Pete Dickey

Which reminds me of a "fact":- To tell if woodworm is still in the instrument it is necessary to count the holes. An odd number means that it is still in there and an even number means it has gone Pete

Interestingly Dave when I made a couple of threaded inserts for my Jeffries I found that the threads on the thumbscrews were standard BA size. Pete

Thought I remembered seeing something like that so had a search and found this Lachenal english which was sold in 2004. Pete

To be frank, the insert is of pretty basic design. Any self-respecting engineering workshop or model engineers would be able to knock you something like that out in pretty short order for not a serious amount of loot. If you are struggling then send it to me and I'll get it done for you. Pete

I don't agree 100% Frank. As you say the reeds do vary depending on age and construction, from awful but at the other end some Lachenal steel reeds from say the 120000 to 140000 era can be absolutely superb, particularly in something like a Murdoch Peerless where there are signs that they may have been "cherry-picked" from the stock. Some of these reeds would hardly be out of place in a Jeffries and I suspect that there is many a Jeffries out there with a fistful of Lachenal reeds installed and no-one is any the wiser. Pete

Well that should free you up to go to Bradfield Dave Pete

As far as I see it there is no contest! You get everything ready, bottle feed (unless he/she is on draught) change the nappy, burp, jump in the car and drive hell for leather to Whitby. You then spend a couple of hours in one of the superb sessions before hairing back to Scarborough ready for the next feed and change assuming something like a 4 hour cycle. After all you have to get your priorities right. As to getting a decent 'tina, well you have to start making worthwhile investments for the baby's future and a concertina is hard to beat on that count See you there if the boss will let me Pete

Nicely spotted from "down-under" Nanette. Farne is a great site with a lot of superb music I really do feel that we ought to have a links page to sites like this so everyone can see them much sooner. Although I came across the site a couple of years ago I was well behind the pace since I note that Howard Mitchell made the first reference to FARNE as early as the beginning of 2004! Pete

Another thought. Could this stance be where the South African term "Squash box" comes from? Pete

Following enquiries, from April 1st, any new instruments that I may make will have the option of a fitted waist strap for hands free wear and/or proximity sensors fitted to the rear of the bellows which will lock the latter in the open position to prevent possible crush injuries. Geoff Crabb Think we can now see why you had to put that extra fold in the bellows Geoff Pete

I'm just sad I didn't buy a copy of the calendar a few weeks ago when I had the chance. I certainly wouldn't have had the bottle to do it and as it was to raise money then good on him for doing it. As far as the online edition of the y MAil is concerned then I had no problems accessing it on http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/arti...in_page_id=1770 Pete

Retuning to CG would be too far to go, but it would retune to GD though. There must be an awful lot of GD's that started life in this tuning. Shame to lose the rare Ab/Eb tuning, there can't be many of these left. Pete

Another couple for your enjoyment. Afraid they are a bit dark though Pete

Will be glad to Dave. Unfortunately he is out of commission at present due to a "bug" as he was meant to be coming over here today for a session. Lets hope he gets better soon, theres more to be done Pete

Just got my CG ME Lachenal back after a full restoration by a certain superb craftsman not a million miles away from me. Before it went it was in a pretty bad way, little more than a bag of bits, the ends looking like someone had played football with it. However after a rebuild and new bellows, pads, buttons springs, clean-up and retune it looks a million dollars and probably plays better than it looks. To say I am pleased would be a vast understatement and he deserves a big pat on the back, but I'd better be careful as he might want more money Before and after shots attached if I can Pete

Well perhaps its my slightly warped sense of humour but I couldn't help smiling at this calendar on Ebay featuring a selection of accordions waiting to be booted into the adjacent lake or river or sat on by a highland cow http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2007-Calendar-rare-c...1QQcmdZViewItem And here was me thinking the best thing to do with them was start a bonfire Pete

I've got to agree with Brian and recommend the Roland Edirol R-09. Its very little larger than a minidisk, has built-in stereo mikes, records onto a SD memory card up to 2GB in MP3 format which can be uploaded directly to a computer. I know a few folks who have bought them and all are delighted with them. Cost about $300 I understand in the States and around £300 in the UK. Pete

Yes, those are usually solo affairs though sometimes a neighborhood will hold a congregate event. Larger are usually in set places at set times (such as every Sunday, first weekend of the month, at the annual town fair, etc.) which are usually called "flea markets" around here. They can be pretty small (about a dozen "dealers" or so) to enormous. Typical good sized ones are usually held in a farmer's field and have maybe 200-300 dealers from one-time shots of attic cleaning or house moving to regulars that dabble in estate cast-offs, antique collectors, discount new goods sellers (tools, household items, shirts...), food vendors, farmer's produce and so forth. Quite the mixed bag. And then there's Brimfield that happens 3 times a year for a week long each. The entire town turns into an enormous flea market. There are dozens of smaller areas with a handful of dealers to a few with several hundred to some that have over a thousand dealers. The nice thing about this event is that it's only old stuff. While I've scored scores of accordions there I've found only 3 vintage concertinas. Lots of flutinas though. -- Rich -- Thanks for that Richard. That is certainly one heck of a flea market Pete

"Car Boot Sales" have really taken off in the UK over the last few years, some being huge events with hundreds of participants trying to offload the stuff they would otherwise have thrown or given away or hidden in the loft for future generations or the next owners of the house . What is the equivalent in the US? A garage or yard sale seems to be a small or solo event by comparison. Pete

I made a note of this discussion some time ago from Dave Prebble and feel it takes a bit of beating:- http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php...entry4713 Pete

Jinny Can I also suggest that you take your concertina along to Theo who lives not that far away from you and is a very experienced 'tina repairer although far too modest to mention it. He will check it out for you and advise whether it needs any repairs or overhaul. It may also be in old tuning and could be retuned although whether you should get this done or leave it alone is for you to decide and not for me to advise or I might cause uproar on the forum Pete

Just to get back to the original question. I've been trawling the net a little bit and there is a suggestion that the word "Linota" may be Latin for Linnet i.e as in the songbird, which to me would seem quite appropriate. However as always I stand to be corrected . Pete

Thats perfectly true. I'm afraid its a bit confusing going to Arran and taking my nephew Arran (who is, not surprisingly, named after the place). Arran (nephew) is not into concertinas but loved the music in general and was overwhelmed by the island to such an extent that he wants to treat me to a return visit next year. I've got to agree that it is a truly superb place and a more pleasant and friendlier group of 'tina enthusiasts would be hard to find. Everyone was made very welcome regardless of playing style, type of concertina or degree of ability and I came away feeling very rested and also feeling I had added to my knowledge of the instrument and need to enhance my stock of Scots tunes. Many thanks are of course due to Samantha and her hubby Dave plus various helpers including cooks and bottle-washers for their organisational skills, enthusiasm and kind welcome. My thanks also to my fellow participants for their company and fellowship throughout the weekend. Pete

Well I finally got around to posting some pictures on the web. Bored with all of the concertina talk, my nephew (Arran) went off for a walk and I gave him my camera to get a few extra photos. I feel they give a little bit of a flavour of the place. The pictures even include a submarine for good measure spotted from the ferry home. You can find them here:- http://picasaweb.google.com/Arranpics Pete

Sounds good! Mind you, how cracking will the players be after some Celebration Ale, not to mention samples from Lochranza distillery ! I'm booked to cross on the 12.30 ferry, so if anyone wants to join me on a trip to the distillery, please let me know. I'm proposing to try and get there for this ferry but a 300 mile drive make screw up the timing. Still we'll see how I get along and I might make it