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Selling my 'project' concertina. Bought blind from Ebay for a campfire concertina. It was playable when arrived but leaked badly and had double sounding buttons. So, I learned how to re-valve and re-pad. Its tight and all notes play evenly but it could stand a good tuning and that's where my patience ended. Its labeled with the Thomas Dawkins / Charterhouse address label. My little bit of research points it to be a Lachenal from the late 1800s. $800 OBO I'm happy to split shipping costs within the US and will donate to Concertina.net. Pictures and video clip attached. Happy to answer any questions you may have. Dave Neudek Link to pics and video: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19U8i-md0LM9RNvF0KVtqPSmnQiTTHObX?usp=sharing

Merry Christmas! Bastari C/G Anglo 40 button concertina. Gary Coover arrangement.

Hello! New to this community and looking to purchase a first Anglo concertina as a gift for someone. I'd welcome any leads on a Rochelle 2 (or a great deal on something fancier for a beginner -- Anglo). Or even a multi-month rental if possible.... Thanks in advance!

Morning all! I’ve been really enjoying Mary Macnamara’s “Note for Note” album. Does anyone know if there are any other concertina only albums? It’s wonderful to hear the technique without accompaniment.

I first came across Portobello dancing Border Morris - whilst dancing the fabulous Diagonal Wychwood, with Bow Brook Border Morris. And it's an absolute delight to play on the anglo! There's an interesting tale behind the name, that I've included below: Although it is now called Portobello, it originally turns up under the name "La Ridotta" (in John Johnson's second volume of country dances c. 1750) (there are minor differences here and there between the different versions - and the version I play for dancing, that I learnt from others playing for Morris. I'm guessing melodeon players have adapted it to their instruments). It appears under the names Porto Bello and Portobelo in the music manuscript collections of fiddlers William Irwin (1838, Langdale, Cumbria) and Joseph Barnes (1762, Carlisle, Cumbria). So, why Portobello? A lot of things were renamed Portobello - places, houses, street names! The name honours the British naval victory at the Battle of Porto Bello (1739) against Spain during the War of Jenkins' Ear*(1739-1748), when Admiral Edward Vernon captured the Spanish town. (It's now known as Portobelo, "beautiful port", in the modern-day Panama, but was then an important port on the Spanish Main). The victory was much celebrated - the name was all the rage. The Spanish reclaimed the port soon after, though, in 1741! *poor Captain Jenkins' had his ear torn off! The picture behind me is of Portobello beach, in Dulas Bay, Ynys Mon/Anglesey Most people will be familiar with Portobello Road in London, or Portobello in Edinburgh, but I'm a sucker for a beautiful view in Wales!

Now available in paperback and Kindle - The Anglo Concertina Music of Scan Tester, with foreword by Will Duke. 104 pages, A4 size, with 45 QR code links to the playing of Scan Tester and Will Duke. This is the musical follow-up to the 2024 reprint of Reg Hall's excellent 1990 biography of Scan Tester - I Never Played to Many Posh Dances. As many of you know, Scan is best known for playing mostly in an octave style for stepdances and schottisches in village pubs in Sussex in the early to mid 1900's. The book contains 41 tunes with musical notation along with Anglo tablature, plus four additional tunes with melody only. It has been an absolute pleasure working with Will Duke on this! Will is the custodian of Scan's instruments, and last year he and his wife Chris graciously showed me many of the places where Scan lived and played music. Hope you enjoy learning his tunes! Gary THE TUNES: The Bird on Nellie’s Hat Broom Dance General Jackson Schottische Heel and Toe Polka Jenny Lind Polka Hi-Lo-Schottische Hopscotch Schottische Indian Polka Irish Washerwoman Last Figure of the Lancers The Man in the Moon The Monkey Hornpipe No.1 Stepdance No.2 Stepdance Not for Joe The Nutley Waltz Polka 1 Polka 2 Polka 3 Polka 5 Polka 6 Pretty Little Dear The Reel Schottische 1 Schottische 2 Schottische 3 Schottische 5 Schottische 7 Schottische No.9 Scotland the Brave Seventeenth of March Stepdance 2 Stepdance 3 Stepdance 4 Sweet Smiling Faces Untitled Jig The Vienna Waltz Waltz Waltz 2 Waltz (Untitled) While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks by Night (Tunes with no tablature: The Blue Ribbon-ish Polka, Dame Durden, The Humming Schottische, Seaside Tune)

