Daniel Hersh

Peter - does this work for you? https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=341569746562209

Wow! Very nicely done.

Salvationists played Anglos too. The SA initials are worked into the fretwork of this one - they stand for Salvation Army. I would guess it's a Lachenal based on the STEEL REEDS stamp. A detailed photo of the action would be helpful for a more definitive ID. As I said earlier, the key is important. It could be in Ab/Eb, which was common for Salvation Army Anglos. And it may not be in modern A=440 pitch. These things may not be a problem if you always play solo but could create problems if you want to play with other people.

How much it's worth depends very much on its condition, what key it's in and whether it's in concert pitch. But here's a fully restored one that may be roughly comparable that Barleycorn Concertinas is selling for £2200 : http://www.concertina.co.uk/stock-selection/?concertina=3246

See post from the seller in Buy and Sell, below. I don't think I've seen one quite like this before - British-style action and German long-plate ganged reeds. .

An update: Gary Coover (author of numerous instructional books for the Anglo - see below) is planning to visit to SF at the time of our December 8 gathering. He expects to be at the gathering. Is anyone interested in having a workshop or private lessons with Gary at another time during the weekend? Since our gathering is Sunday afternoon, we could do something Sunday morning at the same location (a player's home) but we're welcome to other ideas. One of Gary's suggestions was doing something at Smythe's Accordion shop in Oakland, since they carry his books, or private lessons if there are folks interested. If you think you might be interested in a lesson or a workshop with Gary, please reply to this thread, email me at hrshsand "at" earthlink.net, or send a c.net message to Gary or to me. Gary developed his own concertina tab system that has gotten favorable reviews, and he posts very clear videos for each tune at https://www.youtube.com/user/angloconc. Gary has published a number of concertina instruction books, all of which include video demonstrations on his Youtube channel. He is also a frequent contributor (and topic of discussion) here on concertina.net. His first book was Anglo Concertina in the Harmonic Style: "This tutor will teach you how to play the 30-button Anglo concertina with chords and full harmonies in a wide variety of musical styles. In addition to tunes and exercises for beginning players, this tutor also presents more difficult tunes that have been carefully transcribed from recordings of the top Anglo concertina players of the last several decades. Assumes a 30-button C/G instrument with a Wheatstone fingering layout." His other books: Civil War Concertina (includes arrangements for 20 button Anglo) Christmas Concertina 75 Irish Session Tunes for Anglo Concertina Easy Anglo 1-2-3: A Beginner's Guide to the Anglo Concertina Pirate Songs for Concertina Sailor Songs for Concertina The Pocket Shantyman

I like this idea.

Another possibility would be to find some other players who are at your level and have your own occasional sessions where you can play the tunes a bit more slowly and support each other's efforts.

The next San Francisco Bay Area concertina players gathering (our first in over a year) will be on Sunday December 8 from 2 to 5 pm at the home of a local player who lives in Albany, fairly close to the North Berkeley BART station. Players at all levels of all types of concertina are welcome. We typically start with a round robin where everyone who's interested can play a tune/song each for the rest to hear, or show off a new instrument, or whatever. The rest will be informal and unplanned, with several rooms in the house available for small sessions or discussions. We can have a "for sale" table if anyone brings concertinas or related items they're trying to sell. Those who attend can to bring snacks to share. New this time: I will bring a Jedcertina (which I recently purchased from Peter Smith, who is on c.net) in case anyone wants to try one out. For more info, PM me or email me at hrshsand "at" earthlink.net.

The next San Francisco Bay Area concertina players gathering (our first in over a year) will be on Sunday December 8 from 2 to 5 pm at the home of a local player who lives in Albany, fairly close to the North Berkeley BART station. Players at all levels of all types of concertina are welcome. We typically start with a round robin where everyone who's interested can play a tune/song each for the rest to hear, or show off a new instrument, or whatever. The rest will be informal and unplanned, with several rooms in the house available for small sessions or discussions. We can have a "for sale" table if anyone brings concertinas or related items they're trying to sell. Those who attend can to bring snacks to share. New this time: I will bring a Jedcertina (which I recently purchased from Peter Smith, who is on c.net) in case anyone wants to try one out. For more info, PM me or email me at hrshsand "at" earthlink.net.

All true, but I would add that Lachenal reeds can vary in quality even within one grade of concertina. I have a 20-button Lachenal with simple-fretted mahogany ends that has very responsive reeds, and I have played Lachenals with complex rosewood fretwork that had pretty bad reeds. I agree with Ken that it might be best "to find someone in the UK who will do right by a beginner and sell you a known quantity in need of work." I know that Barleycorn Concertinas will occasionally sell unrestored instruments. They might be a good bet for this and they may be able to tell the reed quality on what they're selling (if the bellows are in good enough shape to try out the reeds).

Good advice here from Don. It sounds to me like the notes (different notes on push and pull) from just one button are sounding all the time, probably because the pad isn't closing as Don said. Might be because of a deteriorated sleeve, but it could be a spring problem. I don't think this is a valve problem. And Dave Elliott's book won't help you with this kind of concertina.

Yes, that's what I mean. I would like to know the occasion too.

Yes, that would help. And I wouldn't worry about the valves until you have replaced the button sleeve tubing.

Bastari and Stagi are basically the same. But some Hohner-branded concertinas were made in Italy by Bastari/Stagi and others (more recently) were made in China. In my experience the Chinese Hohners are worse than the Italian ones.