department of WackyIdeas
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Everything posted by department of WackyIdeas
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The Whois shows it as registered to “namegrab llc” so I assume that someone forgot to renew their registration. -
The Concertine Italia URL (https://www.concertineitalia.it) now resolves to a very strange Wordpress site in French. My French isn’t very good but the site seems to be about romantic relationships. The history of the manufacture of concertinas in Recanati is long and complicated with Stagi, Bastari, and maybe Bruner all producing instruments over the years.
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I was talking to my son about these screws and he pointed me to a small factory in Japan that makes custom screws. There is a YouTube tour of the company. I think that this is their website- https://idstr.jp/en/releases/t02/
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I have no plans to attempt any repairs to the mechanism so I won’t be removing those screws. I was surprised because I don’t have those screws on my Wheatstone English (a much later model - serial # 36616)
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Thank you.
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I’m also confused by flathead screw at the top of the keyboard on each side. I should have the instrument at my house in the next couple of weeks and am interested in seeing/hearing how it plays.
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This lovely old Wheatstone belonged to a late friend of mine. His widow has asked my help in learning more about the history of the instrument. She has no interest in selling it. The serial number doesn’t seem to show up in the ledgers. I’m guessing mid 1800s?
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I visited the Concertine Italia factory a couple of years ago and met the owner. About a year ago, she wrote to tell me that she had closed Concertine Italia and and sold the equipment and parts back to the family. I assume that she was talking about the Stagi family but the history of the brand is a little confusing. If the new owner has a cognome of "Stagi", that makes sense. I own two of their instruments, a Hayden Duet, which while not perfect, was affordable and for the most part, plays well. I also have a little miniature english that I found on eBay. It is less perfect but I'm slowly getting it back in shape. I'm sorry to hear that the enterprise is having problems and hope that things get better. Here's my video from that visit:
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3D printed English
department of WackyIdeas replied to department of WackyIdeas's topic in Instrument Construction & Repair
I got a response from Nikita, the Russian guy who shows off his 3d printed english box on YouTube. I asked if it was his design, what material he used, and if he would consider releasing his .stl files: "Yes, this was absolutely my project. Only the bars with reeds are borrowed - they are taken from a German accordion. I don’t distribute 3D models, it’s quite a lot of work. Printing material - PETG." -
3D printed English
department of WackyIdeas replied to department of WackyIdeas's topic in Instrument Construction & Repair
I encourage folks who design replacement parts, upgrades, or even entire instruments, to post their designs and .stl files to public repository sites. While there may be a business model for a few folk, and I understand keeping IP private, I think that for most people, there are benefits to making your models some flavor of open source. The main one is that other people can find ways to improve your design to the benefit of everyone. That being said, I’d really like to get my hands Jay 74 button Hayden. I think I’d probably want a leather hand strap but I’m willing to be convinced. -
3D printed English
department of WackyIdeas replied to department of WackyIdeas's topic in Instrument Construction & Repair
I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope he makes good on your purchase. If he is abandoning the project, it would be very cool if he published the .stl files used to generate the 3d prints. -
I have been messing around with 3d printers for a bit, and have discovered two examples of 3d printed concertinas on YouTube. Edward Jay has designed an printed a concertina with every part made on a 3d printer except for the reeds and bellows. https://bibliolore.org/2020/09/01/a-3d-printed-concertina/ There is also a Russian guy, Nikita, who has several videos out playing what he says is a 3d printed English box. https://www.youtube.com/@НикитаЧернов-ж3ж I was wondering if anyone here has ever encountered a concertina made by either maker, and if so, what it was like to play?
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STAGI baritone
department of WackyIdeas replied to Patrick GAVIN's topic in General Concertina Discussion
Yes - the two awesome women who build all the concertinas at Concertine Italia are honest and nice people. They have a very small operation and build concertinas in batches. In my case, I ordered a Hayden Duet. It took several months until they had enough orders to do a run of Haydens. They build all the parts in-house except for the reeds, which they buy from a reed builder in Castlefidardo . When they have a run of instruments completed, they bring in a specialist to do the final tuning of the reeds in each instrument. I suspect that is what they mean by the "your concertina is from our tuner" line. They communicate mostly in Italian so we are probably seeing translation issues. -
There have been discussions about changing the brand name.
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Thank you.
