Ken_Coles

That's Worcester, Massachusetts, not Worcester, England, right? (For the sake of our international audience.) 😎 Good luck in the hunt. Ken

I have seen the inventory at Button Box vary considerably over the last 24 years. This is not outside of that pattern. Sometimes a lot, sometimes a few. And the shop shifts attention from fixing up instruments for sale (e.g., in the weeks before NESI when it was local to them) to doing repairs for customers and/or building Morse instruments. The late Rich Morse once pointed out that he had to make payroll for several employees every month whether things sold or not, so there were decisions about where effort should go at any given time. For me getting the right instrument has taken patience. I heard about concertinas circa 1980 but had no idea where to find one (and little money as a student). In 1992 I finally stumbled across and bought a 20-button Stagi. Only in 1997 did I find a real box (my first Lachenal), and other players, and a teacher, after the internet had created a community you could research and connect to, for any obscure interest or hobby. So it can take a while, but not 5 (or 17) years for you I hope. Keep looking. Ken

One of many reasons the EC and Duet players say it seems to them that one must be (or at least, it helps to be) a little daft to play anglo. There's some truth in it. 😃 Ken

What Bramich showed in his first book was backwards (press and draw C#) from most of the Jeffries layouts I have seen. I did a review of the book for this site back in the static pages days and remember that I commented on it. As others have noted, the reality is anglo players are constantly juggling reeds...part of the obsession perhaps? Have fun, wherever your notes are. Ken

Topic moved to repair forum. Ken

Liv et al., It is worth adding that the impression that pictures need a URL comes from the reality that we can only afford to offer a meager space for image attachments to each of thousands of users. A handful of images typically hits this limit. Then a user writes to the Admin asking "why can't I attach files?" 😎 [aside: Wow we have an absurd number of emojis now.] To forestall one such question, I'll add that it is great if you eventually explore ways to use a third-party site for images you wish to share here, then you do use a URL to attach them here, and there is no limit. Have fun with the concertina. Ken

Ed, If you fancy meeting up sometime, I'm in western Pennsylvania (well, most of the time) and am happy to share whatever aspect of playing. Ken

There's also "Thank you, Republic Airlines [for breaking the neck on my guitar]" a song by Tom Paxton quite a few years ago... Ken

A perennial question with Macs. I'm only running Catalina, but you can go to System Preferences (Security and Privacy pane, perhaps?) where you can give permission to run apps not from Apple-recognized developers. Someone here will recall the specifics... Ken

Umm...if you want to support _this_ site, it is concertina.net (.com is another site). 😎 Cheers, Ken

Another vote for this summary of past experience. Of course it is a challenge, if we can't help find some examples of instruments near someone asking the perennial "which system." Hope you find your match! Ken

I'm not aware of any wholescale removal of material, though the original bbs system (pre 2003) with software written by Paul is no longer posted. Bear in mind that searches and search software are tricky to create (and use); as pointed out, spelling (which fools a computer but not a human) could be the issue. Ken

Relevance is not our only critereon. Play ball! as they say here. Ken

We don't worry about deleting topics like this. You've marked it as sold elsewhere; that should be sufficient. Ken

You might want to write Wim directly through his web site - as you can see this is a very old thread and he doesn't check in (or at least post) here very often. Ken

What Dana suggests - and I've seen him use it in live recording situations - is also done for some acoustic "classical" recording I've participated in (chamber music). Avoids the phasing issues he mentions and, depending on the pickup pattern of the mic, gives good stereo separation. Or so I'm told, I'm not a recording engineer, but the recordings sounded good. 😎 Ken

Better to have honked and aged than never to have honked at all. Ken (not 64 yet) B^)

We've just heard that the hard-working board of NESI has found a venue and date. Read all about it here. If you might attend, do respond to the survey so they can tell if they have enough attending to make it happen. Ken

My understanding is that Wim only sold the Clover as a kit for a couple of years. i got one of the first batch in 2009 or 2010 IIRC and spent a summer building it (sanding by hand is the slow way to do things), quite an adventure. It came out great. Ken

In a way I started out reversing direction more than switching rows. While you can play, e.g., a scale in G all on the pull, doing that all the time seems to me to defeat the point of the anglo system. Why not just play English or Duet? But mixing the two ways of playing opens lots of possibilities, no doubt about it. Ken

A Tedrow in good condition would qualify as a good hybrid in my book; I've played a number of them. Before Bob Tedrow stopped making concertinas it was amazing to stand in his shop and watch him work. He is as meticulous as the best of them. The seller of the one on ebay says it is in good condition. Certainly worth considering. Ken

Unless you have unusual skin (and we have members here who do, maybe they will chime in) you may find that with experience slipping off a button becomes uncommon with skill. You just get used to where they are. Playing anglo does involve a lot of moving your fingers around in fast music. For over a century many superb players have met both these requirements (not slipping off except when they want to) with metal-capped buttons so I'm sure it can work for you. Since you are upgrading from a Rochelle the key to progressing is to start working with a higher-level instrument, and either of these will do it for you. Smile, music has made the recent months easier for many of us. I know it has for me. Ken

NESI - Sorry, if you've been here less than a year you haven't seen the long discussions every year of the largest squeeze-box event in North America that I know of, the North East Squeeze In. Usually held on a weekend in September in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts (i.e., not a long way from you), it is the best chance I can think of to see, try (with permission), and compare a lot of different instruments, makes, etc. It may happen this year but the date and venue will differ (our usual venue is closed), or it may be virtual as in 2020. The organizers are working on that now and will post something soon I'm sure at https://www.squeeze-in.org/ . Back on topic: I don't notice such details about the buttons when I'm playing, maybe some do. The Ceili has delrin buttons, which can make quick motion between keys easy for some, but metal-capped buttons as on the Clover as much preferred by others. Details that matter to someone else may not matter to me and vice versa, but I won't go into more minutiae here (it is an endless topic). I've found I can switch button type/feel without any effect (that I notice) on my playing. I even switch between Jeffries and Lachenal layout on anglo with a couple-of-minutes brain reset, so I don't rule out a design detail a priori when choosing among models. Unfortunately, IMO you can't intellectualize a way through this; if one design were clearly superior the others would already be extinct. It is really a matter of feel, how it works for you personally (if it matters at all). So again, you can pick one now (flip a coin?) or wait for a chance to try them both first. Good luck, welcome to the madness. Ceili on left, Clover (built by me from one of the few kits Wim did over a decade ago) on right. Ken

I have both (well, the Clover is my wife's). You won't go wrong with either model or either dealer/manufacturer. One may suit your taste more than the other, but you'd need to try both to see what you prefer. You have two ways to address that. You can wait until you have a chance to try each one (NESI was always a good chance for that; we'll see if it happens this year), or just choose one and go for it. Ken

[OK, duplicate threads and I replied to the wrong one. Have merged them] Where are you located? Maybe we can find a nearby member with a better-grade instrument you can try. Then you'll know the difference. Ken