Dieppe
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Posts posted by Dieppe
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I am going from playing a piano accordion to a 30 anglo Marcus.
I'm a PA player myself who's transitioned to the concertina. My only advice: If you find playing the Anglo difficult, or can't quite get your brain, fingers and hands wrapped around the bellows work.. try an English. You will have less worrying about bellows direction (much like most PAs) and can get down to learning key layout.
YMMV though, and others may say differently. I just know that once I switched it became a lot easier for me. Of course if you play a "different note on push and pull" accordion, then you'd be okay. That's just my only tidbit of advice. Unless you have a specific goal for playing a particular layout, start with an instrument that has the same bellows/note action that you're most used to.
Good luck!!!
ETA: Argh, how can I delete this extra post?
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I am going from playing a piano accordion to a 30 anglo Marcus.
I'm a PA player myself who's transitioned to the concertina. My only advice: If you find playing the Anglo difficult, or can't quite get your brain, fingers and hands wrapped around the bellows work.. try an English. You will have less worrying about bellows direction (much like most PAs) and can get down to learning key layout.
YMMV though, and others may say differently. I just know that once I switched it became a lot easier for me. Of course if you play a "different note on push and pull" accordion, then you'd be okay. That's just my only tidbit of advice. Unless you have a specific goal for playing a particular layout, start with an instrument that has the same bellows/note action that you're most used to.
Good luck!!!
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Rich, what are ITM players?
Irish Trad Music
Ah, that's much better than the TMI players! They often tell you FAR too much..
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Lachenal Crane 48b Crane #4934 in Salvation Army high pitch for sale. 1400 USD. I bought this as a project concertina from Chris Algar several years ago. It sat for a year and then I sent it to the Button Box to be restored. The tuning was touched up but left in high pitch. New springs, valves, pads and whatever else Bob Snope deemed needed. While not a Wheatstone, it now plays very well and sounds good. I like this Crane and was thinking about keeping it in case I ever get the urge to play again, but flute and uke are already enough. Check out the attached pics, it's a neat concertina for the price. It ended up costing me hundreds more than my asking price by the time Bob was done restoring it, but I think 1400 is fair for both parties.
bruce boysen email b4bru@aol.com if interested.
What exactly is the layout on that? Those pictures make it seem unnaturally blue too. I suspect that's really more of a black, huh?
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If you want to go cheaper than that then I would seriously recommend you investigate the penny whistle.
Like these Chris?
You make my point for me nicely, Woody. The most expensive whistle they sell, the dare I say it aspirational whistle, costs just a little more than a Rochelle. Concertinas are expensive beasts, unfortunately,and a quick part count shows you why.
Chris
A quick part count? Ever peek at the bass side of an accordion with a Stradella bass? Lots of parts in that... yet accordions are a dime a dozen. Ish. Just saying.
But of course it's about more than just the number of parts.. when the wood is just right, and it's tuned, and it's built just right... Why is a Stradivarius so highly prized? They have a difficult time making a violin as perfect as those Strads were..and they're still not certain why. Well, they can guess. Newer Chinese violins don't compare.. same with new Chinese 'tinas.. mass produced stuff just can't compare, I think.
But it's good that there are some middle instruments out there.
Just my 2 cents. Yeah, ideally get the best you can afford is pretty good advice for any instrument I think. -
It's on its way. I took them both to the Post Office this morning.
Well, I got it! It's smaller than I expected, and I haven't gotten a chance to play it much here at work...but it's definitely here!
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Hi
I recently developed an interest in playing the concertina. This may or may not last but as an adult I have developed a bit more stick-to-itness. Anyway, I was going to buy a Hohner on ebay for $120 shipped but through reading these forums have found that it may not be a great idea. Does anyone have or is it even possible to get an instrument I will enjoy spending time with for $150 or less?
Thanks
Greg
As a beginning player here's my 2 cents, for what it's worth.
I started by buying a cheap Anglo from eBay. It really wasn't clicking with me, and some keys would stick now and then. I was pretty unhappy all around, and who knows if I could get the $50 back I paid for it too.
So I ponied up the $125 or so for a 30-button English, probably made in China, and is still being sold on eBay from the same people. The keys didn't stick, and as a beginner instrument it's really not half bad. The only thing I did find was 2 sets of reeds were flipped. (The high F swapped with F# and the low B swapped with Bb.) Annoying, yes, but still quite playable. The keys don't stick, and I've learned enough with it that I really do want a 48-key English of some sort.
