Long Haired David

I have a Lachenal Anglo. The are that holds the strap down on the right hand side has broken. I need to know what sort of wire I should get to repair it. Here is a photo of the left hand side. Thanks in advance for any help. David

Hobgoblin in Birmingham is where I went. We got interrupted by a fire alarm and had to clear the building. I had to be somewhere else so we had to go (I live in Ipswich and was in the area on holiday). They showed me a &50 Stagi and a £350 one. I didn't get to play the £750 as it had a leaking pad and droned all the time. It was the £350 one that I didn't like. If I can get a good concertina then both the sax and the Lachenal will go (it will be hard to let that one leave!). I am being a bit "childish" when I say that I really don't want to start again. I thought that I had wanted the sax for so many years that I would get stuck right in but it didn't work out that way. Maybe 70% me and 30% my teacher but that is where I am. I have a few other hobbies and have to split my time. I am looking at the Rochelle as maybe a way to go. I could do this out of the sax money and still keep the Lachenal. I hear good things about them but will I again be unhappy with the sound as I see that they have Italian reeds (made by Stagi????)? David

Hi everyone. I have been playing a 20 key Anglo for about 6 years and for the last four have had a Lachenal (serial number in the 70,000s so around 1880 or so). I know that it is odd but I like to play traditional jazz tunes on this. I obviously have no trouble in C or D. I can mentally transpose on the fly from F to G and from B flat major to C. I obviously have to fake any accidentals but as I am playing for my own amusement, this has never been much of a problem. I am 69 years old and, in January, bought a Soprano saxophone as I had always wanted one, could never afford one until now and didn't have the time to learn. It is obviously great for playing my kind of music but I have realised that I don't want to spend another 6 years to get to the same level of proficiency plus the sax needs a lot more puff than an concertina. This made me think about my next step. I realised that if I was to dump the sax and stay withe the concertina then I needed to move to a 30 key instrument. I don't have the funds (well I could but my wife would be horrified) if I spent £2,500 on a 30 key Lachenal of a similar vintage so I thought I would go and try some cheaper instruments. I was on holiday and near to a shop that stocked concertinas so popped in to try some 30 keys. They only had two types of Stagi - at £350 and £750. I found the fingering more fussy but I expected to have to reset my fingers to accommodate 3 rows of keys. They sounded "OK" and I certainly liked the 7 bellows over my current 5. BUT, I had taken my Lachenal along and played that too. My wife instantly pointed out the quality of the tone of the Lachenal against the Stagis. We both agreed that that was a move to far. So this is my problem. I would like to have the flexibility of the 30 keys but can't afford a Lachenal. I might be able to budget for up to £750 if I have to by selling the sax and putting some money into it. Any thoughts how I should proceed? David

I did get a contact phone number and address for Mike. I popped out there last Thursday and he fixed my concertina in about 10 minutes - and I got a cup of tea! Great service. David

Hi there. I live in Ipswich, UK and have had discussions with Mike in the past as well as seeing him at Melodions and More. I have a Lachenal Anglo that has a small problem and I was hoping that Mike might be able to fix it - he is only a couple of miles away. However, I am getting not-recognised on his phone number - 01473 743080. I don't really want to turn up on his door step unannounced, especially as he may have moved a way. Does anyone have a current telephone number or e-mail address for him? Thanks in advance. David

This is my 20 key g/d Lachenal Anglo

I was using ABCJ on the Mac. I put the same code into the Concertina.net and the abcconvert and they both managed correctly so I will stay there for final presentation. However, I like the immediate score that ABCJ gives you as you type. I lets me catch most errors. Thanks for your help. David

Paul Hardy's session tunebook has a few. I really like "The Saucy Little Bird On Nellie's Hat". You can get his tunebooks here http://www.pghardy.net/concertina/tunebooks/ David

I have a problem with a song that I am transcribing into ABC and can't find a really appropriate forum to ask a question. I am sure you will tell me where to go but I will describe the problem anyway. I am transcribing 'I only have eyes for you' so that I can put the music as a pdf on my iPad to use with my Lachenal Anglo. The problem is this. At one point there is a bar that has a minim followed by a triplet. The minim is tied to the first note of the triplet. My ABC software will let me do either D8 (3D4G4A4 which doesn't tie the two notes together or D8- (3D4G4A4 but then it lets the tie go over all the subsequent notes until it meets another - . Any ideas how to code this up? Or suggest a better place to ask the question? Thanks David

I posted a video of me struf ggling withthis last year. This one is a bit better. (a bit only mind you. It would be nice to think that I have improved more than this but...) David

I will record a longer note and take some photos of the inside. The pads are all in as-new condition so I don't think that it is hard pads. David

Hi ther everyone I have a 20 key Ango Lachenal Sn: 74298. I bought it on an EBay buy it now from Hobgoblin at a good price. I had previously been refurbished to a nice finish and playing tone. When it arrived it had a leaky button - by that I mean that when I play a certain note, I get a sympathetic note playing softly in the background. I talked to them about it and under their guidance, I opened it up and managed to straighten out the problem. That was about 9 months ago. Now I have a couple of 'leaky' buttons and I have opened up both ends but cannot see anything that is particularly out of alignment. I could do with some advice. Any suggestions of what I should look for in trying to resolve this. You should be able to hear the problem here http://snd.sc/yoKVQO. Thanks in advance. David

