Richard Morse

The Button Box has replacement plastic valves and reed wax that you can buy individually or by the set (or you can send the box to us to be put to rights). Or Wim at the ConcertinaConnection can do it as well. If you're reasonably handy I suggest to get some replacement valves at a local accordion store and do it yourself. The postage alone will cost more than the wax and valves. -- Rich --

Please don't copy that action mechanism - it's very uneven and degrades quickly. And those flat-on reedbanks-over-reedbanks are a good idea but are poorly balanced. The inboard reeds have a noticeably different volume and tonal color than the outer ones. You can make them closer but you have to put some R&D into the chamber sizes, access path sizes and padhole sizes. The Stagi's are too small. Oh yeah - and *don't* use foam reed gaskets as it robs a significant amount of volume and makes the reeds difficult to tune. And.... Actually the only thing interesting about that English is flat-on layered reedbanks. For everything else I suggest that you go along the traditional route like the other hybrid makers do. -- Rich --

Many of the reeds appear to have considerably *more* than "just a little bit of rust". Usually the rustiest ones are the ones that are played most often, and looks like the box was played extensively in a very high-smoke environment. You can get a good idea of how much it would cost to have restored by querying at the Button Box about it though the range may be daunting as there are so many variables. For instance, someone who just wants to get it going probably would have basic hardware and straps added plus revalve and tune. Others may want new pads bushings and felts too. And then there are those that would want the worst rusted reeds replaced with good Jeffries original reeds, a new bellows and perhaps the gold tooling that would be a mark of one of Jeffries top instruments. I suggest that if you want to play it - get it fixed up at least minimally. If you want it to go to a good home and be loved and played by someone else - sell it as-is which will let the new owner decide how they'd like it to be fixed up. Selling here on concertina.net is a good way to go as there are so many players here. EBay is also a possibility though a bit of work and less definite outcome. -- Rich --

The way Wim described the problem to me is that both sides have to be near identical (same number of reeds, reedbank layout, action placement) in order to get the fabrication costs so low. Your suggestion of C to B on both sides with F#'s and C#'s is also one of my suggestions to him. Wim says that the folk tune crowd is pretty minor compared to the chromatic accordion crowd so he's aiming his Hayden layout more toward them which means a box which is near fully chromatic albeit at the expense of range. I think that the more input he gets the better this thing will turn out. -- Rich --

Sounds like wrist straps to me. Very different looking than the straps Stuart uses, huh? -- Rich --

Wrist straps I think. They look like the straps on Morse anglos. I really like the ample proportions around the back of the wrist. Did you ask for (and get) handstraps or wrist straps? The are very different in that handstraps are curvy and wideish but nowhere near long enough to extend around to one's wrist. Wriststraps are more even in width and plenty long. Wriststraps DO NOT look like handstraps. -- Rich --

No, that hasn't been agreed upon. To my eye, the positioning and size of Stuart's straps makes them appear to be handstraps. Handstraps are considerably shorter and usually a bit wider with a pronounced swoop than the more uniformly sized wriststraps. Not necessarily. One can have wriststraps on an anglo (usually the larger ones), and clearly Stuart is using handstraps on his English. No, this topic title and poll expresses handstraps - and shows handstraps. And a few people have chimed in on how nice handstraps are -- but I'm sure that they mean wriststraps! This is confusing and inaccurate. I'd like the clear the differences up so that people aren't mislead. -- Rich --

Stuart's handstraps? Please - let's get this straight. I think this discussion is confusing and will lead people astray. Are you a proponent of handstraps or wriststraps? Mark - was the kit you got from the Button Box for handstraps or wriststraps? Dave, have you ever installed handstraps (not wriststraps) to an EC? Has anyone ever seen/experienced anyone other than Stuart with handstraps (not wriststraps) on an English concertina? -- Rich --

I started out in elementary school with clarinet and didn't move beyond that until college when I got into the American folk music scene and took up banjo, then guitar and fiddle (which I gave up after 6 years as being too difficult). Somewhere in there I also started playing piano (and restoring player pianos) and squeezeboxes (and started restoring them). I quickly focused on button accordions and then concertinas. After 20 years of playing the "mixed bag" of instruments I discovered that I wasn't going to get better than mediocre on any of them so limited myself to just two: the piano and concertina which I've now played exclusively for about 18 years... though I'd really like to take on the Array Mbira. -- Rich --