SOLD, donation made Selling my McNeela Wren concertina. I bought it used from McNeela in 2020 and used it lightly, but it's just been sitting in its case for a couple of years. Includes original hard case and Gary Coovers books: Easy Anglo 1-2-3 Anglo Concertina in the Harmonic Style Pirate Songs for Concertina Shipping likely around $20 within the US

Please read and understand the full advertisement before replying. I will be asking interested parties to confirm details of listing. I'm going to be selling a used Trinity College 30 button C/G Anglo concertina. It is what it is. But what is it you ask? Well, let me tell you. This Trinity College is not a good concertina. It is not a decent concertina. By some accounts, it may not even be a concertina at all, simply a concertina shaped object. Please understand that. Does it sound good? Not really. Is it easy to play? Not really. Do all the reeds make the sound they should? Not really. Do all the reeds make any sound at all? Not really. Can it be repaired? I wouldn't bother. Is it $200CAD? You betcha. Who would this concertina be suitable for, you may ask. Possibly no one, yet they continue to make them, so presumably people continue to buy them. If you are on an absolute budget, and you really want to just see if you even remotely enjoy the instrument before committing more money, this is an option. (Research this forum about cheap concertinas so you know this isn't your only or best option). Or maybe you want some hot trash concertina to take on back country camping trips, or lofty sea voyages, and you don't want to bang up your good one. It'll keep the bears away, and you won't be too upset if you drop it into the ocean. It comes with a handy carrying case, so you can carry it as far away from me as you wish with ease. A person can learn the general button layout, get used to the chord patterns, and play a jaunty tune, albeit a bit out of tune. It was my launching point into playing the Anglo system, and I've heard it rumoured that there are worse ones on the market. If you're new to the concertina, you will absolutely be replacing this instrument, if it doesn't sour you on the whole idea. However, it is for sale. 200 Canadian dollars plus the shipping and it's all yours. If you're in the neighborhood you can pick it up in person, near the Yukon/ Alaska boarder. Shipping would occur at approximately the same time my replacement arrives via post.

Hey all. Looking to upgrade from my Rochelle 2, and I'd rather skip the hybrid stage of concertinas without completely breaking the bank. Anyone have an ICC Vintage model in the Jeffries layout (preferably in Rosewood, Walnut, Wenge, Padouk - bonus if it has a drone key) that they would be willing to part with for the right price? Just casting the net out wide here. They are rather expensive new even with VAT deducted (based in America) and I'd like the wife to be more agreeable to the idea of purchasing one. Cheers.

Hello, I'm looking to purchase a model of concertina maybe a little faster and more responsive than my own. I currently have a 30 button c/g rosewood lachenal. I was hoping to buy a suttner, carrol, wheatstone or jeffries. Let me know if anyone out there is looking to part with something along these lines. Cheers

Got this off Ebay for under $70 with shipping from California. (I'm in Washington state) Listing while it lasts: https://www.ebay.com/itm/306416185810 It's in good shape overall, slightly musty and some buttons sticking in. Leather a little stiff but not beyond saving. Some rust on a screw here and there, they were originally chromed it seems. The little flexible chunks of (rubber?) tubing under the keys is crumbling. This is why they have enough play to tilt and get stuck in or behind the holes. Still plays, sounds decent to my untrained ears. Could use a gentle external cleaning for dust/crumbs/dandruff. Only markings I've seen so far are Allegro and Made in Italy. Photos are from the auction. What I'd like to know, is this a rebranded Stagi design, or? Not finding any information about an Italian brand called Allegro but the patterns of the end-caps match the Stagi seen here: https://www.concertina.net/kc_bastari.html Next post I'll show the disassembly shots.

