Dave Prebble

All so much easier when we own up to our real names Dave Prebble

A little 'cheat' to help you on your way is to smear a tiny dab of rubber glue* on the tip of the button. This provides a high friction surface that lasts for weeks. (*the type of contact glue they used for tyre pucture repairs.... is this called Barge cement in the US ?) They say 'cheats don't prosper' ... but I just hate seeing concertinas heaved out of windows Hope this is of use to you Regards Dave

From one who knows..... Dont try floating one on the Macclesfield Canal Dave

Hi to all and a Happy new year. Being over 50 (halfway, I am reliably informed ), I can get insurance through Saga. I have all the concertinas insured on the household policy for loss or damage within the house up to a stated maximum value and any two of them at any one time for 'all risks' outside the house, again up to a stated value. This is not cheap as the sums insured are frighteningly large, but setting up the insurance was a easy process with this company. Chris Algar, Barleycorn concertinas has provided insurance valuations for years at a nominal cost. So far as I understand it, he has had no problems being accepted as an expert (certified or not) and so it should be as he is, and has been for some 30 years, far and away the biggest concertina dealer in the world. Do remember to have comprehensive photos of you instruments preferably stored away from the house. Whatever route you chose, do get them insured. It provides some peace of mind though as has been said, mere replacement is not the only issue here. Regards Dave

Assuming the info is correct, I certainly would not be tempted. Never been too impressed by Music Room concertina prices. You could almost fly to the US and collect in person for that sort of mark-up If this is the case, the answer might be to get a C.Netter friend in the US to buy one direct and to ship it privately to the end customer in England. A lot of folks over here are doing the same sort of thing with French and Italian Melodeons Regards Dave

Concertina School ?? welcome aboard Terra Dave

Quick ! Someone lend me a hanky... Dave

Sorry to hear of your run of bad luck. Be advised though, once you get hooked on the concertina habit, it will empty your pockets faster than cars or motorbike combined you certainly seem to be displaying all the classic early symptoms. It would seem that a Rochelle might settle the matter for you - one way or the other Regards Dave

How do you bend the reed inwards? There's not enough space to really bned it in, besides, the reeds are built to bend, you can sit for ours and try to bend it with a wooden stick, with no result. Too much bending outwards is acheaved, with risk of breaking, I guess. It can be, and is usually, done with th aid of a thin sliver of wood such as a lolly or popsickle stick. It is nearly always necessary to remove the reed assembly from it's slot in order to do this. This allows access to apply pressure or support to both sides of the reed tongue The process demands plenty of care and I am afraid, a lot of practice in order to get desired and consistent results without causing damage to the reeds........ especially easy when setting the paper thin high reeds on a treble or piccolo. No other way my friend.... Its back to that old scrap accordion and get practicing on those reeds first. Regards Dave

Hi Larry, Could the reed-frame be slightly loose in the reed-pan, enabling air to escape rather than sound the reed? Regards, Peter. Worth checking the valves on that compartment are seating correctly and are not gettng caught up. This can allow a certian amount of air to pass through the companion reed before the object reed sounds. Also quite possible that the tip of that reed is set a little too high and air initially passes the reed tip without causing the depression that initiates the reed sounding. The reed may have to be re-set. Handy tip ! A stethoscope with the drum end removed and a short section of stiff tube inserted into the 'sound tube' that runs to the earpiece is a great tool for accurately locating leaks. The thin stiff tube can be poked through fretwork holes and if carefully used will even identify which side of a pad is leaking. If a reed is out of the instrument and on a tuning bellows this setup will also give an accurate indication of even minute volumes of air passing the tip and can be useful aid in setting the reed tips. Regards Dave A cheapo stethoscope can be had for 3 or 4 pounds on ebay - there are hundreds of them listed.

