seanc

Devon, Where are you located?

Jacokotze, IMO.. I would NOT replate. As is it looks period correct, normal wear and tear. and perfectly acceptable for a potential buyer. With plating, you run into the possibility that it comes out worse than it went in. That could mean way too shiny. The color could just be off enough from orig to be "wrong" or unappealing. Or, potentially, for purists "why would they do THAT?' from a potential buyer. if you intend to keep it and play it. Then do what makes YOU happiest. If you are aiming to sell, I'd leave plating and patina as is.

They appear to both be Lachenal 48 button english concertinas. The first one (to me) appears to be a lower grade. The second is (what I would judge) a mid grade. Depending on where you are. It would be best to get these into the hands of a repair person to go over them and give you an idea of condition, quality, repairs needed and a ball park on value. If you are in the UK youhave a lot more options than elsewhere. Chris Algar and Theo Gibbs seem to be the accepted "go to" people in the UK. It is impossible to put a $$ on something without knowing condition and playability.

kinda neat. But,for better or worse it's still just a guitar.. Given the pattern layout of the icons, it looks like changing tunings is not practical, unless you can change the "icons" on the fretboard. Watching a few videos, I have not seen an example of being able to get a bass line plus melody (like a keyboard). or being able to play complex chords plus a melody. And I think going "down" the neck to get higher pitches would drive me insane. I have been playing around with this a bit. And it's nice that it has a lot of range, is a different approach, and it does not sound like a guitar.

In a lot of ways, I think it's a toss up as far as a trade, as is. I think the first question is, Do you intend to play it? or just flip it? if you are going to play it, I would suggest putting the money in and keeping yours. If your goal is to just sell it as quickly as possible... As far as we know, you can not give an accurate assessment (or should I better say, a professional diagnosis) of exactly what needs to be fixed. If you don't want to deal with getting yours to a competent repair person, pay them to assess, and then pay them to fix. Which is likely to take quite a bit of time, and possibly quite a lot of funds. And only then after sinking the money in will you get a reaonable estimate for value. Then having a 100% up and running instrument will be an easier quicker sale. Selling yours as is, fixer upper, basket case, may or may not get you more than the trade version. But, a close to 100% instrument is likely going to be a quiker sell.

You have something that could be worth a lot.. or nothing. I think your best bet is to try to find a competent repair person and get a diagnosis. You could find that fully restored it is potentially worth $x. But paying for those repairs will cost 2x $x. At which point posting it as a best offer, fix it yourself restoration project may be your best bet to sell it without putting in a lot of money. And a repair person should be able to give you a reasonable assessment of current value, and possible options. even if you go the basket case route and don’t find a repair person to assess. potential buyers will still want to know if all notes work. Is it in 440 pitch. Are the bellows reasonably tight. Cracks, holes, how many missing screws etc.

David, which do you use most? or how do you use them? eg. Do you use the each note sampled specifically for melody, and the perfect stretched for chords?

It’s always a catch 22. You want all of the notes to be in tune and the same volume. But that can make it sound sterile and wonky. On the flip side, sampling every note can take up a lot of memory. if you are sampling and the stretching the notes, then you want everything to be in tune. If you sample all of the notes, you want to capture those notes being off, as it can really help to capture the real sound and feel.

OMG!! I'd SO steal that and make it into a concertina case! Biohazard would be just as cool.. Er...hmm... I mean.. Ya. Nobody would ever steal THAT!

People will steal anything. The nicer looking the case is, the more attractive it is to them. Even disguising it as a soft lunch box might not deter them. Known types of cases laptops, cameras, etc. or marked/ logos can be targets themselves (Gucci/ pelican/ LV).. the best thing is to get the case you will use (size/weight) with the most protection and just keep it with you always.

CrP.. just for my own edification.. Does Klezmer do the 1/2 flat thing at all?

NOT a klezmer player.. But more from a "what CrP said above" English take. on an Enlgish some keys are easier than others. But All are accessible. What I would say is that if your Klezmer purpose is to double a violin, or a clarinet part. That would easily be accomplished on an English. But, you may find that melody AND chords may be better served on an Anglo, or a duet. As CrP threw in the twist of playing with others, and being heard.. You might also look at a melodeon. I Don't know how chord accompanyment works in Klezmer and how that may line up on a generic melodeon, but there are quite a few Bb/F boxes for short money in the meldeon/ button accordion world and those have some serious volume.

I would defer to people more knowledgeable. But, from my extremely limited experience.. most klezmer tends to the flat keys.. f, Bb/ Eb. so… if you were to go Anglo, you might think of trying to find a Bb/ F. A 30 button g/c will give you the notes. But a Bb/F is going to be quite a bit easier. shanties (from what I have seen) orig keys tend towards the flat kets as well.. from looking at some 1800s scores. But they are generally able to be easily found transposed to just about any key. I think the English vs anglo come in where you consider, how you want to play it. If you intend to want a melody with simple-ish oom pah chords, I would gravitate towards anglo.