Hi everyone! I’m looking to buy my first Anglo concertina, either used or new, with a maximum budget of €600. If anyone in Europe has one for sale or knows where I could find a decent beginner instrument within this price range, I’d love to hear from you!

Have just bought a copy of Gary Coover's Anglo concertina in the harmonic style to further my understating of chord playing- My concertina is a G/D and the book is written with a C/G in mind. Are there abc notation versions of the tunes as written in the book anywhere, to save me having to create my own abc files to transpose. Or am I missing a trick here?

Has anyone studied the affects of poor air quality on the concertina, or other bellows driven reeded instruments? With the world we live in, and especially where I live (Northwest Canada), summer means heavy smoke, even ash particulates in the air. Can't be good for anything, but is it gonna cause a lot of damage for me to honk away as the world burns?

Looking to buy an anglo, below I'll list out some qualities I'm hoping for: -30 button C/G Anglo, preferably Wheatstone layout but I'm flexible. - Trad reed or higher end hybrid - Fast action and brighter tone - Value for price I'm okay with: - Basic to moderate repairs - Cosmetic problems (ugly) - Paying the fair price Doesn't have to be (but could be): - Heirloom quality - Advanced professional - Vintage - Perfect condition I'm not interested in: - Beginner Boxes - McNeela, Trinity College, etc - Massive professional repairs I'm located in Northern Canada, and I expect shipping costs to be potentially high. It is extremely unlikely that we will be able to meet up (unless you're planning a trip to the Yukon anytime soon), so video would be very appreciated. We all want a good deal, but I'm not begging for a bargain price. I have tried posting on some other platforms first, but was mostly confronted with "Wheatstone prices for Lachenal goods".

This is my 2¢ about a lesser-known maker I had the good fortune to meet last year ~ I just received a new C/G anglo from Crook Concertinas. I waited a mere 3 months to get it. Details and description below - And here is the contact information for the maker: Crook Concertinas Williespoke@gmail.com 303-960-3701 https://www.instagram.com/crook_concertinas/ https://www.youtube.com/@CrookConcertinas/ Willie Crook says the best ways to contact him are email and direct message on Instagram. This thing is hard to put down. The tuning is impeccable and the reeds respond so quickly that I'm still adapting to it, feeling like I'm learning how to drive a modern car after coasting to work in an old Datsun. His workmanship is detail-oriented to an uncommon degree - he even puts effort into the beauty and polish of the normally-hidden internal mechanism just in case someone opens it up to have a look. I toured his Colorado shop in November. A machinist with his talent and experience could be making governors for Woodward or injectors for Boeing or whomever. Instead, Willie Crook is building little button boxes for the likes of us. And they perform QUITE nicely. He makes three sizes - 5⅝", 6¼", and a baritone. He pours a lot of time and energy into his handmade concertina reeds. (See his youtube channel.) He has various options for woods, buttons, and bellows papers. Endplates can be wood or metal, and the particular pattern I chose is unique to Willie's concertinas. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So how did I end up with one of these? This fall I realized I wanted another concertina, and I spent time reaching out to every maker for whom I could get contact information. After several attempts, many (including a few well-known names) have remained unreachable. But I took detailed notes when someone responded, and collected data on about 30 makers. In the end I learned some interesting things, and talked with a lot of players about whatever they had in the case. There are lots of good-looking possibilities out there, but of course many have raised prices dramatically, and many have a waiting list which is several years long. We're used to this, I suppose. But I made a project out of talking to everyone because I wanted something good. People had only positive things to say about Willie's concertinas. He operates in Denver and he is an easy maker to reach. When my instrument was finished we had a session in his kitchen, sipping tea and trying out old tunes on the new machine. This maker plays concertina and plays it well, and he maintains a high standard for the shiny contraptions leaving his shop. We live with the fact that looking for a good concertina is a bit harder than shopping for a violin or a guitar. I think Crook Concertinas is a great option for someone who wants a meticulously-made, high-performance instrument, doesn't want to pay over the top of the current price spectrum to get something from one of the big concertina dynasties, and doesn't want to wait until the end of the Holocene extinction for it.

