Doro

To all fans, have you seen this? (You might have, 'couse i'm a bit late... ) https://tradirishmusic.com/tutorials-2/concertina.html It's the former "mad for trad" CD-Rom Course online. All the best Doro

The first concertina, the one i started playing on, was a Marcus Music Concertina, borrowed from a friend. I then bought my first one, an old Wheatstone with wooden ends, which i still like very much. It has a beatiful sound, very warm. I played it for 6 years. Then Ralf Schlimm started building his Sevenmounts and since he does live near to where i live and we're good friends, i followed his work and played quite some Concertinas from him and it was obvious that they were (he was) improving fast. A year later I then told him, that when the right one came along i'd say yes and so it was. I can totally relate to the "feeling" thing you described. I had a good feel with all of his, from the very start, and i kind of "linked" with the one i now can call my own. The thing is, it's sound and feel together. And then there's good action, as a very big part of feel. And i was missing this one a little on my Wheatstone. It was very hard to play at higher speed on sessions. The Sevenmount does it pretty much on it's own, i think. (No, i don't get payed saying so! ? ) Hope that helps, Doro

Ah, i read your question, then i couldn't find it when i wanted to respond, that's why i commented in the thread pointed to above. But let me tell you again, the sevenmount concertinas are awesome! I own one for 1 1/2 years now and have tried a few of them before, they are a joy to play. Cheers, Doro

I am a very happy owner of one of Ralf's Concertinas and i love mine so much. Fast action they have, playing of ornaments comes (almost) by itself. I play mine for 1 1/2 years now, no problems with the open fretwork until now.