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Jack Zuraw

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Posts posted by Jack Zuraw

  1. Since the real Elkridge is near me I sent a message to the seller through eBay, just for fun. This was his reply:

     

    I am very sorry but i dont meet with buyers as it turns out that i am not much of a seller and i get ripped off all the time when making face to face deals also I am a little bit shy and I realy don't want to but i am willing to use an escrow company so you will have a 7 day inspection period and if not satisfied you will have your money back from them. Mail me if you are really interested... Scott Roberts (tupicoortyn).

     

    Ripped off, eigh?

  2. There is (or was) a used instrument store right off Charles Street in downtown Baltimore (on the same cross street as the south side of the Walters Art Gallery)...

     

    Ted's. Great place for used violins, brass instruments, etc. They had a non-functional Italian stage prop concertina years ago... at least it looked the part.

     

    TED'S MUSICIANS SHOP. 11 E CENTRE ST, BALTIMORE, MD 21202. (410) 685-4198

  3. Hummingbear,

    Try to play the instrument a while before you take the step of parting with it. Others with a similar opening question in this forum have come to an appreciation of their instrument that goes far beyond dollars.

    Jack

  4. In http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display.php/3474, Bob Tedrow commented

    Re: tuning a box

     

    Thanks for the invitation to comment, Jack [Gilder].

     

    I did a little offhand calculation here, I believe I have tuned over 4,800 reeds in the last ten years. This includes all the reeds in the 80+ concertinas I have built and a bunch of others I have worked on over the years. Hmm. maybe that is a low estimate.

     

    I think it does give me the authority to speak on this one subject at least.

     

    I don't believe I can separate tuning from voicing and profiling reeds because they are related.

     

    Generally, neat calm filing on the lower end of the reed will lower the pitch and filing from the tip area will raise the pitch...  [snip]

    Since that discussion quickly got off track, I wonder if Bob (and others) would expound on the concept of Voicing concertina reeds?

  5. Michael,

    From my point of view the answer is yes. But not a simple one. I play mostly for private enjoyment and the technical challenges of the instrument. Noel really presents a system that provides fruit for lots of study. As he said last year, stick with it and 'the penny will drop'. After 8 months it is fascinating to see how the system fits the Anglo layout.

     

    • Would I be almost as satisified if I stayed home (saving ~$1000 in tuition and travel) and practiced a lot for a week?

     

    Probably not. Although nightly sessions al la 'The Ice House' and 'The Porch' are not part of the program, I savored the opportunity to sit, undisturbed, in my favorite spot twice a day for a couple hours and really learn a new tune. And my mini-disk recordings of the Wednesday evening session, the Thursday concert and the Friday request hour (all of which Noel graciously lets students record for their own use) have provided many, many additional learning opportunities.

     

    Cheers,

    Jack

    (2003 NY NHICS; 2001 Jackie McCarthy @ Augusta)

  6. 60 bucks?!  My copy of this could be worth 60 bucks?!!

     

    I'd better listen to it again... and make sure I learn all the tunes.  :)

    Jim,

    Have you learned them this good yet: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...1&category=1075 ?

     

     

    ...re-release...  When last I pleaded with Neil Wayne to do so, he only had plans to include some tracks on a "various artists" compilation.

    Maybe this will help get copies of all the FREE REED albums circulating...

    JZ

  7. Randy,

     

    Do you have access to this CD: http://www.essaycd.com/store/genre.asp?gen..._id=10&cd_id=61? Jerry Bryant plays Anglo and taught a concertina class as well as singing at Meadowlark Music Camp in Maine in 1999. The CD is a nice mixture of vocals with instrumentals (fiddle by Ron Grosslein of Swallowtail) for variety. The publisher also has a link to lyrics for the songs: http://www.essaycd.com/HTML/ROAST_BEEF_Lyrics.doc.

     

    Perhaps notwithstanding all the comments about authenticity so far, Jerry and his collaborators did a good bit of research on period music for this CD.

     

    Jack

  8. I know that jewlers use a 'rolling mill' to achieve similar effects, but in softer precious metals. My posphor bronze is 1/8" thick and I've tried hammering small pieces out to about .5mm before sizing and filing the reeds. Too random to be scientific, but it is interesting to consider how this might compare to the original 'copper alloy' reeds.

  9. As far as I know, even replacement reeds in old brass-reeded instruments are either made of steel or taken whole from another old instrument.  I myself have made a few brass reeds individually by hand, but the brass sheet I used was made specially for me by a craftsman friend, using a formula for "reed brass" from a 19th-century book.

    Jim,

    This probably should not have been in the Buy-Sell forum ( http://www.concertina.net/forums/index.php...p?showtopic=282 ):

    What is the 19th century formula (approximately)? Is it like Phosphor Bronze? Was the sheet rolled to spring temper?

    Jack

  10. As far as I know, even replacement reeds in old brass-reeded instruments are either made of steel or taken whole from another old instrument.  I myself have made a few brass reeds individually by hand, but the brass sheet I used was made specially for me by a craftsman friend, using a formula for "reed brass" from a 19th-century book.

    Jim,

    This should probably be in the 'construction category' (but for the board structure)... What is the 19th century formula (approximately)? Is it like Phosphor Bronze? Was the sheet rolled to spring temper?

    Jack

  11. During the rebuilding of a 26 button brass reeded Lachenal I have come across a problem with getting a reed to start.

     

    Although three "G" reeds on the right hand side are tuned very close to each other, none of the three will start in the G row index finger slot. All three sound passable in the "C Row Ring Finger" or "Accidental Row Middle Finger" position, but in the all important first slot each one barely eeks out a high harmonic. The "F#" in the same chamber is passably in tune, for now, and speeks when spoken to.

     

    I have already re-packed the top of the chamber, and the adjacent ones, to keep the air pressure up; re-padded the whole side; and re-valved both the "G" and "F#". The dovetail slots do not seem to be over or under-sized. Apart from the pin restricting the upper travel of the valve flap, I'm at a loss. Other technical suggestions?

  12. Greetings All,

    I do not remember ever reading an explaination of the crescent or circular shaped marks cut into the seat below the pads on the Lachenal concertinas that I have seen. Do these aid the separation of the pad from the wood surface? Were the pads intended to seat witin this circle? Were the pads trimmed in place? In a cost conscious production shop these marks can't be random, can they?

    Jack

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