No, it's a 45-key (plus air button). The top note is the high D (3 octaves above MC) and the lowest note is the tenor C (the C one octave below MC). That makes it a "tenor" model which traditionally would be of 48 keys but we left out the three highest notes as very few people ever use them and because that's all the reeds we could fit inside that size of box. We *could* get a few more in there but we've made the internal design for concertina tone enhancement and "optimized" (accordion) reeds. This will let us make a baritone and cello model with this same 7" format (with folded chambers!) and full-sized reeds (which will make for crisper low response and more powerful sound). We're thinking this February. We're working on that now as we estimate the time and costs of the various parts. Certainly doable, but whether we will or not is the question. We keep our costs (and your price!) down by having few options. Right now we've settled on figured walnut ends with ebony binding as that would give the Geordie a marked visual (and upscale) difference from our Albion and Ceili concertinas. Due to the ebony inserts the ends will be made up of (4) 1/32" plies. Thick plies are very difficult to get and are usually available only on large custom orders, so making up a single Geordie in cherry would be onerous to us (or wicked expensive to you if we passed on the costs). Our Albion and Ceili models are made of (3) 1/18" plies so using that wood won't "work" (unless we forgo the ebony binding?). I'm not going to say that cherry Geordies won't happen, but I'd say the possibility is remote. Sorry! -- Rich --

Hand straps - or WRIST straps? That photo of Stuart Eydmann shows what appears to be traditional anlgo handstraps on his English concertina. This is highly unusual - so much so that I've never encountered such before. Wrist straps - yes, but hand straps - no. I would think that handstraps would be incredibly limiting to play English. Look how cramped his fingers are. In order to play low notes he has to really curl them up and to play high has to extend then until their pretty much straight out which would make depressing just a single key very difficult. I would also think that handstraps would hinder the fingers from "crossing columns" (or rows, as some people call the orientation of keys). Here's a photo of a woman playing an English with wrist straps. Note that her fingers are still free to play all the buttons yet much of the stresses are taken up by the wrist straps. Is everyone clear and on board here with this distinction? Handstraps or wriststraps? Are you all proponents of which? If you really need support for comfortable playing of the English you might want to consider Goran Rahm's straps. -- Rich --

I don't like the thumb being used for notes either (we're talking about the right thumb used for the high D#/F) but there are reasons for it: It's highly recommended by Brian Hayden. It's infernally difficult to stretch one's pinking to hit the D# if in it's "correct" location. Having a button way up there is completely off the raised portion of a raised-end instrument and perilously close to the edge of the instrument (all too easy to "snag"). Having a button so close to the side of the edge of the box makes it's action very difficult to implement. I also like the Ab's though as there's a lot of Eb tunes I'd like to play on the box. Actually, adding the Ab's isn't much of a big deal as I would make them links to the enharmonic so it wouldn't affect the size of the box at all. -- Rich --

I've tried using the search function many times and have yet to get reasonable results. I think there is something seriously wrong with the way it functions. -- Rich --

Wim Wakker has been/is designing one. If he stays with the Rochelle setup he's limited to 15 buttons per side which is a tough call for a Hayden layout. Certainly possible if focused on trad tunes in D and G (plus some C and A tunes) but would be pretty limiting beyond that. Brian Hayden told me that he considered a 35-key to be the most practical minimum for a Hayden. I feel pretty strongly that a 40-key would be a preferable minimum, but that was me thinking of it being a player's box rather than an entry level box someone would move upward from. I think a 34-key would be a very good entry level box. I don't know the status of WW's entry level Hayden project. I hope he'll chime in here. Well that's an easy request - WW makes a 65-key model -- Rich --

We need to have a new pinky rest bender tool made for us (the Button Box). I'd appreciate hearing from any interested machinists out there! -- Rich --

We chose that name for a variety of reasons mostly having to do with the associations that "Geordies" were the original gypsies of the area, crossing back and forth over the England/Scotland border with allegiance/political/border changes since Hadrian's day. These itinerants have always had strong suit in music and practical skills. Even though things have settled down now with Geordies being on the English side, they still have much Scottish in them (especially in dialect!). It's also a tip of the hat to the type of music in the region and to Alistair Anderson (who first got me into concertinas). -- Rich --

