kaapenaar

Thank you very much

thank you for the offer, I am very interested and will most probably be in touch.

Frank: I see, that's very helpful thank you - It does sound like a difficult job the more advice I get. Theo: No I haven't - but I see now yes that could be a very good way to learn the inner workings etc without diving in at the deep end. thanks for the good tip. Leo: Thats great, thank you I will definitely be studying it all asap.

TomB-R: Yes the photo essay at hmi.homewood.net is wonderfully documented, I'm just trying to get as much information as possible to assess the big picture of what the task entails. I was not aware of that kit, thank you I will note that. Greg: Thank you for the tip on the film. Yes that sounds like a good idea, I've been researching to find south african builders. I'm aware its not a gold mine but I think ultimately the profit looks reasonable from what I can see.

I have been seriously considering the idea of beginning to build concertinas (still wondering which specific kind, possibly Anglo or Boerekonsertina). Having searched the forums I have found the http://hmi.homewood.net photo essay as well as a broken link to Henrik Müller's photo essay but that is all. I would greatly appreciate if someone had further relevant links or possibly names of books or even dvds etc. I noted on another thread people said to copy an existing concertina. thanks

Feedback after many months: I bought the Schöler boerekonsertina and I am very pleased with it, it is worn but sounds lovely, and I can now play two Boeremusiek songs crudely after painstakingly guessing/copying the notes. The problem now is just to try to learn more Boeremusiek, as the nearest gild is a little while away. I just bought Die Oudag Boere-Orkes cd which is great, and I hope to one day learn the Sonop Vastrap.

Thanks Neil, I decided upon a Schöler boerekonsertina after all, I'm still waiting for the delivery though so have yet to play it. The Rochelle was a possibility when a few weeks back I saw a second hand one on ebay, but I got outbid and I cannot afford a unused/new one. Although Schöler seems to vary greatly in quality, I'll take my chances, as long as it is possible to make music with the concertina.

Nevermind, was outbid in the last 3 minutes.

I had no idea about that. Interesting info otherwise. Red Alert here!!! MDF is considered to be connected with cancer. Working with it means lots of dust, lots of touching with bare hands and spreading dust everywhere. I made one end with it, then abandoned the whole project as dust was uncontrollable. The worst part is that after you finished and painted the ready ends, the dusty debris lay everywhere and the kids play with them. How about plexiglass? It's dense, easy to work with, looking good and not as crumbling.

That's good to know.

Thats very interesting - that thick padding you experimented with sounds like it could have a beneficial effect when playing in certain situations/surroundings. The Rochelle concertina I intend on getting seems to have a smaller overall area of holes and a very different layout to the majority of 'high end' type concertinas so I began to wonder what the impact actually is. Rochelle: and a more high end type concertina: Considering what you've said I'd probably have an advantage if I was to attempt to pad the ends of a Rochelle as the holes are few and simple in comparison to the other. I look forward to experimenting.

Just outside of Cape Town, but not rural. The speed is ok but the main provider, telkom, charge ridiculously high rates for a very small monthly bandwidth allowance, and its capped too. I've just moved here and had a lot of trouble accidentally going Way over the limit inadvertently, its 5gb for an entire month I believe, but i've exceeded it twice accidentally already. I don't think hotspots are available here, perhaps in the most expensive hotels and so forth - but yes I have seen internet cafes here and there. So in general the speeds here are not terrible, but its the price you pay, the bandwidth limits, capping and braindead helpline assistance that really impacts you.

Ah ok no problem. I was wondering for a while that it seemed paradoxical hehe

Ah alright. I agree, although in the case of a concertina that is too 'tinny' or 'boxy' sounding than it is perhaps an idea if you add holes to make it more mellow as you said.

Ok, interesting - I will test that out when I get my first concertina.