I couldn't agree more Chris. C/Gs played 'single note style' in English sessions put me in mind of me of the nuclear bomb..... It is nice to know you have the 'fire power in reserve but not too popular if deployed on every possible occasion. English sessions are in nature generally more sedate, chordal and with more emphasis on the beat than would be the case at most irish sessions. The introduction of a 'Ferrari class' C/G anglo (or, God forbid, several) played single note style, flat out and bellows straining, reeds screaming and an octave above most other instruments is positively anti-social and drives folks away from sessions. Just watch folks hunching up to neighbours or spreading out their gear to prevent a player sitting next to them and see folks gravitating towards the other side of the room when one fires up because they simply cannot hear what they themselves are playing! All too often such players also have a grounding in Irish music and just cannot resist the urge to 'wind things up' to the sort of speeds they are used to in Irish sessions. To my mind, folks should be playing to contribute to the total sound mix, rather than to cut through or hijack it. Give me the full rich tones of a G/D box and a nice steady session any day. regards Dave

Ugh !! - reckon he must have been drinking meths Much looking forward to what is always a great weekend ! ( Put my name on a barrel Mark ) Dave

Hi, Personally, I have never had problems polishing rosewood. The thinned initial wash coats work well and provides a good key for subsequent polishes. Shellac polishes are alcohol based and many modern finishes are based on different and incompatible solvent mediums. Carry out tests on scrap timber to ensure compatibility of polishes before committing to the workpiece. Though it is very rarely required with shellac polishes, one tip that can be employed on oily hardwoods is to degrease the surface first. It is usually only needed as a spot treatment for particularly greasy areas on tropical hardwoods. Wash off the wood with alcohol several times and leave to dry out fully.Then apply a thin coat of pure alcohol spirit with a rubber or pad and set light to it !! Provided you have not used too much spirit, it will only burn for a few seconds and does not actually burn the wood. The alcohol will dissolve the oils in the topmost layers of the wood and will burn off. (Though I have never tried it, this may well work with cellulose finishes too using thinners) Follow immediately with a thinned coat of shellac which will then key well into the wood to forma good bond for the main finish. There are obvious safety considerations here and this is definately not for the amateur. It may be worth considering a pad applied, Shellac/cellulose mixture. These are sometimes called 'table top shellac'. These are just as easy to use and are more water/alcohol/heat resistant than pure french polishes. Regards Dave

Hi helenjayne , You have a lovely instrument there and so much personal history in it too I very much suspect that it is also significantly smaller than the 'standard' 6 or 6 1/4" across the flats of the hexagon. It may well be a Jones but if it is a smaller model, I would doubt it has broad steel reeds - mind you that is no bad thing. Anything smaller than this for a 30 key instrument is very hard to come by. Could you enlighten us as to the size please ? Dave

Be fair, Peter, we've both known some EC players who didn't seem entirely miserable! Chris True, but photographic evidence suggests that there are a lot of Mr Grumpies around, and playing..... Anglo . And they say that the camera never lies............... Regards, Peter. PS - maybe we should invite Forum members to come out of the closet and say "I play EC, and I'm not entirely miserable" PPS - before I got verbally "lynched" by my EC playing friends on this Forum, I'm really only joking! PPPS - there was a thread, somewhere on this Forum, suggestings that the system of concertina which you play reflects your personality. I'm not certain that it does. I might enjoy being a "loud" Anglo player, but I'm not certain that this is the real me. Hi, I can think of a few really cheerful Anglo players that look like they are chewing a wasp when playing and one or two quite grumpy English players who look positively cherubic when playing. I guess for a newbie, the choice is the 'face screwed up like a cats bottom' look or the 'angelic' look.... Welcome to the mad world of concertinas Nate Regards Dave

No Parole ! GOD

He shall be sentenced to serve the term of eternity in the 'naughty coffin' which shall be situated in between the banjo and accordion torture rooms ..... fiery furnaces are just too good for the likes of him Your gallant actions in the rescue of the now 'the born again' Lachenal 122981 have been duly noted in the book of judgement. GOD (Anglo Player - English Style)

If you only have a thousand questions, you are well on top of the job It is refreshing to see someone who asks first. You will make a fine job of it I am sure. Judging by some of the bodges I have had to repair, there are a few too many folks around who live by the maxim 'If it ain't broke, fix it till it is' Regards Dave

