MandolinRefugee

Does this mean sold to you?

Do you mean the reeds for more than 1 button are on the same plate in those Large German Concertinas? LGC's?

Here are the action photos. Alas, it's a single axle, multiple button arrangement, and the rivets are pretty loose. Ah, when the end is on, they stay put... BTW, the best method of putting the end back on is to turn the action so the buttons are pointing to the floor. Gravity makes them "stand" straight (actually hang), and the end slips on lickety split!

Yes, I remembered this article as soon as I had popped the end off, and I was wondering if I had found one of these little "hidden treasures". When I get home, I`ll take a couple of pictures of the action, too. D

Sure, here are some pics: I found a big surprise when I opened it up. I was expecting a reed block standing on the reed pan, like in my Rochelle. What I found was completely different than that or a traditionally constructed instrument (although, to be fair, my experience with these things is very limited ) I'm not sure how well you can see the side of the reed blocks, but there is a hinge there. The upper layer of reeds, I assume, can swing out of the way for easy access to all of the reeds! Is that normal? Anyway, the hinged blocks are held in place with a clamp positioned in the center of the whole works. What a brilliant way to fit more reeds into a small space! Is this the same as the guts of a Stagi?

Hi, all. I happened to notice that my Gremlin treble E.C. has a set of 8 fold bellows, but the Stagis have 6. I thought it was just a rebranded stagi. I wonder what other differences I might find... Does anyone know more about these Gremlins? The info on the web is sparse; I've seen 2 pictures in total, and they didn't look much like mine, mine having natural sapelle (I gather by the grain pattern) rather than black ends.

This is an old thread, maybe forgotten, but I'm curious (and I'm sure many others are too) as to how the development of the Morse Hayden is progressing? Actually, I saw in the thread that there would be a Morse English concertina with all of the buttons and concertina reeds put into development after the Hayden was successfully put into production, and that really peaked my interests!

"It is pretty, but I count only 5 bellows folds." Unrelated to this particular instrument, but 5 folds is normal for an English concertina, right? Almost all of the normal "mid range" instruments that I see are 5 folds.

Hey, this is a great bit of information! I love the restoration documentation... A couple of questions. 1) What is the spring material? 2) What are the brass inserts for (Nickolds4, pictures 25-27 and Nickolds5 1-7) Cheers

I got a Rochelle a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say, I`m not so enthralled. By all accounts, everyone said that the Stagi instruments were junk and I`d be throwing my money away, and that (for the price) the Rochelles are like they are carved from gold. On the same day that I got my Rochelle, I also recieved a Gremlin (another Bastari box) 48 English. It was much easier to play, spoke much faster, the action was vastly lighter, etc. I know that they are more expensive when they are new, so I wasn`t really surprised that it was better, but I was surprised at the effort that it took to play the Rochelle in comparison to the Gremlin. By the way, out of the box, the Rochelle had a bad note which still won`t sound. I took the ends off and discovered the non-speaking reed to be on the inside of the reed block, away from my access for adjusting it. As a result, I`ve been playing a lot more English than Anglo, and the Rochelle sits in the case as a reminder of money that I used to have...

Well, I'm a rank beginner, but having just finished a week-long music camp, I was able to squeeze out a passable version of "Squid Jigging Ground". Can't go wrong with that in Newfoundland! Who was running the music camp in Newfoundland?

I`ve finally recieved my first concertina after waiting to buy one for about 10 years! What makes this a momentous occasion is that, in the absence of any concertinas in Japan, I had a hard enough time deciding whether I was going to buy an English or an Anglo, I bought one of each. Lo and behold, they arrived here within 30 minutes of each other, and today is a Sunday! The Anglo that I have is a Rochelle, and English is a Gremlin, made by Bastari / Stagi, I think. They`re completely different instruments, not just in terms of the fingering systems, but look and feel, too. My initial reaction is that the Gremlin is not just a better instrument, it`s a vastly better instrument... The action is much easier, the bellows are more flexible, the notes speak much easier, instantly, I can say, and it is a much prettier instrument, as well as being smaller. The price difference on new instruments is quite large between the stagi and the CC boxes, and I have no idea how they will hold up over time, but the Gremlin makes me want to play, and I have been since 10:30 this morning. I`d better give it a rest, though, because today`s my anniversary! Cheers

Have you posted this on ebay yet? I'm following the conversation flow...

Hi there. Has anyone given you any information about the concertina yet? I've been looking for the right instrument to start on for 4 or 5 months now, and I've watched the price of everything go insane during that time! I guess a bunch of people must be inflicted with English Concertina fever at the same time... Anyway, ballpark figures for how much you'd like...?