advice on a anglo concertina

[Keep on Truckin]

I live in The north east of england and was wondering what would be an upgrade from my stephanelli c/g 30 button concertina ..I have not got enough out of this one yet but was just interested in what is available second hand in about the £250 range?

 

I am interested in a sweet soft sound easy bellow action - i guess the reeds are important -but i am more intersted in an upgrade in the sound and playability than the looks

 

 

 

Thanking you

[KerryFrank]

I live in The north east of england and was wondering what would be an upgrade from my stephanelli c/g 30 button concertina ..I have not got enough out of this one yet but was just interested in what is available second hand in about the £250 range?

 

I am interested in a sweet soft sound easy bellow action - i guess the reeds are important -but i am more intersted in an upgrade in the sound and playability than the looks

 

 

Thanking you

 

Clog,

The "next step up" would probably be a Lachenal. (I'm assuming you'll be wanting a good quality brand name, with quality reeds.) Unfortunately, I'm afraid you'll probably be paying 750-900GBPs for a Lachenal 30-button anglo, in good repair. (Wheatstones, Jefferies & Crabbs will cost even more!)

Because of the steep cost jump, from my beginner (a 30-button Stagi) anglo to the next quality step up, I converted a 20-button Lachenal to Cmaj, with incedentals. I was able to buy a wrecked Lachenal English and cannibalized the incedentals from it and deleted all the original Gmaj reeds. Where the Gmaj row would be, I now have the Cmaj row. What was the Cmaj row is now the incidentals for Cmaj.

I do some restoring of vintage concertinas, so I've torn quite a few concertinas apart. This conversion is NOT a job a novice would even CONSIDER attempting to do. It would be well worth your costs to have a professional do this work. I think I paid about $250-US for a decent 20-button anglo and another $250-$300-US for the wrecked Lachenal English. (about 5 years ago) Of course, it cost me nothing for the labor. (doing it myself)

Another economical solution would be to take a lesser quality 30-button and have it rebuilt by a professional. I remember recently seeing a metal-ended, 30-button (high end) Stagi, rebuilt by the Button Box and selling on eBay. I think the winning bid was about $350-$400-US. This would be a step up in quality, while still keeping costs down.

I publicly performed with this particular (altered) 20-button Lachenal for about 2 years, until I had saved up and located a 30-button Wheatstone. (It ran about $1250-US, which was a DEAL for a decent Wheatstone!) It remains in my collection and still gets played nearly as many hours as my Wheatstone does!

Hopefully, I've given you a couple of leads as to how to step up in quality, without spending a lot of money. I'm sure many other members here could give you even more suggestions. I wish you my best and keep squeezin', Brother!