Interesting! A little off topic, but just the opposite to Australia, Dave. GST (VAT equivalent) and any duty is collected here by the postal authority on behalf of the Tax Dept. The (unofficial) attitude of Australia Post employees I understand to be that if an item is sent airmail then the sender's intention is for prompt delivery, so unless there is some suspicion or good reason to hold things up for tax processing they don't seem to bother. However, an item sent surface mail is not considered urgent and if it sits in bond for a few more weeks, well, who cares about any delay. Certainly my experience bears this out in that every single surface item I have ever received from overseas has been taxed, while this has not been the case for most airmail items. MC Not too surprised things are back to front Malc ......... in the land where you all hang upside down clinging on by your toes Dave

Interesting! A little off topic, but just the opposite to Australia, Dave. GST (VAT equivalent) and any duty is collected here by the postal authority on behalf of the Tax Dept. The (unofficial) attitude of Australia Post employees I understand to be that if an item is sent airmail then the sender's intention is for prompt delivery, so unless there is some suspicion or good reason to hold things up for tax processing they don't seem to bother. However, an item sent surface mail is not considered urgent and if it sits in bond for a few more weeks, well, who cares about any delay. Certainly my experience bears this out in that every single surface item I have ever received from overseas has been taxed, while this has not been the case for most airmail items. MC

Hi, I was told by someone who imports a lot of concertinas from the USA to the UK that if you send the package by surface mail customs import duties are very rarely applied. Seems the port customs lads are not so hot on applying the rules. The downside of course is that you do not need to be in a hurry to get it. I imported a concertina which they said would take 3-4 weeks and it was nearer 2 months - but was duty free ......... I had almost given up on it but my stomach cramps, ulcer and hypertension miraculously disappeared as soon as it arrived. Dave

I would buy such 'wrecks' at that price all day long ! There is nothing there to frighten off a professional restorer and as for Chris taking a risk, Tamworth, where the instrument was, is only a 40 minute drive from Barleycorn's base. I would have my money on him having inspected it before bidding and I can certainly imagine a broad smile on his face when the 'hammer fell'. It will make a fine instrument but it's restored price will be hampered by the somewhat more limited market for such large Anglos...... most Irish players would find it a bit too much of a handful. There was nothing to stop a private individual buying this, paying to have it restored and then re-selling at a good but fair profit on ebay or c.net. Hope there are not too many sour grapes around the forum Regards Dave

Guilty of thread drift! Maybe this topic should be retitled "The Trouble With Conker Availability" as it looks to be a problem the other side of "the pond". Regards, Peter. Let them use coconuts Dave

At about 2am some bright spark went out to the car and returned with a box containing a hundred and fifty or so, ready threaded conkers ! The ensuing mayhem and mirth had to be witnessed to be believed. Some of us will never grow up ! Regards Dave For those of us on the other side of the big pond, what are "conkers" and why did they produce mayhem and mirth? Hi Gary, This is a traditional schoolyard game.....taken very seriously by children and adults alike. The conker is the hard nut from the Horse Chestnut tree and is perhaps a little smaller than a walnut.. It is drilled and threaded...traditionally onto one of your bootlaces, and while one player dangles his conker...it must be kept still, ...his opponent swings his own conker on it's string attempting to strike the other's. All sorts of local variations to the rules .... most of which cause playground punch-ups from time to time. A great game for broken fingers and busted knuckles Now imagine 80 odd overgrown kids attempting this game after umpteen pints of ale and whiskey chasers.....as I said.... Mayhem and mirth see here for more http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/conkers.html Dave Quite how this thread drifted here I know not... but who cares ?

....don't forget the hard hat and chrome leather welders gauntlets Dave Remind me never to play conkers with you Dave I have fond memories... (at least I remember parts) of a weekend Morris Ale somewhere in the depth of Kent some years ago. On the second evening, after a somewhat boozy all day dancing tour 80 or so lads settled into the hall for an evening of serious drinking, music and dancing (accent on the former). At about 2am some bright spark went out to the car and returned with a box containing a hundred and fifty or so, ready threaded conkers ! The ensuing mayhem and mirth had to be witnessed to be believed. Some of us will never grow up ! Regards Dave