Chris Ghent

How big are these instruments Greg..?

Chris, I wouldn't object by any means - maybe the OP could clarify, as my understanding was that ITM just had been an inducement for exploring concertina territory. There are players (namely Henrik Müller) who are playing ITM on an EC perfectly well, as far as I'm able to judge on that - but I guess it's a route to travel only with good reasons I'm not aware of here. So if the OP is inclined to play ITM, there's apparently no denying a solid prima facie advantage of the Anglo. Wolf, I think Henrik's modifications to the way you hold the EC mean it has the same advantages as an Anglo for ITM.

If you choose anything other than Anglo for ITM then you condemn yourself to life as an outlier with no access to teachers or collaboration and no top player role models. And while consideration of "which system" is almost always accompanied by discussion of layout, in/out/left/right, how the concertina is held is very relevant. The hand straps on the Anglo and the way in which it is held provide easier access to the explosive power needed to emphasise dance rhythms at speed.

If the particles were thrown off at the point where the reed bends the most then this would weaken the belly in lower reeds and they would drop. In higher reeds the tip would be lightened, as that is where they bend the most, leading to the reeds raising in pitch, which is not my experience.

Going back to the OP's question, I have heard a theory the bending action throws off sub-atomic particles at the bending point, which over time adds up to enough lost metal to shift the pitch. The only thing which worries me about this is it would mean lower reeds would drop in pitch, so far so good, but higher reeds would increase in pitch and this has not been my experience.

Speaking as someone who once managed to destroy one side of a concertina (try it, it is not as easy as you think) perhaps this is a reaction to a similar event. A person without the means, money or skills to fix it did what they could and one fold was all that could be retrieved..?

Thanks Wolf, my intention was to make sure the post was not missed by people who don't read the section it was originally posted in.

I felt the need to repost this, first posted by Adrian Brown under Videos, in the General section... Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne's final recital at Leeds Uni has some of the most amazing anglo playing I have ever heard. After listening to this a few times yesterday, I'm speechless with admiration. Enjoy... https://livestream.com/uol/final-recitals-17/videos/157705262 Adrian

Absorption and reflection is the current model here too. Do the materials and methods used absorb or reflect particular frequencies..?

No worries Wolf. As an aside, some years ago a Hardigg agent told me the yellow variants were developed for people in the mining business. Yellow is the brightest colour apart from white, and more easy to spot in near darkness than black or olive, which were two of the other colours available at that time. You could also get a rescue orange case, meant for emergency services.

Jim, the strap kits I have bought in the past included O rings. The strap attachment point has a flange and the O ring sits between the case and the flange to maintain water tightness. Using exactly the drill size they recommend wouldn't hurt. Extra silicone would be OK as long as it was compatible with the O ring. Wolf, The genuine strap is good quality, and one of its good points is the flange I just mentioned, and the screw on the inside has a similar flange; apart from helping with the water seal these flanges also spread the load around the hole which is in the unsupported part of the structure. There are two versions of these straps out there, the ones I have had in the past had flat clips like the one in the nalpak site (which is working for me) and another with a more conventional clip. I have not seen this type. If you search for "imstrap-s-ver2" you will find willing suppliers.

Wolf, it comes as a kit, a strap and two fasteners. And it has an O ring to maintain some semblance of water tightness. Here is the kit https://www.nalpak.com/Padded-Shoulder-Strap Looking around there are lots of examples of this different one, https://www.pelishop.com/iM-strap-s-ver2-peli-storm-case-shoulder-strap-with-fittings.html, of which I have no experience. It does not come with fitting instructions that I can recall. I have probably fitted about 6 and it is no more difficult than drilling two holes, putting the anchors through the holes and putting a screw into the back of them. The only wrinkle, which I tried to explain above, is you want the case to sit vertical at your side. To make sure of this it needs to be balanced and you need to find the balance point with the concertina in it. When you have found the balance point you need to move the drilling point up towards your shoulder a little so the case is a little bottom heavy and won't pivot around the attachment points. You can't go too high because you have to make sure the attachment point is far enough from one of the external strengthening ribs that you can get the clips on and off easily. I hope this answers your questions, I was not sure what you meant by "Where resp. how..."