I wondered what the sparkle of a raindrop might sound like on an anglo concertina. This piece came out of playing around with that idea and seeing where it went. I still can't get enough of how versatile 20 little buttons are and how expressive. This piece moves through several moods - the warmth and contentment of watching the sun go down over the ridge of hills near where I live, squinting my eyes at the sunlight until it scatters into golden rays. The love of the landscape around here - the views of the Malvern hills and the ridge that runs north of them. This soon turns to an antsy, agitated, cabin-feverish feeling of being trapped and needing to go for a walk out there, but being unable to. Only temporarily, thankfully!

1 Edgley hybrids for sale, recently tuned by Karel van der Leeuw, and in quite good condition, keys C/G and G/D. G/D still available, and its a good one as well! - Key of C/G has been sold ! PS the C/G has a 3mm leather support gasket adaption under the end-plates to decrease the too long sticking out buttons for ease of playing. Seems even the sound is better now, as i sold my Heritage in favor of this speedy player. The G/D has been converted from Wheatstone to Jeffries system professionally, with the same type Voci a mano reeds. Both include a case, 2290 euros each, incl concertina.net provision, and EU imports were paid for. Shipping costs vary due location, usually around 80 Euro for the USA. PS Selling due my recent hearing problems. C/G: G/D:

Thanks to help from people in this forum, I was able to locate and make contact with the owner of Concertine Italia. Last Thursday, I visited the factory and spent a couple of hours talking with the two women who make pretty much every part of their instruments, with the exception of the reeds and reed blocks. A lot of people helped me along the way. I'm especially thankful to my new friend Enrico, who thought a visit to a concertina factory would be a good adventure and offered to drive me there, and to serve as translator. I can speak a little Italian but quickly got lost in the specifics. The owner, Mrs. Simona, is an awesome person as is her only full time employee Rosalia. Together they make a range of instruments including an adorable tiny 18 button chromatic, and the Italian organetto. They say that their most popular model is the Hayden. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity. I think you will like these awesome makers as much as I do. You can find the video at

Traditional English Session Tunes, is now available for all instruments, and includes 65 tunes commonly found in English music sessions. Every tune also has easy tablature for C/G Anglo concertina so you can play along in the most common session keys of G and D. And this was the really fun part of making this book - it has over 100 QR code links to videos of a variety of traditional musicians – from field recordings to pub sessions, solo fiddlers to loud folkrock. You can now easily play along with the exhilarating version of the "Dorset Four Hand Reel" by Will Allen and Martin Clarke, or the brash Tiger Moth version of "Seven Stars". It also includes many videos by our melodeon brethren including Lester Bailey, Gavin Atkin, Ed Rennie, Bob Cann, Roger Watson, and Anahata, plus the Abingdon Morris Dancers and even Bellowhead! THE TUNES: A Hundred Pipers, Albert Farmer’s Bonfire Tune, Astley’s Ride, Banbury Bill, Banks of the Dee, Beatrice Hill’s Three-Handed Reel, Bonny Breast Knot, Bonny Kate, Brighton Camp, Buttered Peas, Captain Lanoe’s Quick March, The Chestnut Tree, Clee Hill, Curly-Headed Ploughboy, Donkey Riding, Dorset Four Hand Reel, Dorsetshire Hornpipe, Down the Road, Durham Rangers, Enrico, The Fiery Clockface, Fairy Dance, Galopede, Grandfather’s Tune, Harper’s Frolic, Horses Brawl, Hunting the Hare, Huntsman’s Chorus, Jamie Allen, Jenny Lind, Keel Row, Lemmy Brazil’s No. 2, Linnen Hall, Little Diamond, The Man in the Moon, Michael Turner’s Waltz, New Rigged Ship, Off She Goes, Orange in Bloom, The Oyster Girl, Portsmouth, Princess Royal, The Quaker, Rakes of Mallow, The Railway, Redowa Polka, Rochdale Coconut Dance, Rogue’s March, The Roman Wall, The Rose Tree, Roxborough Castle, Salmon Tails up the Water, Scan Tester’s Polka No. 2, Seven Stars, Shepton Mallett Hornpipe, The Sloe, Smash the Windows, Speed the Plough, Three Around Three, Tip Top Polka, Uncle Bernard’s, Walter Bulwer’s Polka No. 1, Walter Bulwer’s Polka No. 2, Winster Gallop, Woodland Revels, Young May Moon. Available now from Red Cow Music in the UK, and Amazon worldwide in paperback. (A Kindle version will be available shortly.) This would make a great Christmas gift for the aspiring session player, and could help them get ready for the awesome Sheffield Session Festival this coming April. In honor of the recent Bonfire Night, here are the dots and the audio of "Albert Farmer's Bonfire Tune" from a session at the Six Bells in Bishops Castle recorded back in 1987: https://youtu.be/eyuNHvVvDrw Enjoy! Gary Albert-Farmers-Bonfire-Tune-D.pdf