I suppose that if £450 would be the top-end for a overhauled, tuned steel reed instrument, it would be best to buy from a reputable dealer as Greg suggests. Thank you Malcolm! Kevin I got a 20 key Lachenal Anglo S/N 74298 about 9 months ago on EBay for £300 - completely refurbished. It had one sticky reed which the seller helped me clear. David

And here's another one. http://bit.ly/sDMg41 Long Haired David

Thanks to everyone for their really helpful comments. As a result of another discussion, I am going to organise a Skype lesson with Jody in January and see how we go on from there. In the meantime, I have been trying to provide a recording of the type of music that I want to play and a sample of where I am with it now. The following tune is a favourite of mine and I can generally play it all the way through without mistake - having taken to heart the idea of forming patterns which cleared up a recurring difficulty I had in the middle. However, trying to record a clean copy with Garageband has been extremely frustrating. This recording has a few fluffs in it but is the best out of about 100 tries! So here goes. Kind comments only on http://bit.ly/s5pRc1 Long Haired David

I don't read one word at a time, I read in sentences. Likewise, as a sight reader, I don't play notes, I play in phrases. I think it is an apt anology. Alan I think I am getting there slowly. I am currently working on 'Way Down Yonder In New Orleans' and can retty much play it qwithout error except for a part in the middle. Your comments make me plan to take that middle phrase and work on that until I have the pattern of it, as I have the pattern of the rest of it. This process of asking and discussion hasbeen really worthwhile. David

I am finding that I can get a good supply of 20's and 30's even when filtering out those with lots of accidentals. So many of them are written in C with only an F sharp accidental so I am getting quite adept at the top row. Although I have difficulty with my fingering on the right hand on the C row. I don't seem to be able to get the same ease of use as I do on either the G row or with the left hand. Interestingly, I can fake some tunes in G - for instance, I can play American Patrol quite well (by ignoring the accidentals) and no one in the family notices until I played it along with my son (who is a very good pianist) and he instantly picked up on it. I will try the '3 chord trick' as I used to sing a lot of folk to my guitar years ago and I would like to get back to doing that. BTW, I stopped playing the guitar because of arthritis in the hands - I find that the concertina strains my figer joints a bit but nothing like holding guitar chords down. Thanks for the comments.

Thanks to everyone for their really useful comments. Bertram, yours will require a good bit of thinking about and will be really helpful. During my days as a currency trader, I always saw mental arithmetic as a pattern based operation so I should be able to cope with the idea on the concertina. I did intend to put up a recording of me playing 'If you knew Susie' but my accuracy has fallen frommaybe 3 good runs out of 5 to being unable to pay it at all without an error once Garage Band is recording me playing! I will keep trying and I will get back individually on the comments and help as I practice over the holiday period. Thanks again to everyone. David

This time last year I pulled out my el cheapo concertina that I had been messing with for about 18 months and decided that I would play Jingle Bells for the grandchildren on Christmas Day. Well, that was a complete disaster so id ecided that I had to take this thing seriously. Over the next 4 months I practised hard, went to "Melodions and More" for a day's training with Anahata and Mary Humphries, and lastly swapped my instrument for a very nice 20 key anglo Lachenal. I have been practising hard ever since but I seem to hit a brick wall all of the time. At long last I seem to be able to play from the dots without making too many mistakes but I really want to be able to play without the music. Simple tunes line Shepherds Hey, Young Collins, etc.seem to be OK and I can play them pretty well without mistakes. However, when I get to something more complicated - I like 20's and 30's music - like 'If You Knew Susie' or 'Chattanooga Choo Choo, which I can play happily from the dots, I find it very difficult to play without stupid mistakes. It is getting to the point where it is becoming stressful to play these tunes. How do I go about resolving this? Should I play them 10 times over every day or what? Suggestions would be very helpful. David

I picked up a Lachenal which by it's serial is around 130 years old. Nicely restored with new bellows and pads. Rosewood ends. As it was a 20 key Anglo, I got it for £300.00. I would expect to get close to that if I ever sold it. It has a very nice tone and is easy to play. However, I do find the the 5 bellows means that I run out of puff quickly. Still for £300 you can't have everything - grin. David

Thanks. I will try and record again tomorrow. David

I have been playing for about 9 months. I have an 1880's 20 key Lachenal Anglo. I was asking about this tune in the Tunes section and this is my first attempt at this having just found out the title. I downloaded the dots but this is from memory. I need some advice. Any one? (Be nice - grin) http://bit.ly/uCxcho

Got it, found the music, learned it by heart. Here is my first recorded attempt. Suggestions? http://bit.ly/uCxcho Background - I have been playing for the last 9 months and now have a nice 1880's 20key Anglo Lachenal. David

why, it's our very own Jody playing here, so why not ask him?... I know that - but I thought it better to ask a general question rather than bother him for an answer over a weekend - smile. David

The following is a really great you tube video. The first tune that he plays is also the introduction tune to some plays produced by the BBC a few years back - Agatha Raisin. Can any one tell me what the tune is and where I might get the dots? David