SteveS

Is your wad punch sharp enough? How is your wooden block setup? Set your punch and wood block so that you're punching parallel with the grain of the wood, this way you're punching along the wood fibres and it'll preserve the sharp edge of your wad punch for longer.

Wow, Alex, those buttons are beautiful. How did you cut the glass rod? How did you polish the ends of the buttons?

Thanks Jody for bringing JamKazam to the attention of CNet. I've been looking for a suitable medium for setting up practice sessions with my favourite musos. I'll take a look at JamKazam. It seems though that the JamBlaster accessory is required to play.

Jim Thanks for the message. So sorry about your sister, her friends, and especially for her friend that died. We're doing fine, thanks for asking. We've been in quarantine for 17 days now. This for me is an opportunity to knuckle down to some of my concertina projects. Now even more stringent quarantine rules have been introduced in Italy, so we can't go out at all, only to the supermarket (where btw there are stringent rules about masks, gloves, and distance from others). Everyone - keep safe and observe social distancing rules (keep at least 2 metres/7 feet apart) - and stay home!!

Has anyone seen this? An Aeola TT, fully restored, for £7000. Discuss.

I'm having to close 2 sets of doors between my practice space and my nearest and dearest - repeating the same phrases over and over, making mistakes in the same places each time though a passage, can be annoying. I'm also working on some harmonium accompaniment, so I'm playing back recordings of tunes, sometimes recordings of my playing, to which I'm trying to jam along.

The whole of Italy is now in lockdown, initially until 3 April. The province of Asti, where we live, was put into lockdown on Sunday morning. We have supplies and some good wines in store. And I have plenty of great tunes to learn - so I'd better get on with them. One of things I'm looking to do is work more on rhythmic, chordal and harmony accompaniment to songs and Nordic folk tunes during this lockdown period. Plus there are other tunes that I'm sharing with a fiddler friend - we're planning to have regular Skype sessions and tune swaps. Shame I haven't got my workshop here - it's still in storage in UK - I have plenty of restoration jobs to get on with. #IoRestoACasa

I suggest sell it here unrestored, and it get into the hands of an enthusiast. Music shop will take a hefty cut in commission, and may not be able to correctly assess its value. An auction house might get a good price for it (depending on who is in the room at the time) and will take a huge sellers premium (20-33% being typical of the hammer price). Alternatively, get it restored and learn to play yourself, and have fun.

Super - many thanks

I'm looking for a source of felt material for making my own pads - can anyone recommend a supplier? Cheers

I have only ever seen one concertina in Bb - I missed out on it at auction about 8 years ago.

Thanks Susanne, for the great suggestions. I've been learning Italian, and I'm at the stage where if people speak slowly enough I can understand. My spoken Italian is still a little slow, but with practice should improve. I may put a posting on FB on the concertina chats. I'll post in Italian and English. Steve PS maybe I should start a FB group for concertina players in Italy ?

I've had no issues with mine - I've had it for more than 1 year and its been fine.

I prefer a dedicated recorder - the sound quality is usually much better than using an iPhone. I use a Roland R-07 for recordings in sessions, workshops, and on-stage. After recording, I move all my sound files to my laptop (which does a differential backup every day to mitigate data loss).

Is this a sudden flatting of the pitch? Or has it been like that for some time?

The OP gives the serial number as 28042 - this is consistent with a TT (model 19) http://www.horniman.info/DKNSARC/SD01/PAGES/D1P1220L.HTM

Ciao a tutti!! Any concertina players on this forum in Italy? I've recently moved to Turin area - it would be good to meet fellow concertina enthusiasts.

Everything remains the same - UK remains a member of the single market, including customs union, until 31 December 2020. A trade deal with the EU may change things after 1 Jan 2021 - but that won't serve UK industry very well, with many companies now threatening to follow those already moved to EU27.

Here is a short video of me playing for dancing, together with Jamie Huddleston on guitar. We're playing a tune called Impis Vals'n - a Finnish waltz that I believe was collected in northern Sweden from Finnish refugees just after WW2. Jamie and I played a set of Finnish tunes that included tango, jenka, humppa and waltz, but unfortunately only this short clip was recorded.

Is such a society required for concertina players.....

I usually finish ends by French polishing.

A friend of mine (based in Stockholm) has expressed an interest in playing ITM on concertina. I guess she's looking for a C/G instrument. Does anyone have a reasonable quality beginners instrument for sale? In playing condition without too much work required, or even light servicing required. Just wondering what's out there before I present her with some options. Thanks. (Although my friend is based in Stockholm, I'm looking to source a 'tina from anywhere in EU).

Alex - I've had a similar experience - and it takes forever to skive all the leather for a set of bellows. More recently I use the Schärfix 2000 to reduce the edges somewhat, then use a round blade scalpel to get the edges nice and thin.

Thanks all for replies. A friend of mine also suggested Jack Hayward. I'll request quotes. Allianz is proving far too expensive.

Does anyone know who offers musical instrument insurance in UK? I'd like to move away from Allianz.