Our intention is to produce a high-quality, concertina-reeded Hayden of a range which is not currently available and feel that's it's better for the concertina community to have more choice over saving a few bucks. When it comes down to it, when we do get around to making 46-key Haydens (or WW starts producing 60-ish key Haydens) people will buy the one they prefer even if it costs them several hundreds more. As for size of the box, the 7" has become the Button Box's "next size" in production concertinas (a default choice now). The range is still unknown as I've not finished the reed packing and lever arm design yet, but rather than waste room by intentionally NOT having more range, we'd rather get as much range in the box as makes keying sense. I feel pretty confident in saying that we'll be able to produce more keys per buck - but I'd also like to repeat that people tend to buy what they want regardless of price. There will always be many quality differences between our (and other makers') boxes: tone, response, fretwork design, woodspecies choice, end material (wood/metal/synthetics/combinations), key material/size, finish, hardware, decorations, customizations.... The list goes on. Some makers excel at choice and customizations, and for people that want/need such that's the way to go. The Button Box's focus is toward very few options in order to produce boxes efficiently. This also enables us to keep the retail price of our boxes relatively low. I think that hindrance in Hayden growth is due to the paucity of availability of ANY good+ quality Hayden. There are endless Stagis to be had, so entry into the Hayden isn't hindered to beginning concertina players. But concertina trade-ups and crossovers to Hayden is seriously hindered by lack of better Haydens. People will buy a Hayden at hundreds of dollars more than prices listed if they could only get them! The wait list for all makers making Haydens is lamentingly long. Making them cheaper or smaller doesn't seem to enter into the "growing the Hayden marketplace" equation. Yup he does! I also have heard from many Hayden players (who mostly play 46-key) that more keys is vastly preferable. And as a Hayden player myself (of a 46-key for over 20 years), I'm more than ready to move up! I had been in year two. For traditional English/Irish dance music the 46-key works very well but is very limiting (mainly in musical keys) for other ethnic "folk" music, (mainly in range) for "popular" music, and (keys and range) for other genres of music (marches, classical, ragtime, jazz...). -- Rich --

Things are progressing at a glacial pace. The obstacles seem as large as well! About 3 years ago we gave up on trying to get a machine shop to make our reeds. Of the 34 specialty shops we contacted (which have the type of equipment necessary to make reeds in the quantity we need) only 4 were able to produce marginal results, and a 5th one was able to make okay reeds (the rest just couldn't make them at all). And after working with that one for over a year (many tests and samples) we gave up as they ultimately couldn't meet our specs (and I suspect we didn't pass their muster for a large enough customer to warrant so much effort). So we just have to make them ourselves - though that means some serious dough for some serious machinery and new skills to be acquired. Just last winter we got the first of two CNC machines needed and have been learning on that one (by producing a lot of our current concertina models parts now, that we had previous jobbed out). This winter we expect to get the second machine. Between the two of them we'll be able to make concertina reed tongues and frames/shoes in the quantity and quality we want. There is also the reed design issue. We can (and have) designed and made reeds individually, but want some way to have all the reeds in a set relate automatically to each other. IOW, if we need the high reeds to be stiffer I can change an input parameter and the entire set of reeds' dimensions are updated incrementally toward my change. Or I can change the scale, or the reed material hardness, etc.... This is all done by way of a spreadsheet I've been slowly developing for 4 or 5 years now. I hope it'll be done in a few months. While all this has been going on we've also been developing a tenor English hybrid model we're calling the "Geordie" (after those Scottish border gypsies - gotta keep on with our British Isles naming theme!) which debuted a couple of weeks ago. Or to me more accurate: it's pre-production model debuted. They'll start popping off the line in a few months. Being that the Geordie has accordion reeds, it's larger than a similar range concertina-reeded concertina is. In our case we chose from the tenor C (the C below MC) to the high D (3 octaves above MC which is also the top note of our Albion treble model), so in a sense the Geordie is the Albion extended down a half octave. Those extra notes make it a bit bigger: 7" across the flats. Now back to the Hayden (and you thought I'd forgotten?). Initially we were aiming for a mid-keyrange model of about 55-58 keys which would have fit in a 6 3/4 in hex. Now that we have all the infrastructure for a 7" hex, we're redesigning the Hayden guts to fit that size (no sense having yet another bellows mould size and various parts to stock!). And that's where were at... repacking/designing the Hayden. Being slightly larger it's appearing that I can get 28 keys on the left and 35 on the right (63 total!). Fully chromatic on the left from the low Bb to B above MC (and includes the Eb's and Ab's!) and fully chromatic on the right from the Bb below MC to the E three octaves above MC (and includes the Eb's and Ab's). That's not cast in stone yet however. An alternate would be to NOT have Ab's (there are still the G#'s) and have each side go down a couple notes lower instead so that both sides would start on G. Yup, that's the plan - a 6 1/4" hex, 48 keys, raised ends, tenor English. -- Rich --