Now, the recommendation to get a reallly GOOD instrument feels to me like recommending a Stradivarius to a beginning violin player if they just wanted enough to get their feet wet, but not make a huge financial outlay. Sure, a Strad' is going to keep its value, and sell for as much as you paid for it, but if it breaks while you have it, or you lose it...
So I've mixed feelings. You really don't want an instrument that is so frustrating to play that you toss it in disgust. You don't want one so cheap that it just sounds tinny, and isn't worth playing.
If you do buy one that's in the $600-$1,000 dollar range, chances are if you figure out you don't want to play it you COULD sell it on eBay and chances are make more money on it than you spent.
If you're not sure though... I dunno, it's up to you. There's some eBay seller allegedly in Houston who sells cheap ones. You could feel limited with 30 buttons, if you're looking at an EC and are a "real musician"..
Of course if you ask which you should get, an Anglo or an English---that's a whole 'nother discussion for another day! I've tried both, but I personally like the flexibility of the EC better. (It has all those accidentals so I can play alot more music that's stuck in my head...
)But yeah, maybe you wanna get a slightly better quality one if you think you might stick it out for a while. I'm waiting for my 3rd concertina to arrive... but I do have a "stunt" instrument, for traveling and such. Good luck!
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I didn't realize that concertina playing was such an exclusive thing. Waiting to be black balled now.
Alan
Well, if you're black balled playing the concertina----I'm pretty sure you're not doing it correctly!
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Hi Larry,
Another Larry here ! Having played fiddle before the concertina, I was shocked to find that tunes that would be considered starter tunes on the fiddle were difficult(for me) on the concertina.
I've found that some tunes on the EC can be a little trickier than others. My more difficult one is the "Indiana Jones Theme Song"... Just some series of notes has my fingers just not hitting the right keys. And on a similar vein the Pirates "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life for Me" (Disney, yeah I know) song has a sequence that's particularly easy on the EC. Dunno why.
Yeah... I've far too many songs stuck in me wanting to get out. But sometimes when I play for friends I find they like hearing tunes they recognize, so I have built up a small group of songs that just sound nice and aren't too difficult. I find "The Force Theme" fun to slip in if I'm just noodling around.
Yeah yeah, I do have other songs I'm learning... but it's nice to have a few I play without too many messups!
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Now to decide which one to bid on -- maybe the one with the repaired bellows.
Okay, well then I'll bid on the other one..
Woot! I won! So... I can't wait to play it!
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Now to decide which one to bid on -- maybe the one with the repaired bellows.
Okay, well then I'll bid on the other one..
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I understand from the two descriptions on eBay that only one is a Tenor, and the other (green background), you found out recently, is an "ordinary" Treble. Or maybe you just meant that it is not a Baritone.
Woops. THat was a mistake. I just corrected it now. I did include the word tenor in the listing title.
OK, I went and looked. So they really are both Tenors. Good!
Question about the button action: Do the buttons work like the early Stagis, with a flexible rubber sheath to guide them, or is it the more recent Stagi action such as used in their Hayden Duet and Anglos (no rubber involved)? Thanks.
I am not 100% certain, but I believe they are both built using the typical Stagi rubber sheath deal, in which each button is attached to the lever by a rubber sheath, and guided only be the hole in the end board.
OK -- that's not the answer I was hoping for, but there have been some discussions here on how to fix up such an action when the rubber goes bad.
Now to decide which one to bid on -- maybe the one with the repaired bellows.
Awww.. now I was considering the one with the repaired bellows! Presumably the other one doesn't need to have its bellows repaired, right?
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How do these scumbags have the time to do all this fraud? I wouldn't know where to begin.. too busy trying to learn how to play an English!
And why are they trying to hard to scam concertina players? Do they have something personally against us? Or do all instruments have scammers? Perhaps it's the perceived rarity of these instruments? Or maybe it's such a niche, with instruments going for so high prices combined with relative ignorance about them that makes it ripe for scamming?
I just hate scammers, all things considered..
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Cool! As he's a "Chatty concertinist" and a member here it's probably near impossible that it's a scam* or anything like that.
(If it were a scam, it'd be a pretty darn elaborate one... Post on concertina.net forums a bunch, cultivate an old eBay account, have an interest in concertinas, etc. etc. etc...)
Drat blast it! They're on to me!
Okay seriously folks, I did offer them here on this very forum, but nobody was interested.
