Woody

I'm sympathetic to FAF but I think Ken's right. I think our trusty admins do an excellent job and, as has been pointed out on this site before, C.net ain't a democracy.

Yep I've bought things from them before without any problem, but the CD's not available on their latest list. The BB have processed my order so I should get it in a week or so.

Further to my earlier posts - I got this in an email from a very helpful person at the EFDSS... The Kimber CD is on the top of our list of CDs to repress in the future, however as it stands we dont expect to see it this financial year.

Thanks for the link Peter, but sadly I've got nothing to play it on. I've bitten the bullet and I'm trying to get it from the Button Box, though it seems both expensive and a bit stupid to get something shipped half way across the world when it's produced by an organisation 80 miles or so from here. <sigh>

That makes my earlier remark look a bit foolish. To me, they (the efdss) wrote: 'Thank you for your enquiry.You will be pleased to know that we are working on re-issuing the "Absolutely Classic: The Music of William Kimber" CD. It should be available again in August/September 2009.' Nothing personal, but let's hope that I am right...! I hope so too. It seems strange, given that they've produced a CD which has been so successful that it has sold out, that they have no plans to produce more in the near future. Hopefully they'll be looking at the developments in on-demand CD publishing that are going on at the moment as well as downloads.

Thanks Chris, I might take you up on that. I just received the following response from the EFDSS... Unfortunately "Absolutely Classic the Music of William Kimber" is currently out of stock. There are no plans to repress it in the near future but we hope to repress it eventually. EFDSS are also in discussion about putting up our CDs for download on our webshop. Its a development we hope to see very soon.

Thanks for the info Dan. I'm really enjoying the book. I was concerned that concentrating in such detail on his playing would lead to a really dry technical tome, but your writing about the origins of the style of playing and general background to Kimber really make it an enjoyable & engaging read.

Thanks Mark - that's really helpful

Woody. I have a copy of the LP record 'The Art of William Kimber' (Topic) An EMI Records Recording. 18 tracks in all. If you get desparate enough I could have a shot at converting it onto an audio cassette tape for you but I expect you will track it down elsewhere and save me the trouble ! Probably breeeching someone's copyright and end up in prison ! That's a very kind offer but I wouldn't want to get anybody sent to prison on my behalf I might have to look at importing one from the Button Box but at Veteran they say that "Absolutely Classic" is being repressed. Presumably this means that they're making more copies, not that they're deliberately stopping it from being available - so I've emailed the EFDSS to see if they've got any news on this.

I'm currently reading our very own Dan Worrall's excellent book about the playing style of William Kimber, but I find myself handicapped because to the best of my knowledge the only recordings of "Merry" that I've heard is him playing "Country Gardens" and "Getting upstairs / Blue eyed stranger" on last.fm. I see that the EDFSS album "Absolutely Classic: The Music Of William Kimber" is not available, any idea where I could get a copy or find more recordings of his playing?

It's a really good film & no previous knowledge of Morris dancing or the UK is required to enjoy it, though of course there are some subtle "in" jokes in it for those in the know.

Well I don't know whether it's intellectual property or some thing you'd patent or copyright or what. Many of the makers have come up with their own tricks to produce their instruments which are adaptations of more traditional designs. For instance Andy Norman doesn't necessarily stick to traditional Victorian materials or designs - he's come up with a design based upon his experience and the wide variety of materials available to him in the late C20th and early C21st. What he has produced is not a copy of an antique - it's a modern instrument - but obviously draws heavily on traditional elements as well. It's that experience, material use and design work that's allegedly being cloned. That's the part that makes a Norman so different from a Morse which is in turn different from a Marcus or something else. It may seem like it would be obscure or negligible, but you can feel it and you can hear it and it's one of the things that makes each maker's instruments unique to them.

I may be wrong but I seem to recall that Normans use the best quality Antonelli reeds that Andy can get, which he then works some of his magic on. As for copying designs, I believe that unfortunately the protection of your intellectual property is generally only as good as the lawyer you hire.

