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Dave Prebble

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Everything posted by Dave Prebble

  1. Eh Up Trooper, I'll save the ice bucket for the lemonade ( Will you be bringing tht young Maestro Mr Dunn ... & any other odd bodies perhaps?? Dave
  2. There may be 'Prebble' ahead.......! Chris Prebble choose to ignore this jibe ... far too busy brushing up some monumentally boring, melody only, Irish Reels ... all at double speed ... Must dash......................... Dave
  3. Count me in for Bradfield Jody .... but then I bet you could have guessed that ) Dave
  4. Hi Guys, Am I missing something obvious here ? Surely the best plan is simply to decide what is the maximum you are prepared to pay, set that as your max. bid and see whether it is sucessful or not. Easier to stick to this on ebay than in a live auction room. On quality instruments, the price is likely to be high and the bidding increments would be fairly large so by sniping, you are not going to 'steal it' for an extra couple of pounds. It seems to me that this bid rejection situation would probably not have arisen if this had been the plan of attack. For every sniper, there is another sniper squinting down the crosshairs and now and again, they are bound to hit each other. Cheers Dave
  5. Hmmmm Wonder what number he is up to now ..... Anyone know ?? Dave
  6. Hi Jim, I play in the 'English Chordal' style and believe me, the little finger is one of the busiest fingers on the left hand. I play that button almost exclusively with the little finger. I say almost.... I normally play with the concertina on the knee but after a longish period playing standing the little finger tends to want to support and steady the instrument a little and the ring finger takes over the duty. Likewise the little finger of the right hand will do the same thing on occasion. After years of playing I don't consciously notice when this shift occurs.... it just does. My use of the little finger as a 'brace' is very much the exception rather than the rule. I would say to you, cultivate the use of the lttle finger as much as you can! Why waste 20% of your left hand assets. .... I say 20% or one fifth, as I also use the thumb a great deal on the drone button either to fill out chords, to get the C on the push or in left hand runs. Again, if you have a drone button on your instrument, employ that thumb and get more mileage from the concertina. There are no hard and fast rules in anglo playing (unless you are a devout Noel Hill disciple) but a little thought and experimentation will go a long way to build up your own unique style of playing. Most Anglo players in the English style are not 'taught' any method but pick up hints along the way from other players and gain by experimentation. It is a never ending source of delight to me hearing (and seeing) the vast differences in style that folks arrive at. I guess I'm saying, don't let yourself get too constrained by someone elses methods, try different variations and find out what works for you... oh yes ...and use all them digits !! Regards Dave
  7. I play expensive concertinas, drive very cheap 'boneshaker' cars and do not go on foreign holidays. Purely a lifestyle choice Dave ps - if you think you can part me from any of my concertinas for a mere $8000 - think again !
  8. Hi, Living half a mile from the nearest neighbours, and having a concertina tolerant wife, I do not suffer from your problem. The most attractive (and expensive) solution is to buy a top quality concertina. A good instrument with well made and set reeds can be played very quietly but can be 'wound up' to full volume when the circumstances permit. A top instrument should be capable of being played at every level from 'quiet as a church mouse' right through to levels that are likely to result in noise induced hearing loss. A good long scale reeded wheatstone is particularly suitable for quiet responsive playing. I have a Linota that so sensitive that it can sustain a mid range note played quietly for up to two and a half minutes on one 'lungful' yet, when you open the throttle a bit, produces more than sufficient volume to serve, unamplified, as the sole instrument for dancing at an outdoor ceilidh. By all means, try fitting baffles or making some sort of indoor or outdoor booth/shed structure to sit in, but personally, I think that anything that wraps around the instrument would prove unwieldy and would only serve to increase frustration levels and take the fun out of it. Regards Dave
  9. Hi Jeff, whereabouts are you located ?? Dave
  10. I say Alan !! Give a bloke a fair chance. The Lithium and Amitriptyline combined with Anger Management therapy at last seem to be having some effect. I'll have you know, I ain't broken anyone's fingers with my trusty pliers for nearly six weeks now. I do get annoyed when I start a tune and it gets hijacked and speeded up by the company. This is often due to the fact that once several folks have joined in, it can be hard to hear the originator playing across the barroom and it only takes one person with a loud instrument at the other end to wind it up a bit and the rest then tend to follow. Ok life ain't perfect. I reserve the 'red mist rage' for the occasions where a less experienced player plucks up the courage to start a tune at a speed they feel comfortable with, and gets over-ruled by some clever pillock who wants to play it at twice the speed. That is pure ignorance and bloody bad manners. I remember well just how patient folks were with me when I started playing many moons ago. I must have been pretty horrendous ... and had a loud concertina. A good foot stamper can at times be a boon to keeping a steady tempo. One session I go to, the fiddler stamps both feet together and is as steady as a clock. Tends to raise a lot of dust from the pub carpet ... reminds me of the old ad about the hoover that ' beats as it sweeps as it plays hornpipes' Take it steady owd lad Dave ps Manor Royal - ace tune mate !
