not why, but Heather (equivalent to Phoenix) is priced lower at JPY134,700, which can be converted to USD950. Totani https://celtnofue.com/store/concertina.html

BWV933