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Just a suggestion, when you seek professional help with the pain, I recommend taking your instrument along so you can show what you're doing instead of trying to describe it. Hope you find, and resolve, the problem. - Keith

I've taken my concertina on the two vacations since I got it (only 15 months now). My family insists that I bring it. I travel from Alaska to Seattle. I always tell the screeners to let the person on the x-ray know the small box contains a concertina. I've only had the case opened once, and that was when the screener had never seen one before. I've never had anyone try to remove the instrument. I've also gotten only good comments when I play it in the airport while waiting for the plane. - Keith

Hello Dave, and welcome, Since no one else has mentioned it yet, I suggest talking to The Button Box about renting (a link is on the links page). This will give you a chance to try both types of concertina and decide which is right for you without laying out a full purchase price. It will also give you some instruments to use as comparisons when you try others. - Keith

When I first got my concertina I experimented with a neck strap. I went to the local fabric store and picked up a couple lengths of ribbon that coordinated with the bellows color. One was a fancy flat ribbon (for formal playing) and one a round ribbon (for informal). To start with I just tied a loop in one end of the round ribbon and fit it under the thumbstrap screw, then tied the other end under the other screw with a length that felt right. This allowed me to adjust it and experiment with different lengths. Once I set on a length that stayed comfortable, I sewed a loop in the end that fits under the thumb strap screws and stays hidden. The flat ribbon can simply be folded over a couple times and a small hole started in the middle for the screw shaft. Concertinas being so light it doesn't take a very heavy piece of ribbon to hold the majority of the weight. And it made playing standing up alot easier. Since I play sitting down almost exclusively now, I've taken them off. But they are available if I should need them again. I suggest taking a stroll through your local fabric store and seeing if anything catches your eye. - Keith

Hello pinko, My suggestion is to open it up and see what you can do yourself. In my (very limited) experience, and without more symptoms on which to make a more reliable diagnosis, the sticking is most likely caused by the eyes of the buttons moving on their shafts. If doesn't take too much movement to cause the button angle to start catching the edges of the button hole. I would be very surprised to find that there are any parts that need to be replaced, given that it's not older. If it has more years experience than your post indicates, then the rubber "keepers" on the buttons could need replacing. (Again, I'm assuming design features based on what I've seen. Some pictures or a more thorough description after you've opened it up to look would help.) I did the replacing of the button sleeves on a friend's older concertina, and it is not difficult. I hope this helps, and that you're enjoying your concertina. - Keith

I'm not quite up on how to get the qoute function to work, but in response to Jim's comment on the extra measures, there are a couple of measures duplicated. Measures 19 and 20 are repeated as measures 21 and 22. If you drop the first two measures of the last line (21 and 22) it all comes together. Not all the notes match the rendition from the Cherish the Ladies recording "The Girls Won't Leave the Boys Alone" but it is close. Thanks for the link Stephen, I'm enjoying playing this tune. - Keith

In my Irish Rovers cd set, the song is "Goodbye Mrs. Durkin". I figured she was the landowner the singer was working for. -Keith

The links sent to me by Stephen Mills were: midi + gif: http://www.sosyourmom.com/OneilsMarches.html midi only: http://perso.club-internet.fr/pybertra/ceol/tunes.htm It's also in the abc tune finder. Just enter Miss Hamilton at the top. This is a highly useful resource located at: http://ecf-guest.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/FindTune.html Another useful resource. You can often locate quality midis, much better than those produce by .abc translators, at: http://www.vanbasco.com/midisearch.html Some have notation with them. The one I found most useful for sheet music is the abc tunefinder. Thanks again Stephen. - Keith

I just returned from a vacation with my concertina. Each stop at airport security I told the screener examining the x-raying screen "it's a concertina". Then had to explain a concertina is a musical instrument like a small accordian. Only had one screener open the case, and that's because they had never seen one before. The key phrase to avoid problems apparently was "musical instrument", since very few of them had ever heard of concertinas. I tried to do my part to improve their knowledge by practicing within range while I waited for my flights. Got quite a few smiles and one nice comment. -Keith

For my English concertina I found that a strap was really needed when I play standing, primarily to take most of the weight off my wrists. I went to my local fabric store and picked out a couple of different ribbons that matched the green and gold on my concertina's bellows. After a bit of knot adjustment to get a length that felt consistently right, I stitched a loop in the end and put it under the thumbstrap screw. When I'm sitting I just let the ribbon lie behind the instrument. I don't remember which book mentioned the ribbon idea. It might have been Mr. Atlas', or one of the (several) others I picked up to learn more about this instrument that has fascinated me for so long. - Keith

I received links to the sheet music by PM. Thanks again. -Keith

Hello, I am looking for sheet music to Miss Hamilton, by Cornelius Lyons. I have the tune on John Williams' "Steam" and would like to play it myself. I'm not very good at learning by ear and haven't been able to find it written out yet, at least not without buying an entire book (which doesn't sound like a bad idea). Still looking though, while I try learning by ear. Any help finding the sheet music is appreciated. Thanks, Keith

Welcome Tina, I just want to second (or third) the suggestion that you keep all the concertinas for a long period before you decide if you really want to part with any. But I also wanted to say the instruments are not the only thing of value. You mention that you have alot of sheet music, including compositions of your g. grandfather's. These too have a value. I suggest you check with a good library or antique book restorer to see if there is anything that needs to be done to preserve them. (And if you decide to share some that are past copyright, I can think of one person who is interested in copies .) -Keith

Hello all, I am doing some repairs on a friend's concertina (at least as little as I am comfortable with) and trying to find out some information for her. It is a 20 button anglo labeled "Regoletta". A search of the postings brought up information on how to repair the rubber sleeves for the buttons, which is definitely needed. It also brought up a comment that Regolettas are Bastaris. Searching through Google didn't get any additional information, other than Bastari being bought by Stagi (Brunner Musica) in 1992. So did Bastari acquire Regoletta? If so when? Or was Regoletta a model or brand name used by Bastari? Is there any way to estimate the age of this concertina? So far I've only opened one end, but saw no maker's marks or numbers. (It looks just like the pictures I've seen of Hohner's D40.) Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. - Keith

I don't have ten CDs featuring concertina (yet) so I'll just mention one. A recent purchase that I find myself enjoying more each time I play it is Black Boxes by Sarah Graves. A nice mix of tunes and songs, including a fun set of The Concertina Reel and Another Concertina Reel. -Keith Edited to correct my spelling.