John D

At least I assume it's a duet .. too many buttons to be an anglo http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Concertina-Accordian-Music-Instrument-Jefferies-Bros-Circa-1905-London-/281983618383? $3K buy-it-now still active ..

I'm the current owner of this box, and unfortunately I need to turn it into cash to cover expenses during an unanticipated layoff from work Please PM me to discuss .. it's not listed anywhere else at the moment.

Personally I think a beginner is better of with a Rochelle at half the price and a generous trade-in policy .. or watch ebay for an older Bastari Or if you think you can survive with 26 buttons for a while, I believe Greg had some in his 'concertina pyramid' ..

Nice deal! If I didn't already own #333 I'd be sending you a money order This is a good catch for anyone in the US looking for an upgrade from a Rochelle ..

I think that expectation comes from the band/orchestral instrument marketplace where your statement is true for many common instruments, and those entry-level instruments are perform reasonably well. Concertinas (and other 'fringe' instruments) are a different beast, generally made by artisans, and the entry-level is much higher (as it is for e.g. a bassoon, which will cost you the same as a good hybrid for a starter model)

something like this is very similar (though not red): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Concertina-Accordion-Anglo-30-key-with-hard-case-New-/171026858164

the link you include is *NOT* an ebay link! Hover over it, it goes to eb4ay.com .. clearly a phishing scam

Likely it's the 'tina rather than your playing .. You can always take the end off and examine the reed mounting (probably in blocks of 5) .. the draw reed should be visible and you can carefully bend it to move the tip a small bit at a time. Compare the reed to it's neighbors to get a feel for where the end should be sitting ..

heh .. I developed this exact solution independently after falling in love with a Dipper with curved handles at the Button Box .. my only problem is I'm always losing the foam pieces. And I was scolded by Betram Levy for using a crutch I've now got a couple of 3D Printers and I'm playing around with printing replacement handles for my Edgely

Be sure and read the entire "About" section while listening "The dance movements have been deliberately avoided, as well as the handkerchief thrashing and stick clashing, since as a rank amateur it's just too difficult to do all that and play concertina at the same time."

I use these as well .. and it should be pointed out that they come in two versions, one designed to go into the F-hole on a violin, the other has a magnetic strip inside the unit and comes with an adhesive-backed steel plate you mount in the case. Of course the adhesive doesn't work well on fuzzy stuff inside the case, so I bolted it on with a couple of tiny M2 flathead machine bolts and nuts.

for the price of a pretty good hybrid .. http://www.whisperroom.com/gallery-sound-booth-models.php?galleryDetailTabs=1# they're very effective, I have a friend who plays the tenor saxophone in NYC and has one in his apartment they can actually be found used at reasonable prices occasionally (at least in the US)

Upwards. It's really lucky for him he hadn't had any bids yet, he might have been at risk of selling it for too little money. I'm guessing he revises the price based on number of inquiries, and this thread likely generated a few ..

Prepare to be blocked!

heh .. I guess I don't have an appreciation for what can be done in the way of restoration, and from what I've read (mostly here) there's no guarantee that what you end up with will be the 'tina of your dreams I was referring to areas adjacent to the valves, most obvious in the center of the right side (if I recall correctly) .. of course it's hard to really tell from pictures, I wish I had gotten a peek before it went away .. almost looks like a bit of dry-rot.

hmm .. now shows ended on the main listing and sold on the buy-it-now .. I have a hard time believing that someone would give $5K for it, but what do I know? Are the reeds and shoes and levers/posts worth $5K?

Ebay #121020426734, the actual listing is in this one It's located about 20 miles north of me and I'm trying to get the guy to meet me so I can see it in person .. a friend commented on the apparent use of "Gorilla Glue" by someone to repair it at some point, and I can't comprehend why anyone would have dug those gouges in the reedpan .. and one row of metal buttons?

I found the same effect .. instantly I went from struggling beginner with a Stagi to actually producing listenable, music-like sounds from my Edgely (#333). I also had to tweak a reed slightly, and re-bend the air button spring to let off some of the tension ..

I've been getting quite a bit of practice time in My two not-all-that-expensive hybrids are fine .. Here in southwestern CT we had winds in excess of 70MPH which brought down many trees .. a huge oak is laying on my neighbor's roof, they all missed my house (mainly because I've been methodically having the close ones removed one or two at a time over the past few years). Power has been out since midday Monday and there's no ETA at this point, but I have a propane-powered generator which keeps us relatively comfortable. The main things were missing are phone/cable/internet; luckily I had an aircard from the office which is letting me get online with my laptop .. John D

The best thing you can do is save your pennies and get a hybrid from one of the various makers (or if you're patient enough, wait for a nice one to come along in here), or contact someone like Greg Jowaisas who refurbishes older boxes at reasonable prices. As with many instruments, cheap concertinas introduce so much 'noise' into the learning experience that progress slows considerably (while you fight with weird unnatural button spacing, uneven weights, sticky buttons, wheezy reeds, etc). I struggled with a Stagi for a number of years before splurging on a box from Frank Edgley and the difference was incredible .. though evidently the older Stagis were actually decent boxes and are played by many professional concertina players.

I've been subscribed to him for a while .. found him looking for a sample of a Herrington being played

Well, I was a member of the Gold crew of the USS Kamehameha (SSBN-642), which was a 640-class submarine of about 500 feet in length and 35 feet across the beam at midships. Right in the middle is the missile compartment, all of us budding musicians congregated in missile compartment lower-level fwd end where we didn't bother anyone. Closest sleepers were separated from us by a thick sheet of steel covered with rubber lagging, or a hundred or so feet of air with a dozen missile tubes and a deck .. basically they could not hear us. Things might have been different on a fast-attack sub .. but I bet they had *someplace* where you could play even on those. Music prevents insanity when you're on a patrol

In chronological order: clarinet (grammar/middle school) baritone horn (middle school) valved trombone (high school) real trombone (high school, college) 5-string banjo (sporadically from 1977 or so until 2003) anglo concertina (fooling around since 2007) I hated clarinet, they needed some brass in 8th grade so I volunteered to try the baritone Traded for a valve trombone, great teachers convinced me to move to slide and I never looked back I was actually pretty competent on the 'bone, played big band jazz and orchestral through college Joined the navy, couldn't drag a trombone onto the submarine, went to music store and came out with a cheap banjo. You'd be amazed at how good you can get on an instrument when you practice for 3 hours out of every 18 for 10 weeks straight Left navy, banjo neglected for years Got an itch to play concertina, no idea where it came from. Picked up a Stagi, found it almost impossible to play. Finally got my hands on a good 'tina last year and I'm playing quite a bit between injuries (right middle finger still recovering from a sprain in January)

I have the Musician's Gear model, and it's pretty crappy .. I managed to break the knurled (plastic) nut that holds it in the extended position the first time I tightened it. john d

It *is* gorgeous .. I had the opportunity to pick it up for a bit a couple months ago and it fit my hands like it was custom made for them. It has lovely curved handrests that makes it extraordinarily comfortable to hold.