Maybe that's a clue. Perhaps there was no contract signed? As for the impact on western makers - I don't know. Music room seem to be saying that these boxes will cost over £1000 when in production and when you get into that price range you're starting to get to a level where you can go to a hybrid maker and have something made for you personally by a skilled craftsman, or go for more volume produced instruments of exceptional quality such as the Morse boxes. I think the majority of people in this price band would be doing their research before buying and the chinese offering is unlikely to seem very attractive as long as the alternatives are of such a high quality. I'd think that the real market for these types of instrument is in the price band between instruments such as the Rochelle and the the quality hybrids. There's obviously a gap here with no quality products that I'm aware of. Certainly at £599 it seems on the money and really attractive - it would probably still be attractive at £699. Presumably with mass production there might be an opportunity to target this price band. I'd think the makers with most to lose would be Stagi.

Me too. I couldn't even tell you what note most of the buttons have without working it out. I found the key to getting it was doing at least a short practice every day, and often several times in a day. I think you'll be surprised how quickly you start getting the hang of it.

It's worth investigating some of the security products that the police regularly check for when recovering stolen goods. The Home Office in the UK recommends marking antique or valuable property with an Ultraviolet pen - marking it with your postcode & house number. Whether you can find a suitable spot for this might be difficult on a concertina but it would need to be somewhere visible from the outside as I'm not sure if the police would take a concertina apart looking for identification without a specific reason. The Home Office also recommends having photos and serial numbers, identifying marks etc... My insurer sent out free a pack of the liquid that contains microscopic identifying tags, but I don't think the police check for these by default.

Could be. I wish I'd paid more attention to the buttons on the accordions of london anglo now. Certainly giving an instrument the makers name "Exclusive" sounds to me like it could be something from the Chinese approach to naming something in the English language.

I think my Norman is an amazing piece of kit and after a reasonable amount of investigation I still think he's the best maker I've come across in the mid-price range. I ordered a Norman after John Kirkpatrick spoke highly of them during a workshop I was at. I've never regretted the decision, and if anything, as my playing has slowly improved, I've become more and more impressed. I would recommend a Norman wholeheartedly. However, last time I heard, he's got quite a waiting list - so if you're thinking of getting one in a year or two's time, you might want to get in touch with him now.

I don't agree. The Rochelle is designed to have the same feel (handrest design, button placement etc.) as a more expensive concertina. The Stagis I've played (I'm not sure which models they were) had the air button placed in a very awkward position. I've tried the Stagi W15-LN several times and for me the buttons have always seemed poorly placed. I've got quite large hands, yet the buttons still seem a stretch to me. Other Stagis I've tried did not seem to have this same issue for me. YMMV Moving between a Rochelle and a Jones 26b or a Norman 36b I never experienced any issue with button positions. The Rochelle button positions were bang on the money for me.

I also use Allianz. I haven't compared recently but when I first took it out its level of cover seemed excellent. My policy price seems to have remained about the same for the 5 years I've been with them. Cover details from allianzmusicalinsurance.co.uk... * Worldwide — all risks cover (accidental loss or damage to instruments) * No excess * Our specialist claims service to track down lost and stolen instruments * Depreciation as a result of damage * Professional use * Loss or damage whilst in use * Theft from unattended vehicles (optional extra on policy) * Theft from your place of work or study (e.g. concert hall or school classroom) * Damage in transit ( please see "Travel Advice" ) * Free cover for musical accessories (bow, case etc), valued between £10 — £250 subject to a total of £500 on any one loss * Cost of hiring alternative instruments in the event of a claim, (subject to a limit of 10% of the sum insured for the item and a limit of £1,000 in total for any one claim)

Seems fair

I came across a new name at the Sidmouth Folk Festival yesterday. A room in a hotel near the seafront had a stand by a company called "Accordions of London." Amongst assorted Stagi offerings there was a new 30 button hybrid C/G Anglo going under the name of "Exclusive" - with the name both in the "window" where the maker's name appears, and on the leather handstraps. It was a nice instrument & I strongly suspect it is a rebadged version of the Hobgoblin "Sherwood." Pricewise is was an extremely hot £1650. There doesn't seem to be anything about these on their website.

Civilized? Does this type of activity look "civilized" to you?? Low carbon air transport. Rumour has it that due to huge losses resulting from fuel prices, British Airways are breeding thousands of these in warehouses near Heathrow. You don't want to know where they put the luggage :ph34r:

A quick search on "crane driver" seems to give sites mainly in UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, & New Zealand - A.K.A. "The Civilized World" :ph34r:

You certainly are generic. I was talking to one of your lot a couple of months ago & she was very impressed with being called a "Crane driver." That puts you on a par with the Hoover, Vaseline, Tasers, and Heroin!