Just for fun, and available through www.zazzle.com (search "Rollstonpress"), here are some concertina t-shirts for Wheatstone, Lachenal, and even one for Maccannics that even includes The Professor's visage and signature. While The Wife prefers name-brand stuff with logos, I'd much rather have something I'm interested in that's totally obscure and that no one has any idea what it is. And, if anyone would like to be a human billboard, there's also a Rollston Press shirt with a sampling of some of the book covers. The shirts are high quality print-on-demand, you decide what size and color, and Zazzle often puts things on 20-30% discount. Thanks to Steve Dickinson for permission to include the graphic from an old Wheatstone pricelist. And as they should, a portion of the proceeds will go to CNET. Gary

Seeing some discussion in other threads about large duets and the ability to reach the outermost buttons got me to wondering about the variations in Anglos since there are no standard dimensions among different makers. Some instruments are better suited than others for larger or smaller hands, and I know I have trouble with many Wheatstones feeling scrunched up, and I've also found the Minstrel to be absolutely unplayable. So, here is the reach for four different C/G Anglos. Measuring from the face of the handrest to the center of the top middle button (the "apex", or button 3A): Wheatstone #56716 - 70mm (2.75") Herrington (hexagonal, August 2000) - 74mm (2.9") Marcus #101 - 75mm (2.95") Wolverton #22 - 78mm (3.1") With the distance between the rows being about 10-11mm, these variations in reach are almost the equivalent of playing on a different row when switching between instruments! No wonder I have problems with Wheatstones, even with 1" handrests. What about other standard instruments from other makers? Gary

By special request, here are the dots to a lament, "The Last Cup", recently posted on YouTube. A reaction to the sad news of the upcoming loss of a local gathering place and coffeeshop, destined to be turned into yet another awful generic fast-food joint. Civilization going backwards yet again! Gary Last-Cup-GRC-ANGLO-Dm.pdf

For a number of years now a friend on mine has been building an experimental electronic Anglo concertina. He has now arrived at a reasonable working prototype. One of the features of this concertina is volume modulation using a twin port differential pressure sensor. One port of the sensor is connected to the bellows enclosure and the other the outside world. The actual differential pressure variation measured in the bellows during playing proves to be quite small, that is, less than 3 kilo pascals. Finding affordable sensors with that low pressure range has proved difficult. However, using a Chinese manufactured CFSensor XGZP190 3kPa is currently under investigation. The has led me to think about other ways to measure this activity that do not involve pressure sensors. Fundamentally, the energy expended by the player in moving the bellows end plates is transferred to the reeds and converted into sound. The force being exerted on each end plate can be measured using a load cell sensor of some sort placed where the heel of the hand meets the end plate. This force will be divided equally between all the currently pressed buttons. If the additional force applied by fingertips holding buttons down can be ignored, then a simple calculation to provide a numeric value that is applied to all the “voices” currently playing can be made. if the hand grips were hinged at the top with limited movement at the bottom then push and pull could be differentiated as well as measured. Otherwise a differential pressure sensor may still be needed purely to detect pushing or pulling. My friend says that this may have to wait for a future version! Apologies if this has been tried before. But any comments will be appreciated.