Ken_Coles

I have been playing my Morse Ceili (serial number 36) in every kind of weather and humidity for 24 years now, and variation in humidity has never been an issue. It is definitely a durable instrument. I wouldn't worry about a trip to the coast. Ken

Now have fun playing it...that is what counts. Ken

UPS (as opposed to USPS) made a mess of shipping a concertina to me from another country. In the end I had to pay a duty fee (at the time it was supposed to be free of import duty) and give them personal financial information to get the package released. It showed up fine a couple of days later. Getting UPS on the phone was nearly impossible until I wised up and called the number for help in international (rather than domestic) shipping. [This was some years ago so I don't have more details for you.] UPS was using a third party to assess and collect duties, etc., as it turned out. Even the UPS person who finally helped me couldn't get the third party on the phone. That subcontractor (who was in Kentucky - coincidence?) was not very well informed about import rules to say the least. So even in "normal" times things can go awry. After that experience I would use any other carrier than UPS for import to US. Of course others have had completely different experiences with which carrier they prefer. I got concertinas twice shipped into the US by foreign post office to USPS and for me both times it was fine. Ken

Title edited! Ken

I can reach him through another forum and will PM you what I find out. Ken

Stewart Dean (sdean.net) of New York state has had a piccolo EC on offer for a while. Ken

Choice of system is another thread (and there must be 20 of them here). If you just regard this as a consideration of instrument level/quality, as Alan seems to suggest, it is indeed worth restating. Ken

There you go: Stagis in the 2020s perhaps = Lachenals in the 1980s? 😎 Ken

Actually, 20-button Stagis still appear at that price level in the U.S., often the ones with the double reeds. I played two different ones over several years (including two times at Noel Hill concertina school and all I got was encouragement) before graduating to a Lachenal. The second one was a 20-button Stagi I bought new in 1997 (model B-2 IIRC, around 300 USD) and quality was (and still is) decent on that one. Keep looking. Ken

I find, as some others have in the past, that words fail in describing how different concertinas sound. Jody is on to something - articulation is important in the hands of a skilled player. Spectral analysis will shed some light certainly, but the environment in which one plays and the complexities of the human hearing system are also factors, I suspect. Ken (played trumpet for years, so far, no concertina reminds me of one )

If Amazon expects me to spot that as the link of choice, then online shopping is too subtle for this old man. In fact, I see those words under or near the stars on both US and UK amazon pages, but in neither case is it a link for me. Cursor becomes a "i-beam" there and does not link anywhere. Firefox v. 115 on an aging Mac laptop running OS 10.13.

Perhaps because I'm in the US? the amazon links for used copy of Eng. Intl take me to Richard Carlin's "English Concertina" album (a good, but different, recording, and apparently still available). Trying Amazon US gives same result. But then, I typically do my CD hunting in brick-and-mortar shops. Ken

The CD reviews on that legacy web page are 20 to 28 years old. Few recordings stay in print that long - someone would have to store boxes full of them somewhere while waiting decades to get back what they spent on producing and manufacturing them. The International Collections (Anglo and English) sold out long ago. Some old recordings are available as digital downloads, and as symon says, in the used market. Good luck with the hunt. Ken

On a C/G anglo, there are numerous alternative fingerings for the key of D. You'll hear from proponents of every system; my observation is they all seem to be effective once mastered. Once you choose one fingering, stick to it for a while - you'll know when you are ready to vary it/experiment. Happy playing. Ken

I got a Heritage G/D made by Frank last year, and both my wife and I are enjoying playing it a great deal. A superb instrument, and we both love the Celtic Lions on the ends. His professional (hybrid) models have been excellent for many years now. You'll need to talk to Frank about prices. Good luck making your decision. Ken