Raised Ends?
As I've looked around at concertina makers, I've noticed many offer an options for "raised ends". It took me a while to figure out what exactly this even meant, but I'm still not sure why one would want them. The option usually costs extra, and so I was wondering, oh concertina gods, why someone would pay extra for this feature? Is it purely esthetic, or is there a practical side to it?
This is a very common misunderstanding. The name raised ends is somewhat misleading. They appear to be raised, but actually the rims of the instrument are lowered. The height of the end around the buttons is exactly the same as with flat ends. It doesn’t affect the button height.
Lowering the rim reduces the acoustic effect of the space between the action board and top on the sound. Especially with open fretwork, the sound becomes more ‘direct’. If you want to know how your instrument w