I guess it's more of a "my first EC was one of those cheap Chinese models, would this be worth upgrading to?" kind of a question....and a question of whether you want to play a tenor. They are both tenors.
I'll be watching this one!Oh, just bid already or click the buy-it-now button!
Well... now I'm doing marketing for ya! Heh... Seriously though I didn't see it posted before. It is nice to see an EC not coming from the UK though.
The question is... do I want to play a tenor? How is the key layout different from treble EC? Is it just simply missing the high octave and has a low octave? Oooo so it'll have more bass?
And of the two, though they're priced the same, which would you recommend really? From a sound standpoint? Or practical standpoint?
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I believe he is a member here
Thanks
Leo
Cool! As he's a "Chatty concertinist" and a member here it's probably near impossible that it's a scam* or anything like that.
I guess it's more of a "my first EC was one of those cheap Chinese models, would this be worth upgrading to?" kind of a question.
(If it were a scam, it'd be a pretty darn elaborate one... Post on concertina.net forums a bunch, cultivate an old eBay account, have an interest in concertinas, etc. etc. etc...)
I'll be watching this one!
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There are two Stagi for sale on eBay:
Which almost seem perfect, or at least a pretty good deal? I haven't heard much about Stagis, compared to the constant chatter about Wheatstones, etc. Is it an Italian? I would like a 48 button EC, to upgrade from what I'm playing now.. but would I be throwing my money away on this?
I know we get this kind of question allll the time here... is either worth the "Bye It Now" price? Thanks in advance...
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I recently bought a Saltarelle one-row melodeon from eBay and the hard case stank of cat pee! The seller never responded to my email asking if he had a cat which would have confirmed my suspicions. Thankfully, the instrument was not contaminated. Not that I'm suggesting that could happen here of course ...
I've a PA with a old hard case, and the one time I saw my cat in the empty case sniffing around---I yelled loudly and chased him away from it. I keep the case closed now whenever I'm playing the PA.
I mean think about it.. it's this large, soft, velvety, cushiony litter-box. Just perfect for the cat on the, uh, go.
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Okay, I'm bidding on (and watching) the following Lachenal on eBay: Item #190118742296. There's a much higher reserve price, and if I could get it (allegedly restored) I would be soo psyched!
However, I'm not sure if it's a scam or not. I'm currently the highest bidder, but I haven't met the reserve price. I noticed today that the reserve price has been lowered.. but not low enough that my bid counts.
So, is this a scam or not? I'm waiting to see if anyone outbids me, but if the seller lowered the reserve price enough that I could be the winner... and it's a scam?
Any advice? Has anyone seen this concertina up before?
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I ran across this eBay auction for an "automatic concertina". I'm not going to bid on it, personally I want to play my instrument myself (more song selection!) but what does anybody know about these sorts of things?
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I have a Lachenal 41 Key Concertina Squeeze Box on ebay right now. ...
So... did you get what you'd thought you'd get for it?
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I've seen a seller on eBay selling English Concertinas. A lot.
Is anyone familiar with this seller or the quality of these instruments? Would something like this make a good beginners English Concertina? Yea? Nea?
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I'm sure this has been discussed before, but here's a simple question following my "blah blah blah"...
I've played piano accordion for most of my life (well off and on) and as people here know it's the same note on draw and push. (Yeah, there are diatonic button accordions but that's not what I play.
) I thought it might be nice to have a smaller and more portable instrument than a 120 key bass accordion so I picked up a cheap 20 button Anglo concertina and the Del Rey book. It's pretty good book, and the instrument isn't too bad (one of those cheap Chinese ones I'm sure) but other than slightly sticky keys now and then I'm not "getting it" as easily as I would like.
So my question is: At this point in my concertina learning would I be best served by sticking with the 20 Anglo until I "get it" or would I be better served getting a 30 button English or Duet concertina with same-note-push-pull? I can handle the "push button, push/pull bellows, single note comes out" and maybe I'd be better not messing with that?
No, I don't have any particular style in mind.
It'd be cool to play Irish jigs, but not necessary for example. I'd like to be able to best play with the skills I have or develop skills that won't conflict with the skills I do have. Any thoughts would be welcome! (Except for "Buy a $3,000 concertina if you really want to play"... heh. )
Lachenal 48b Crane #4934 For Sale
in Buy & Sell
Posted
Ah, yes Crane layout. D'oh. So it really is that blue huh? Well, best of luck!