There is an excellent shoulder strap for Pelican/Hardigg Storm iM2075 cases. If you take care locating the right attachment point (balanced sideways, slightly high vertically, so the case will not want to swivel on the attachment point) it is a very comfortable way to carry two cases.

https://www.google.com.au/search?dcr=0&source=hp&ei=nkQJWqC6HcSW8wXd_pSYAQ&q=site%3Aconcertina.net+harley&oq=site%3Aconcertina.net+harley&gs_l=psy-ab.3...1464.13400.0.13727.27.24.0.0.0.0.488.3575.0j2j2j5j2.11.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..16.4.1158.0..0j46j0i131k1j0i46k1j0i10k1.0.iD8rzX61z-Q

Harley concertinas have been mentioned on this forum a few times. From memory they were made in Germany for a London dealer? I have played one and loved it. it was not fast or loud but the tone was soft and lovely. The auction estimate is way too low...

Wooden cases tend to have no padding at all, just a lining.

This concertina maker started with the lids to two Lachenal concertina cases, and it just gets weirder and better from there. Wait til you hear what the buttons do... http://crewdson.net/ Scroll down to "Mini Documentary" hit play. The Concertonica comes in at 8.07".

The Pelican/Hardigg Storm iM2075 is supposed to be good down to 3 metres. And I'm sure it would float with a concertina inside so if the room is too small for a kayak you will still be OK.

I regretted not saying, and I'll say it here because these posts sit in the archives, I think it better to not bend enough to make a difference 5 times rather than be excessive once. Yes, it is time consuming to replace a spring and find it is not any stronger/weaker than last time but being timid about it is the way to do no damage. The same applies to changing the set on a reed. Azalin, you may find when you increase the spring tension on your Carroll it no longer feels quite so easy to play. There are pros and cons with both strong and weak spring pressure. Strong pressure (not talking about anything excessive here) means very quick button elevation and this can really suit some people. Weaker pressure means less effort, not always a bad thing.

To assess the weight of the heavier one you want to match, find a digital scale (ie. kitchen) with an accuracy of say +/- 1 gram. Take the end off and put the complete action box on the scale and zero the scale with the tare button. Push a number of buttons one by one just hard enough to have them lower and record the weight as button pressure. They will not be totally consistent, average them out. You then have a method to test them if you adjust the other one yourself or a target pressure for the new one if you decide to send it out. As a job it should not take long if the instrument is a quality one and the springs are relatively new. If I was doing this (not volunteering) I would expect to do it in about an hour on a 30 key. The procedure I follow is, remove the spring, hold it near or at the coil, tweak the top run of the spring upwards but only just, the smallest movement possible, and replace the spring. Test again. Bend again if not right. In technical terms this is called "adjusting the preload". Make sure you bend straight upwards, slightly off and you might induce side loads. In instruments where the spring is reluctant to be removed just unhook it from the lever and tweak the top run upwards near the coil with needle pliers. Tiny adjustments are difficult, it is sometimes easier to move it further away from right and then do a bigger tweak back in. Remember, the process of bending a wire backwards and forwards is one way to break it. If you end up bending one point a few times shift along the wire to a new point.Just bending spring wire is not enough to permanently bend it, you need to bend it enough to feel it shift. Hard to describe that feeling, it is like, as you bend there is increasing resistance from the spring. Suddenly it will bend without the resistance increasing and that is it really bending. I think that is called, exceeding the "plastic point". I wouldn't want to be doing this without the ability to make a replacement spring but countless people have done it to countless concertinas without ruining a spring. I would give the job a 3 out of 10 difficulty rating. As I recall you have quality concertinas and you are not far from The Button Box or Greg Jowaisas. Easy fix that way.

Bump...

@Wayman He did say but I thought it was his business. Peanuts does cover it. He's a guy who enjoys buying and selling on Ebay. In 20 years this is about the 3rd or 4th time he has struck the big time.

Interested to know how you can detect it was Chris Algar? I can only see the winning bidder was 1***1. I spoke at length to the seller 5 or six days ago and identified the key for him. I told him how to get the end off but as stated he was unwilling to put a lot of force in to separating the bellows from the action box. If the reeds are not rusted then it will be a good buy. He played along the rows for me and a couple sounded like they had something caught and a couple did not play. Typical pitch variation was less than 10% with a couple a little more wild. It did not seem like an old temperament as it would surely be centred on B/f or F and those notes were out of tune by different amounts and in different directions at that. He struck me as a very straight up fellow, excited to have struck gold at a flea market. Said the concertina had not sold all day as it was expensive in comparison to everything else on sale. Must have been a very cheap market, it was peanuts! He had no idea of its potential value, just thought he could get more for it than he had paid. Surely a scenario many readers of this forum dream of while putting off getting out of bed on a cold morning!

Picture..?

If anyone wants a Lange Bandoneon I am selling one on behalf of the wife of a friend who died last year. I suspect it is of the sort known as a Chemnitzer, as that is where they were made. He also had two regular bandoneons, an Arnold and a Gem Deluxe, both of which are much bigger.