Which is why concertinas as so much easier to play than other instruments like guitar, recorder, violin, clarinets, trumpets, etc. You never have to tune concertinas, clean out moisture, rosin them, change strings or reeds.... and when you want to play a note, just press a button down and you get that note! Not "almost" that note. You can even play more than one note at a time... and miraculously each adjacent button along the row plays a harmony note! It doesn't take much to make good sounds with a concertina. Well, you COULD press a few keys and see what it sounds like. You don't need to "know" what notes those keys are playing any more than you need to know what notes make up London Bridges (or any other tune). Discovery is a wonderful thing about concertinas. Soon you'll discover that if you play certain buttons (or keys) in a certain order a particular tune will emerge. Maybe a song from childhood, a Christmas carol, or some tone road (which is what my friend calls "nice sounds" without being a "tune"). Ah - but you have never told me that! Everyone starts somewhere. I'm a complete idiot too (at recognizing birds, "knowing" beers, Sudoku, tact, accounting, - the list seems endless!). At least playing a instrument is a "choice" thing that you can NOT do if you don't like it. However, if you DO find you like the sounds you make, you'll get much pleasure from it - and it will open up many other doors in your life. But I also understand that if the concertina isn't "for you", then please pass it on to someone who will enjoy it! -- Rich --

Jones made some pretty basic to some pretty good concertinas (back in the late 1800's). If it has been "well looked after" it should be worth getting fixed up for someone to play it (maybe you?). There are several concertina repairers/restorers here on this forum who could do a good job of overhauling your box (though they're mostly in the US) and a fairly comprehensive world-wide list on the Concertina FAQ. I suggest that you have a reputable person overhaul it if you'd like to play it yourself or list it here on Concertina.net in as-is condition if you want it to go to a good home. You could sell it yourself locally or on eBay but the chances of getting any more for it those ways is unlikely. Plus everyone here is a player so the chance of it getting care for and used is pretty much a given when concertinas sell here. Please do post some photos so that we can give you some more info on it. Also handy would be to know what keys it's in (what note does the middle row, leftmost button sound on the push of the bellows?). -- Rich --

Experiment with reflected recording. My experience is that a single mic works fine if you position it to receive the concertina's sound reflected from a large hard object - like a wall, or to be more precise: two walls. Place the mic about 3 feet in from the corner of a room and play the concertina facing that corner about 3 or 4 feet in front of the mic. The sound seems to reflect off the walls well to arrive at the single mic with minimal volume loss. Besides needing only a single mic and having improved volume levels, having the mic further away will minimize the concertina's action noise. -- Rich --

Okay, here's DT's recording of Rosline Castle. I've dummied the quality down and pushed it into mono for bandwidth but also to entice people to want to get the full-quality piece (and indeed, his whole Portrait of a Concertina CD which I think is one of the best English Concertina recordings ever). DT tells me that unfortunately it's out of print, and the people that hold the "rights" to it won't consider releasing or reprinting it unless they have a guaranteed minimum order of (I forget how many) _________ copies. The Button Box is willing to take on a large chunk, and so is DT, but we still fall far short of the total. I hope that someday there'll be enough interest to allow this wonderful set of recordings to be available again. -- Rich --

I've got DT's recording of Roslin Castle and Danny's arrangement indeed is very similar. The two largest differences is that DT plays a single line with a sparse guitar backup (often playing the harmony), and that DT plays with a more Scottish flavor (crisper counters/snaps here and there). Interesting discussion of the last three chords. I'm not sure what Danny is doing because of the "incomplete" chords (but they sound great!) - Dm, Am, Dm? David suggests Dm, A, Dm? DT seems to do Dm, Am, Dm the first time around and Dm, C, Bb the second time. Very interesting! It's a bit late here right now but if anyone's interested I'll post a once-through of DT's recording tomorrow? -- Rich --

I suggest that you contact Steve Dickinson of Wheatstone about this as he probably has the original end patterns from which that box was made. He can also make a new set of ends for you. -- Rich --

Seems like you don't live quite far north enough. They're pretty standard fare in VT, NH and ME. They look like a small jet engine (about 2" long) which you mount to your truck (car, whatever) and when you go at speed (like anything over 30mph is speedy in the north) the air going through these guys makes a high-pitched whistling noise that deers can hear and heed. No need to turn it "on" or forget to take with you. -- Rich --