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My apologies to the universe and especially to Judy for eff'ing up the title. Here is an updated version with a proper title. I'll leave the corrections of content to the author who plans to offer the series as an epub in the future. . Hayden harum scarum tutorial - Judy Hawkins.pdf
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Having recently purchased a Hayden Duet concertina from Concertine.it, I've been looking for some help and stumbled across the excellent series that Judy Hawkins posted a few years ago. I took all of her posts, and turned them into a PDF with some minor editing reformatting. I've contacted Judy who gives her blessing for my reposting it here. She has plans to do her own edit and compilation of the tutor in the future. l Hayden Duet Concertina Tutor by Judy Hawkins------------------------ Section One --------------------------- Ok_ so_ you've got a Hayden system concertina (any type -- Stagi, Elise, Beaumont, Peacock, Wheatstone, Tedrow....), you've probab.pdfHayden Duet Concertina Tutor by Judy Hawkins------------------------ Section One --------------------------- Ok_ so_ you've got a Hayden system concertina (any type -- Stagi, Elise, Beaumont, Peacock, Wheatstone, Tedrow....), you've probab.pdfHayden Duet Concertina Tutor by Judy Hawkins------------------------ Section One --------------------------- Ok_ so_ you've got a Hayden system concertina (any type -- Stagi, Elise, Beaumont, Peacock, Wheatstone, Tedrow....), you've probab.pdf
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Indeed...Le Marche is not a very well known part of Italy. It is beautiful and I only met nice people there.
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Thanks to help from people in this forum, I was able to locate and make contact with the owner of Concertine Italia. Last Thursday, I visited the factory and spent a couple of hours talking with the two women who make pretty much every part of their instruments, with the exception of the reeds and reed blocks. A lot of people helped me along the way. I'm especially thankful to my new friend Enrico, who thought a visit to a concertina factory would be a good adventure and offered to drive me there, and to serve as translator. I can speak a little Italian but quickly got lost in the specifics. The owner, Mrs. Simona, is an awesome person as is her only full time employee Rosalia. Together they make a range of instruments including an adorable tiny 18 button chromatic, and the Italian organetto. They say that their most popular model is the Hayden. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity. I think you will like these awesome makers as much as I do. You can find the video at
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I was very fortunate to visit Concertine Italia yesterday. It is a very interesting place. Every part of the instruments are made in the shop, except for the reeds and reed blocks (those are supplied by a nearby accordion factory). The entire staff is just two full time people. They have some vintage tools from the Stagi/Bastari factory but also use modern tools including a laser cutter, to produce their instruments. There is also a part time woodworker who comes in to make the wood parts, and another part time worker who applies the finish to the wood ends. They make their own bellows, and all the mechanical parts, mostly using vintage tools. The raw materials include wood, leather, brass, and aluminum. I was surprised that Japan is a major market for Concertine Italia, and that the most popular models are the Hayden system. Their products include an adorable small chromatic concertina (A-18) that is, if I understood correctly (il mio italiano non è perfetto), mostly used by circus performers. I was very lucky to have been able to make this visit and shot a bit of video which I hope to turn into a YouTube in the future, but I will give Concertine Italia the opportunity to review it before I post it to make sure what I say is accurate.
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I have found that the computer mapping in Italy is not perfect with regard to identifying the actual locations of businesses, especially in very rural areas (like Recanati), is often absent or incorrect, so maybe not such a surprise.
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I just received an email from the company and I am invited to visit and make a video. I still don't know exactly where they are but am really looking forward to making the visit.
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I looked up the address on google maps, and there seems to be another unrelated business in that building.
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I have made reservations to stay near Recanati in Ancona for two weeks in September. I have made contact with the manufacture through their facebook page and they told me to write to a different email address. I did, describing the project, but have not received a reply for two weeks. I also wrote to the Sindaco (mayor) of Recanati and they were unfamiliar with the company, which is odd, because it is a very small city. It's an enigma on top of a mystery. I hope that I will be able to visit their fabbrica and do some video. If not, there is an accordion factory in the same city, and several others nearby in Castelfidardo that may be open to a visit and a video
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Thank you all. I found an email address for the company and wrote them, but have not heard back. I'm considering contacting the local or regional government and asking for a referral. Street View shows the Bünner Musica location active in 2019. I wonder if they were/are a German company? The umlaut may be a clue.
