Lunchbox

Price dropped to $250

More photos here

Hey gang, I am selling my "Jackie" English concertina by Concertina Connections. It's a very special instrument to me, but I'm looking to afford an Anglo and will need to sell this one to pay for it. (I am even selling some old skool accordions of mine too lol) It's time to pass it along to someone else who may love it more than me. The concertina is in fair to good condition, but see the photos for a few bumps and some separation in the plies of the wood. This instrument survived a car wreck with me a while back, it got a bit beat around but it survived while the car did not so I'll call that a lucky instrument, to be sure. It still plays perfectly and I have never noticed any issues playing it. Overall it's a wonderful piece, I'm hesitant to sell but I'm really itching to pick up an Anglo and try something new. Please write me with any questions or for more photos, or whatever you need. I am asking $300 plus shipping including the gig bag it came with but I'm open to any offers across the board.

Lol Mother of Toilet Seat, got it! My great aunt actually had carpet on her toilet, would be interesting to see a concertina made of that instead I think. Hmm... I'm getting very bad ideas for a project...

Hmm, I'm lost on this one! How about a hint? I could see it, one factory to rule them all. Would explain the similarities, I used to refurbish computers and you'd see something similar with cheaper units that all looked and functioned the same but with different brands on them. I can't wait to get this thing ready to go! I have found English concertina to be very fun but a little somber too. I like the bounce and flight of the Anglo concertina so it will be nice to at least have something to tool with until I can afford a proper 30b C/G Anglo. Maybe I can find some lessons too! Cheers! I have just moved up here from North Carolina. I found this concertina in Brookhaven PA, just south of Philly. Nikos

Of course! I just meant that this certain red/otherwise colored cellulose seems to show up under several different names. There is something charming about it! I am also going to have to replace the leather straps as well, it seems.

That first article was a great read, even if it reminded me that 2001 was 17 years ago... ? I agree it does look like that Renelli, and in that second thread someone mentioned a red cellulose Renelli as well (although I understand all cheaper concertinas have this funky cellulose “veneers”). And it seems on all the known less expensive Italian brands there is a basic red cellulose model. So, Must be some sort of Bast-stagi-tone-nelli? ?

Roger I think we have a match, that's the exact same one! Good information to have. I'm very new to the world of concertinas.

Schult, thank you. Those links were super useful, I was unaware of what the dried rubber bits on the buttons were so this helps me quite a bit. Fuel line seems to be a good fix. Roger, I'd like to know too! No evidence of marks, letters, stickers, nothing at all on the instrument. No markings on the inside either, but to no one's surprise really - this thing feels and looks very cheap so my guess is an unbranded tourist piece. Surprisingly it sounds alright! Went ahead and ordered a foot of fuel line as per the suggestion, will need to replace the leather straps too I think. I'm relieved at how minimal these repairs are!

Update to whomever reads this: Opened it up, all the levers are actually intact but the buttons were held onto the levers with bits of rubber/plastic that have since dried out and broken. That's what the rattling inside was, so I'll just need to reaffix the buttons to the levers and the squeezebox should be ready to go.

Sound advice! Thank you, it does feel pretty cheap so I'll keep that in mind when I go noodling inside. Could you direct me to where on this forum I'll find info on repairing the buttons?

Hey guys. I just purchased a 20 key Anglo from a gentleman on craigslist for only $20. I play English concertina and have been interested in branching out and trying Anglo, but didn't know if I was ready to spend the money yet. However I figured at $20 - despite being only a 20 key and needing some serious work - this would be a fun place to start and a nice busy project to boot. All the buttons are recessed in some way, a few are bent and stuck in the pressed position but mostly in tact and seem to function but are all pretty loose. There reeds sound alright too. There's a lot of rattling inside which I can only assume are pieces of broken keys, so I will have to open it up later for a closer look. The gentleman said this concertina belonged to his father about 50 years ago and aside from MADE IN ITALY stamped on the side there's not much else to it. So, I've never repaired an instrument in my life. I'll take some more photos when I get a chance but what do you guys think? Will this be a large undertaking? Is it worth doing, versus just buying new? Any advice or recommendations? The concertina doesn't seem to be all that unique so if it ends up not working out I won't have my heart broken lol Thanks folks, Lunchbox

Hi WCrook, do you have any photos of the instrument? Thanks