Daniel Hersh

Very nice, both in arrangement and execution.

There was some discussion of pierced sides in this thread:

Added in the Intermediate/Mid-range category, since the photos all appear to show accordion reeds. Thanks!

I suspect it's because many people played them in styles where 20 buttons were enough.

Well, vintage concertinas don't all sound the same as each other - but it sounds like a concertina-reeded instrument.

Here's a picture: It looks like a copy of this Brunner/Stagi "Organetto abruzzese" which is described as "4 reeds bass, 24 reeds melody". Has anyone seen the Chinese one for sale anywhere retail? It's listed wholesale on Alibaba here but I don't really want 50 of them!

Edited to add the concertina-reeded Wolverton Advanced Model.

Autumn Rhodes, who is one of the best players in the area where I live, plays one of these. I have played it and I like it.

You might try Paul Read in Toronto - he's a member of this site.

Rod - if you're still looking, Chris Algar has one now: http://www.concertina.co.uk/stock-selection/?concertina=3135 .

The problem here is that "the transition" isn't quite what happened. Bastari and its successors Stagi and Brunner have always used accordion reeds. The old-line English makers always used concertina reeds (except for Wheatstone's fairly short-lived Mayfair line). The German makers used long-plate/ganged reeds (which were not exactly accordion reeds or English-style concertina reeds) roughly until WW2, and the one or two that were around after that used accordion reeds. The newer hybrid/mid-range makers (Morse, Edgley, etc.) have used accordion reeds all along but use English-style construction methods in most other respects. And the new vintage-style lines (Suttner, Carroll, etc.) have used concertina reeds all along, "The growing demand for cheap instruments" isn't quite right either. There has always been a demand for cheap German/Anglo concertinas, going back I believe to the 1850's. It was first met by German makers, then by Italian ones and more recently by Chinese ones as well, including Concertina Connection's Rochelle/Jackie/etc. line which is Chinese-made but under the direction of Wim Wakker in the US.

This is 170 years old, but I think it's still pretty good: http://www.concertina.com/merris/minasi-german-tutor-1846/index.htm .

Coming up this Saturday!

I agree that the winter version is much closer to the original (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq5JBSu5tqY&t=2m47s ) and I do like it better than the summer one, but I also appreciate the summer version because it never would have occurred to me to play the tune that way.

Saturday, October 13 12 noon - 2 pm El Cerrito High School 540 Ashbury Ave., El Cerrito, California Players of all types of concertina at all levels are skill are encouraged to attend! Interested non-players are welcome to listen and ask questions. If you use Facebook the event page is at https://www.facebook.com/events/2171217452897749 .