  11. Hi Mark and all, I will of course be there, pancreas permitting ! Very much looking forward to the music and meeting friends old and new. By the way Mark, if you are getting wrinkles in your bellows, you are doing something wrong ... I'll try and 'iron out' your problems Dave
  12. Hi Mike, I have seen plenty of 26 and 30 key wooden ended Jeffries over the years but don't recall seeing a 38key. I have played a lot of superb wooden ended Wheatstone Linotas. These have varied from mellow and sweet sounding to as brash and honky as the best of Jeffries. A few years ago, these would have been a lot cheaper than a Jeffries but these days there seems little difference in the price. If you already have an instrument you might consider getting some wooden ends made for it. Not cheap to do maybe, but a fraction of the value of the instrument. A rather swish alternative may be to get the ends and buttons gold plated. I saw one done years ago and it looked magnificent. Before embarking on expensive changes, I would ask the Doc to refer you to an allergy clinic and see if they can prove a connection. Regards Dave
  13. I think you wil find that is Seventeen Pounds old chap - serious money back then ........ probably six months wages for a farm labourer in a tied cottage ..... maybe not so cheap after all Poor old 'Hodge' the labourer would have to make do with a five bob German screamer Dave
  14. Cat skins make lovely supple bellows ..... or would if I was supple and limber enough to catch 'em Dave
  15. I fully agree with you Ron Me too Guys, The real challenge is to learn to play music at a proper pace, not tearing off in a race and bluffing your way through all the mistakes. A good musician will concentrate on putting character, feeling, lift, in effect, 'breathe life' into a piece. The craze for playing everything at breakneck speed proves no more than does a speed typing competition and is generally about as musically expressive as a speeded up midi file. An Old Bull and the Young Bull stood on a hill. Young Bull looks down and sees a herd of prime heifers and says to the Old Fella, "lets run down the hill and have us a cow apiece". The Old Bull replies.... What's the rush son ?? Lets walk down and have 'em all. Dave
  16. Eh Up Wench ! A very nice looking concertina .... Andy Norman is certainly a fine restorer. I am always a little wary of 'valuations' from the repairers and dealers as these are often sought by the owner for Insurance purposes but quoted to support an asking price ... insurance valuations are always significantly higher than current market value. Without the benefit of seeing and inspecting the instrument It does seem, to me at least, to be a bit on the expensive side at this price and it may pay to have a chat with Chris Algar of Barleycorn concertinas to get an idea of what he has in stock and what his prices are. A phone call to Andy Norman regarding the instrument may be a good idea too. I am not on comission from Chris, but rather I am thinking that this is a lot of money to shell out without having a good look at what is available in the market. If you are thinking about spending that sort of money, I would strongly recommend a trip to Bradford to see, and more importantly, play, this instrument and would also suggest that you have a run down to Stoke-on-Trent to compare with instruments Chris may have to offer. Being strictly Anglophile I can't offer much advice about its suitability for your playing or how it would compare to your aeola ..... Now a nice F/C Baritone Anglo ... I could do with one of those ... Regards and good luck Dave
  17. Indoor piping should be restricted to water and sewage. Hey Pal !! What about the Beer !! Dave
  18. Hi folks, I am reasonably sure that this is one I went to look at at Lytham St. Annes about 3 years ago when it was for sale on ebay. Assuming it is :- My impression was that it was made by Crabb but for some unknown reason all the reeds have been sytematically, deliberately and totally b*ggered with something like a screwdriver. All were bent, many snapped off and the rest badly bent and twisted. I am known to be a sucker for 'lost causes' but I steered well clear of this one. The only hope of salvation would have meant re-tongueing all the reeds. I cannot be 100% certain that this is the same instrument but would strongly advise anybody thinking of bidding on this instrument to ask the seller to post detailed and clear pictures of inside and outsides of both reed pans My apoplogies to the seller if I have got the wrong instrument. In that case, I would invite you to post detailed pictures here. I did consider leaving a bid last time round, with a view to buying it for spares, but it went beyond my top price ... not by very much I might add. Since then it seems to have been shined up a bit but there look to be less buttons remaining. If I recall correctly, the buttons were 1/8" diameter Jeffries/Crabb 'pin' type. Caveat Emptor ! Dave
  19. I was thinking of the 'Is this the right room for an argument'' sketch Dave
  20. I couldn't agree with you more Geoff. Never a good solution trying to make a square peg fit a round hole... so to speak Dave
  21. Does that mean you use a lot of fertilizer in your arrangements? I prefer to thinK that I 'plough my own furrow' Dave
  22. Have a look in this thread Jack http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php...&hl=fretsaw This job teaches patience Dave
  23. Hi All, Sorry I can't cast any light on the Origins/Invention of the term Nautical Style......... I am advised that my style of playing is purely 'Agricultural' Dave
  24. Hi. Allison. I had no trouble. They're posted as mp3's, which my browser promptly played using QuickTime as a helper. But even if they don't launch automatically in a helper application, you should be able to download the mp3's to your disk and play them from there using any software that plays mp3's. When I first tried yesterday, I managed to find the link to the tunes but when I tried to play it I got a 10 second long endlessly repeating 'funky music sample' with the distant sound of pipes in the background. I couldn't stop the d*mn thing playing. It froze up the browser and I had to do a control alt delete to close out and get rid of it . Thinking it was me and my thick fingers, I got my computer savvy son to try, and he had the same problem. I have just tried again today and the last entry on the 'tune of the month' page is July '07 - Lilies of the Valley, There is nothing anywhere on the site that I can find for August 07. Am I doing something wrong or is there a 'Noo Yoik gremlin' at work ?? Cheers Dave
  25. Send him a keyboard layout and the dots for the 'Dancing Dustman' Dave
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