mainstreetmark

Ah, thanks everybody, but I went ahead and sent it back to Button Box. I hope they don't over-charge me for repair. I shoulda waited an extra day for all these nice replies. Floppy Disk? Excellent idea. I was going to use the back of my vehicle registration sticker, but it was kind of curved. I AM pretty handy, as supported by the fact that i attempted the repair myself, but apparently am also clumsy. I have an event coming up on Nov14th (pirate gathering) and needed it done (right) by then, but someone has since given me an old Scholer ("made in germany east") which will somewhat suffice. It's only 20 keys, and in a different key, but it'll do the om-paa bits just fine. As to my location, I'm in North Florida, where a recent "mass of canadian cold air" has dropped us down to 50 degrees. Everyone's got on long coats and hats. 2 months ago, it was in the 90's, and I suppose the heat and the waves knocked some those reeds out.

I suppose somewhere it says that these things are held together with earwax, but I must've missed it. I noticed that some of the reeds had fallen out (I live on an un-airconditioned sailboat in Florida). Well, I managed to get it back together, using a warm hobby screwdriver to re-melt all the earwax in place, but I made a mistake. The hot screwdriver touched the little flapper plastic bit on one of the reeds, causing it to melt enough that it doesn't actually do the job anymore. So, where can I get one of these little replacement parts, you think? Google didn't turn up much, but I don't actually know what they're called. I'm also hoping the vendor (buttonbox) will help me out on this. And, by god, keep these things air conditioned, somehow.

I ordered the Rochelle. God help me now.

Ah yes, good replies, one and all... After reading (more of) that faq, and general browsing around the internet, it looks like I'll be after just a plain ol' Anglo in G/C's. The Rochelle looks to be in my price range, and some places offer a trade in when you're ready to upgrade, so why spend $700 on one with a key in D, when I can spend $350 on a G/C and learn the damn thing. So, yeah, a Rochelle G/C Anglo? Sound good for a first timer? The offerings on eBay aren't all that interesting yet. We don't have to do everything in D, and if you ever heard a shanty band, you know that keys aren't really all that important anyways. Our little troupe of singers varies greatly in members, so having me poorly play a concertina occasionally may be independent of the fact that there is someone playing the pennywhistle (or main pennywhistler has now got some sort of lung disease now whereby his doc said he should cut back on singing and whistling, yet apparently, Marlborros are still OK). http://sendthebastardouttosea.com/ edit: Well, this one is on eBay. No idea about the brand or key, so .... eh.... http://cgi.ebay.com/Anglo-Concertina-Accor...id=p3286.c0.m14

Hey folks - I've searched around the forum here, but haven't found a conclusive answer to a concern I have. If, in our group, we have pennywhistle players, and they're in the key of D, wouldn't that pretty much require a concertina in the same key? Most of them seem to be in G. I've seen few conertina's in D for sale. The background of this project is, I'm in a shanty band, and we're looking to add some instruments to our lineup, and while I'm pretty good at pennywhistle, you can't whistle and sing at the same time. I'm more than happy to spend a few hundred on a nice concertina and begin learning it, but if it sounds goofy with the whistle, why bother? (and, so your forum advocates, I may go find a nice new Rochelle, unless some excellent wooden oldie shows up on eBay soon) ((and, who's to say we have to play the whistle and concertina at once. I certainly don't have enough hands for both! Maybe key is irrelevant))