I am not an orthopedic expert. Or a concertina ergonomics expert. and I would absolutely defer to experts here. But, proper position and playing is really important in terms of fatigue and preventing issues. And definitely consult someone that is practiced in this area. but I view the concertina much like I do typing on a keyboard or playing a string instrument. In either case arching fingers is important in terms of both playing cleanly as well as preventing fatigue repetitive motion/ stress related issues. If you have been experience pain, twinges, shooting pain etc.. I would really suggest talking to experts. You don’t want to damage yourself. Or get to the point of carpal tunnel.

I am assuming that you are saying that with your fingers arched and pressing directly down? Rather than your fingers staying straight/ parallel to the ends? that seems to me to make sense. And I suspect is the common way to do it. I would suspect that you’ll find arching the fingers, you are also likely to play considerably cleaner and faster. but it is really good that you noticed this quickly and corrected. It can be very difficult to unlearn and relearn something once you have that muscle memory imprinted.

I agree that the Pure intervals always sound better/ right. I am primarily a fretless bass player. And like a violin or voice. When given a root, your brain and ear just pretty much forces to to play that "right" 3rd, or 7th in relation to the root. but on an instrument that you can't just slide around on, it's different. Assuming a C tone center. In order to make that 3rd (maj or min) sound "right" you have shifted the pitch. On a minor third (Eb), you are generally flattening from where the ET Eb is. And on a major 3d, you are generally sharp from where an ET E is. (same with 7ths). The issue comes in, is that since you have shapened your Maj 3 (E). When you play your E in relation to other ET instruments, you will be considerably sharp.

I am really not familiar with dealing in cents. But... Not really grasping the math here.. If you are 5.6 or 8.4 cents.. Does that translate into Your X note is 5.6% or 8.4% off? how this equates to what you hear.. Making that 8.4 your tone center and trying to play with others. Does that make it more noticable/ more out of tune? Also, is that a constant? would your G note always be 8.4 off? or does it become 4.2 down an octave and 16.8 up an octave?

To me.. Assuming that the player is playing accross the rows and using the third row. Tuning the C and G to different standards seems like a really bad idea. Hypothetically, You could cet into a situation where you are doing a scale/ run up on the push, then that same scale down on the pull. Where one is in tune and the other is not. To me that would be maddening. Some keys that would be more noticable than others. At least if both rows are tuned to the same standard, the box will at least be uniformly in tune with itself. But it seems that tuning the A to 440 regardles to the tone center, seems to not be the way to go. in the above chart, If tuned to G the A should be 440 -5.6 or 434.4 to be in tune with itself. Or C should be 440- 8.4 or 431.6. I assume you'd need to shift ALL the notes around to make that A hit a 440?

No experience with the mentioned specifically.. but, in the guitar world… you get a certain level of instrument. And even though they may be 100% equal in quality.. some just fit the player better. You might be able to match all the specs. But, one just speaks to the player and in some way speaks for the player. and really what it comes down to is that one instrument has to inspire the player. that could really be anything.. one has bone buttons the exact same model has gold buttons.. but one just seems to make the player work harder, or play easier.

Again not an expert. But my understanding is that the further you go from your center the less good it will sound. So it it is set up for c… once you get past (making this up here) E or Eb it is very out. The the above.. as c is your center, and you have adjusted your 3ds to be more pure (relative to the C) when you now make that your root note, it is significantly out of tune from a standard tuned instrument. or at least that is my understanding. And how you strive to get more “pure” intervals.

I don’t know much about this specifically. But, if you are doing predominantly Irish. Would it make more sense to use D as the tone center? Or at least base your reference tone on the key you use most?

Without getting too far down a physics rabbit hole… is spring tension always directly related to speed? is that a function of metal composition or gauge? or (making crap up here) is a 4lb spring always going to respond the same way regardless of material or gauge? And the only real factor here is longevity?

Unknown… doing 2 wraps with 22swg phosphor bronze. I don’t have a way of making an accurate reading of spring vs sping. maybe I have played guitar so long that I prefer stiffer. But I certainly appreciate them being faster.

I have had a few springs just die. Maybe it’s age, or use over time. The ones in the ( presumably orig) were brass, or bronze. Many appear to be oxidized. I soirced some stainless springs and many were not right size wise to fit. So, I started making my own with phosphor bronze. what I can say, is that there is a huge difference between the new and old springs. The new springs are substantially stiffer. In a good way. This makes the action noticeably faster. And the notes on the release a quicker to stop. And the end of the note on release is more defined. The height of the new spring buttons are also higher, and in my estimation more uniform with the other new buttons. what this means, to me, is that the new springs are faster, and taller. The old springs by contrast, feel mushy and slow. I am finding the lack of consistency to be an issue. The newer springs lend themselves to allowing for playing faster and more cleanly.

I can not knowledgeably answer this. But looking at what I am dealing with. The orig springs are absolutely not uniform. Some that I have seen actually have an extra wind on the coil most have 2 winds ending at a right angels, a few have a 3D or more than 2 winds. I suspect that each was made specifically for each button. If standard is hook at 3:00 and bend arm is at 12:00. Many are hook at 3:00 wound around twice then ending at 2:00 and then bent upwards and many canted left or right. To follow the arm. Maybe they knew that some would need a extra wind to compensate for various factors. I am not sure how an extra wind or part of a wind affects tension. Maybe somebody knowledgeable can weigh in? i have not measured many of the old springs. I am assuming that all used the same gauge wire.