RustyBits

She arrived home last night at 5:21 p.m. EST. And now my hands are sore ! Hahaha!

And weirder still . . . he used to com in to the N.H. Statle Libraray where I worked and lived a few blocks from me in Concord, N.H.

And they all lived happily ever after! Especially Me! Bill did a fine job of babysitting my concertina for 3 years and it will be back in my hands very soon!

How awesome!! I have sent you a message, Bill. I am Rusty Bits : ) Changed from Lisa W when I got married and Became Lisa N. Since I will be 50 soon I feel Rusty Bits a VERY appropriate name. I'm all creaks and groans!

About 3 years ago I sold my concertina BIG MISTAKE! I had a Norman G/D. #504 to be exact. Had purchased it second hand here. Now I have time, my Morris side needs a musician and my hands are lonely! So, I am looking for a G/D concertina. One with accordion reeds, in the not-astronomical price range. Jeffries layout would be a plus. Any leads will win you points in Concertina Heaven!

SOLD

Sadly I have hardly played this since I purchased it in 2008. It was built in 2005. #504 by Andrew Norman. 7 fold leather bellows with metal Jeffries ends. Here is a link to the posting where I purchased it. http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7206&st=0&p=67995&hl=+norman%20+anglo&fromsearch=1entry67995 The photos are better than mine which are posted below. It hasn't changed at all. The instrument doesn't have a scratch on it. New hard shell case from the Button Box included. $1800 O.B.O.

A much more deserving case! A Picture is worth a thousand words!

Where is Misha when we need him?!? I'm thinking there should DEFINITELY be some debate on this rare treasure's possible top end price!

Lisa will be expected to pay for her advertisement if it is successful. Funny you should mention it. . . . I was wondering what the total bill would be if all the hours spent typing and cogitating replies was calculated and billed at $20.00 per hour. Perhaps we should all go into business together to do debates for folks on their sales websites! Misha especially, or it would never fly

Hi Paul, I'll probably wait a while and then re-post with pictures. Who knows, maybe the Universe just wants me to keep this Rochelle for some reason! Perhaps some young local will get interested and I'll have another Anglo player within 100 miles of me. Thanks for you efforts to redirect this back to a buy and sell forum : ) Lisa

Exactly! Woody. I had the opportunity to purchase a D/G Norman, which is the preferred key for Morris music. The Norman I had tried a few years back was soooooo nice! It was listed at a good price and the seller allowed me to pay over time, for which I will be eternally greatful. I think Homewood and Button Box and Wim all have outstanding instruments and the trade in option is great. But I HAD to HAVE that Norman!

$60 saving on a $300 instrument is not such a great deal, to my opinion. Where I live $60 is the better part of a days wages and a Rochelle costs a weeks pay. Your posts sound as though you think I'm trying to dupe someone.

I felt like $275 was a fair price for a barely used instrument. I paid $330 plus (I believe it was $25.00) shipping. There is always dickering too. . . Maybe I'd include shipping. . . And yes, I'd do a payment arrangement with someone. I played this Rochelle while I was doing a payment plan for my Norman. Thought I'd start here first. E-bay next week. Lisa

I bought a Rochelle and played it for about a month while I was waiting for my Norman to arrive. It's a very serviceable little instrument and great to learn on. It is in like-new condition. $275.00 plus shipping. I can send photos if you'd like. Lisa

I have a business trip to Chicago in mid May and am hoping to catch some music. Anyone know of a place with tunes or a jam (or someone who wants to have tea and give me some pointers!) that happens on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings? I'm sure there is lots on the weekend and I wish I could stay for that!

Pokingbrook Morris. . . . Hmmmm. Sounds very familiar. I dance with Highland Mary up here in Maine. Is Donna from Maine on your women's team?

What's your team??? I've been to NEFFA many times but probably won't make it this year. I end up watching Morris and Sword between contra dances. It's a great time! The food is usually pretty good too. The booth from Poland with the 7 layer chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream icing. YUM!

My small children beg me to play when they go to bed. You may be doing the little girl a service by providing her sleep-time serenades! Don't be surprised if at some point the neighbors come down and ask you to play to calm their baby!

When I first started playing 10 years ago I bought a Stagi. It was not great. The buttons got stuck and I had to wrestle with the bellows to get them to move. The size of the buttons was way different than the next instrument I purchased and it took me a while to transition. I had a Herrington for 9 years an recently sold it and bought a Rochelle to tide me over until my next mid-range box arrives. It is WAY better than the Stagi! What it lacks in exterior glamour it makes up for with usability.

I think we should all pitch in a buy it! Then send it around "on tour" to scare and horrify our friends! I wonder if the bellows glow in the dark??

"Is it not strange that sheeps' guts should hale souls out of men's bodies" ('Much Ado About Nothing', II. 3.62) I'm assuming that the gut he is referring to is stings on a lute or violin.

Her Highness "Won-Ton Kitty" the 15 year old Siamese has her throne, a flyffy fur lined thing, on my desk next to my concertina. The minute I reach for the instrument she gets a panicked look on her face and blots. My Sheltie is indifferent. The Newfoundland, however, thinks it is a group activity and insists on "singing" the whole time I'm playing. After about 5 minutes I put him outside as he doesn't have good rhythm. My children, ages 6 and 9, request that I play once they've been tucked in to bed. They say it helps them sleep!! These are also the children who will squeek a penny whistle for 6 hours a day while running around the house. They must have tough ear drums of VERY stable nervous systems.

Ahhh. . . a G/D Jeffries. Wouldn't that be nice I do see two major problems with that instrument. Finding one and paying for it! I think I'll just go down to Wal-Mart and get some disposable glasses instead. This being over 40 thing really isn't working for my eyes.

Yes, fingering's the same. For Morris, the G/D has advantages because we end up playing so much of the time with melodeonists who believe G was one of the Ten Commandments. But I have both C/G and G/D boxes and probably play more on the C/G because the higher register is more audible over the noise of dancers. Tunes that I can play on the G row of the C/G, without shifting down -- Upton on Severn, for example -- work better on the C/G than on the G/D, played mostly on the middle, or G, row. This is especially true for accordion reeded instruments, which just don't have the penetrating power of traditional instruments. If you have a Jeffries, it's probably not going to be an issue. If you only have one instrument, the G/D may be the way to go for Morris use because you can almost always use it, but be aware that there will be times when you end up playing tunes in the lower register and it'll be harder for the dancers to hear. I'm fortunate to have both, and bring both to all gigs. For most Morris tunes in minor keys, I prefer playing in Dm on the C/G when soloing. Not only do they believe that G is one of the Ten Commandments they play those funny looking boxes! (I even owned one for a while. Nice, but NOT a concertina!) I probably shouldn't tell you that our current musician plays the banjo. And we dance to it! Sacrelige! It will be tough for me to sit and play instead of dancing. Interesting that the higher pitch seems to cut through the racket better. I hadn't noticed or thought of that.