Eric Lerner

I’ve owned this instrument since it was nearly new, sometime in the 1980s. Somehow, over the years, I’ve bought too many concertinas. It’s time to shrink the collection. This is a 40-button C/G Bastari Anglo in sound playable condition. I've uploaded a bunch of pics here -- https://eu.zonerama.com/EricLerner1/Album/11014811 and a video of me playing a tune on this instrument here -- https://youtu.be/kt9ZXt6NNdo . In 2015, Doug Creighton of the Button Box appraised it for insurance purposes with a replacement value then of $920. He wrote -- >Make: Bastari >Approx date: 1980's >Description: Anglo-chromatic system concertina; 40-key, C/G, flat metal ends, metal buttons, accordion-type reeds and 7-fold >leather bellows. Wheatstone note layout. With hardshell case. >Condition: Good. The condition has not changed since then. Doug incorrectly said 7-fold bellows. It’s really a six-fold bellows -- but it holds more air than most. The bellows shows some wear at the corners, but it is airtight. 7” across face plates. 21 buttons on right, plus air button. 19 buttons on left, including C/C drone. Weight = 1400g / 3lb2oz without case, 5 lb 11 oz with case. The buttons are designed to go down flush with face plate when pressed, lower than on many instruments. But they do not stick. The case was not designed as a concertina case. It’s a decorative wooden box with a hinged lid that fits the instrument rather well. It is sturdy, but is unpadded. It closes with a fake buckle that hides a snap closer that is not secure. I secure it with a separate Velcro strap, which I’ve included. (See pics.) I’d sell this for $1000 plus $25 shipping to a USA address by USPS priority mail. No international shipping. I expect to make an appropriate donation to concertina.net after this sells.

On my GD Anglo, I can play St. Anne's Reel and Rickett's Hornpipe in D all on the right hand, using only the buttons on a basic 20 button box. Over the Waterfall -- all but the final two notes of the B part. They could of course be transposed to G to play on a CG (and sound kinda squeaky). I'm sure I have some more like these flagged in my tune books. If this is what you're looking for, I can rummage for them. Eric

Can you ship this instrument to a USA address? What would that involve?

Thanks!

The document for dating Crabb instruments linked in this thread seems to have been eaten by cyber-gremlins. I can't find it anywhere else online. I have a Crabb G/D 40 button Anglo, serial #18461. I believe it was made in the late 1970s or early 80s. I'd welcome more precise information on its date. Thanks!

There's an audio setting checkbox -- automatically adjust microphone volume. Make sure that box is unchecked. Checking it can do odd things to music volume.

I’ve stumbled on a different approach. Early in covid times, I broke a strap on a favorite anglo. All the local leather shops were closed for covid. So while I arranged a replacement strap from the Button Box, I improvised using a Velcro-closed webbing strap, lined with a bit of sticky moleskin against my hand. I liked playing with it so much that when the replacement leather strap arrived, I never installed it. Two years and hundreds of hours of playing later, the strap is still holding up nicely, and I’m still happy with how it plays. And I did the same with another broken strap on a different instrument. The advantages – 1) I can tighten the strap in tiny increments, not just the spaces between holes in a leather buckle. 2) The nylon strap is a bit more flexible than leather, and it needs no breaking in. 3) The nylon strap is just a tiny bit stretchier than leather. I can reach far away buttons a critical bit more smoothly. The downside – it’s dead ugly and inauthentic. I have a proper leather strap in my case for the day I want it.