Conrad_Roentgen

I'm only two weeks into my concertina journey. I went with a new Wren 2 from McNeela. From my perspective as a newbie, it is a quality instrument for the price. I've spoken to someone on the Reddit concertina sub who has much more experience than myself and he owns a Wren 2 as well as a more expensive concertina. He says it's a fine instrument but he found that, during more complex pieces, he has an issue with the air capacity of the Wren 2's bellows. I'm plugging away with mine just fine. I can play the Kesh Jig as Garry Coover has tabbed it in his 75 Irish Session Tunes book, in time with popular recordings just fine without falling behind to take gulps of air with the valve button. I can also do the melody of Grogg Mayles just fine as well but these are relatively simple tunes compared to the brilliant songs out there played by brilliant players. This shouldn't be an issue until we are advanced players, if I understand correctly. It is, after all, designed and marketed as a student's concertina. I have no regrets so far with my Wren 2 purchase. I can see no quality control issues. All of the buttons have easy and smooth action and all of the notes are in tune. Good luck out there!