bkemper

You're right Jim. It is certainly worth $2000 for a well made instrument. As mentioned, I did mean to say that I can believe that it "should" cost that amount for such craftsmanship. And I certainly don't mind being caught in my mistake, for clarification.

Wow! What a great set of replies! I now have more info than I ever thought I'd need. And it certainly set the stage for one confusing play, if you'll excuse a little punny metaphor. The only way I can see to resolve this, is to break the surprise to Lois, and suggest we drive to Birmingham. I'm sure she'd love to see those old concertinas. As for how much I was going to spend? Welll, like many naive folks, I could at least hope that they wouldn't be much more than my better chromatic harmonicas. I was thinking that if the cheapest ones (read: toys) were about fifty bucks, then I'd go all out and get the better one for a couple hundred. (shame on me!) Nobody appreciates the arts and crafts more than me. (plenty folks are smarter about them, ...but I have a keen appreciation) So I have no doubt that if a craftsman spends a couple of weeks, with fine materials, and makes a quality instrument, that it shouldn't be worth a couple thousand dollars. But I was just not tuned in to the reality here. So, having said all that; I may be all wet in thinking that Lois would not want to spend that much on something that she'll just want to fiddle with every once in awhile. (dang! those puns just keep getting in the way of my typing fingers) I'm just going to blow the whole thing, and tell her what I had in mind, and see if we can work a trip into her 18/7 work week. God only knows how she multi-tasks all the business things she does now. She'll somehow figure out how to squeeze a 6 hour round trip into 2 hours.

Sorry, Jim (and others) Since I don't know enough to ask an intelligent question, I may not be able to further clarify this. Since it's a surprise gift involved, I can't ask my wife to help. The only thing I can say is that she played popular America music (i.e., Pop category of music) when she was young, on the keyboard accordian. And what she would want to play would continue to be melody, with full chromatic capabilities. That's about the extent of what I can add. Bob Tedrow's location reminds me that a couple of years ago, when she began talking about the concertina, she found someone in Alabama who sold or had further info on accordians and/or concertina. But, again, this is too vague to be of much value. I'm assuming from what I was able to get from reading, is that the English would intuitively seem to be the best gamble. (and, for me, a gamble it is). But if the differences are truly as distinct as the "fiddle, banjo, and guitar," then I'm probably in a hopeless quandary. (kinda like playing in the Futures money markets when you don't know what you're doing) Again, sorry for not being more informed. Since I just joined the forum, I'll try to go back further in the archives of the forum, if the database allow. Thanks again.

I've read a lot of lively discussion about different concertinas here. And since I don't play, I've only gotten a general gist of the material discussed. Here's my dilemma: My wife played the keyboard accordian in an all accordian band in high school(Cincinnati Ohio). At 57 years of age, she still picks it up occasionally to play a song or two. But for the past few years she has fallen in love with the "idea" of playing the concertina. She's convinced me that she really want to make go of learning. She doesn't do research, however. And my research has convince me that there are may variations to consider. And my research says that there is no one near Atlanta Georgia USA who can give any valid help (as far as a dealer in concertinas) SO! My question is one of those old "newbie" things: What kind of instrument, above the "junk-cheap" level, can I get her that would allow her to make the transition from keyboard accordian to concertina? ... with the least amount of radical change in techniques? ... obviously a unisonoric type of box. This is planned to be a Christmas present. So I have time to work this through. [Hey, maybe I'll learn to play it myself by then ;-> ] Thanks Bill Kemper