BruceB Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Hi Everyone, The "New Model" English (#48883) that arrived the other day has me wondering about it's tone. It's really loud & very bright. While I wouldn't quite call it strident it's not far from it. From looking at it I'd guess that this concertina hasn't been played much. It's very clean looking with almost no damage to the wood. The left metal end is almost perfect with little to no wear to the finish. The right end has some tarnish on it, but no signs of wear around the buttons. Looks like maybe that end developed some tarnish from sitting, perhaps from facing down in the case. It plays great. It feels very quick and responsive, both the action and the reeds. As I said, it's loud & BRIGHT sounding. I'm happy with it as is, but if it mellowed just a bit perhaps it would be even better. It sounds great outdoors but in a small room it's pretty powerful when I drive it hard. So, this has me wondering if part of the reason it's so bright is that it hasn't been played much, and maybe not at all in the last 75 or so years. If so, will it's tone change now that I'll be playing it daily? I know the tone of new concertinas improves with regular playing, but is this also true of a vintage concertina that's sat for a long time? What do you think, I'm sure some of you have had a lot of experience with this situation. bruce boysen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Timson Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 (edited) Add leather baffles to it. That'll sweeten the tone nicely. If the tone does soften with age and use (and I wouldn't expect it myself to change very much) then you can take them out again. I'm a great fan of adding baffles as a simple and reversible mod. For full details of how to do it and an enormous amount on the whole subject of baffles see Bob Gaskins' site. For a somewhat shorter account see my article on the same site at the end of the page here. Chris Edited May 26, 2004 by Chris Timson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Hi Bruce, I think what you are describing is just what a good metal-ended concertina is meant to sound like. That's what people buy them for ! Personally, I have always preferred the sound of a good ebony-ended instrument, but then I don't feel any need to be heard in a noisy situation, plenty of other people do need to be heard, that's what they made metal ends for .... As the man said: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice." Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 As the man said: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice." I always heard that as: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer chances." ... Maybe that's the folk process. But growing up in America, I had reached a measurable age before I realized that in "Penny wise and pound foolish," "penny" and "pound" were both money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jggunn Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Jim, I think the phrase worked for many Americans who interpeted it as at once committed to watching one's pennies but also tending to engage in conspicuous consumption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceB Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 Add leather baffles to it. That'll sweeten the tone nicely. Yes, when I was considering this concertina it was made clear to me that it was bright & loud. Part of my thinking was that if it was too bright for me I could always tone it down with baffles. It would be a lot harder to go the other way! I'm not sure I'll want to tone it down, maybe in a few months. I wanted to get it because it was also (accurately) described as being such a good player. It's really fun to play and I'm happy with it. I could have had a metal ended Wheatstone that wasn't as bright or loud, but the dealer said this one was better so I went with it. I think this one is on the bright side even compared to other metal ended concertinas. It's totally different than the wood ended "New Model" Crane I traded in, which was a mellow concertina. It also feels a lot more responsive too. It's in better condition and appears to have been played less. I much prefer this one over the Crane. bruce boysen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 [snip] ...But growing up in America, I had reached a measurable age before I realized that in "Penny wise and pound foolish," "penny" and "pound" were both money. I'm British born and bred and I've always taken both penny and pound to mean money ... and the phrase means someone who is parsimonious on the things that don't cost much in the first place whilst cheerfully disregarding the price of more expensive things ... Samantha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 I'm British born and bred and I've always taken both penny and pound to mean money ... Well, yeah, because in Britain pounds are money! and the phrase ["Penny wise and pound foolish"] means someone who is parsimonious on the things that don't cost much in the first place whilst cheerfully disregarding the price of more expensive things ... Pretty close to what it means to me: Pinching pennies, but careless about large amounts of money. So it could also mean making a big deal over the difference between £2999.95 and £2999.99 for a 20-button Lachenal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Timson Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 As the man said: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice." I always heard that as: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer chances." Well, yours is a new formulation of the old saw to me. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 As the man said: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice."I always heard that as: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer chances." Well, yours is a new formulation of the old saw to me. Difference between British and American cultures? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boney Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 As the man said: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice."I always heard that as: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer chances."Well, yours is a new formulation of the old saw to me.Difference between British and American cultures? I've always heard "takes your chances." I grew up in California. Google prefers "choice" 3040 to 1820. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Timson Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 As the man said: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice."I always heard that as: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer chances."Well, yours is a new formulation of the old saw to me.Difference between British and American cultures? I've always heard "takes your chances." I grew up in California. Google prefers "choice" 3040 to 1820. Just wanted to see how many levels of quote the system would handle Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 As the man said: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice."I always heard that as: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer chances."Well, yours is a new formulation of the old saw to me.Difference between British and American cultures? I've always heard "takes your chances." I grew up in California. Google prefers "choice" 3040 to 1820.Just wanted to see how many levels of quote the system would handle At least one more, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 As the man said: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice."I always heard that as: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer chances."Well, yours is a new formulation of the old saw to me.Difference between British and American cultures? I've always heard "takes your chances." I grew up in California. Google prefers "choice" 3040 to 1820.Just wanted to see how many levels of quote the system would handle At least one more, I guess. Now look what I've started ! There seems to be no way out of this labyrinth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 As the man said: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice."I always heard that as: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer chances."Well, yours is a new formulation of the old saw to me.Difference between British and American cultures? I've always heard "takes your chances." I grew up in California. Google prefers "choice" 3040 to 1820.Just wanted to see how many levels of quote the system would handle At least one more, I guess. Now look what I've started ! There seems to be no way out of this labyrinth. It looks like a set of steps, ... But are they rising to a peak, ...... Or descending into the depths? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 As the man said: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice."I always heard that as: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer chances."Well, yours is a new formulation of the old saw to me.Difference between British and American cultures? I've always heard "takes your chances." I grew up in California. Google prefers "choice" 3040 to 1820.Just wanted to see how many levels of quote the system would handle At least one more, I guess. Now look what I've started ! There seems to be no way out of this labyrinth. It looks like a set of steps, ... But are they rising to a peak, ...... Or descending into the depths? I know! ... We're looking into an accordion bellows! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 As the man said: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice."I always heard that as: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer chances."Well, yours is a new formulation of the old saw to me.Difference between British and American cultures? I've always heard "takes your chances." I grew up in California. Google prefers "choice" 3040 to 1820.Just wanted to see how many levels of quote the system would handle At least one more, I guess. Now look what I've started ! There seems to be no way out of this labyrinth. It looks like a set of steps, ... But are they rising to a peak, ...... Or descending into the depths? I know! ... We're looking into an accordion bellows! On another board I participate in (running on the same software as this one), we discovered it'll take a lot more nested quotes than this. I think it was 24 or thereabouts. Steven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceB Posted May 27, 2004 Author Share Posted May 27, 2004 As the man said: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer choice."I always heard that as: "Yer pays yer money, yer takes yer chances."Well, yours is a new formulation of the old saw to me.Difference between British and American cultures? I've always heard "takes your chances." I grew up in California. Google prefers "choice" 3040 to 1820.Just wanted to see how many levels of quote the system would handle At least one more, I guess. Now look what I've started ! There seems to be no way out of this labyrinth. It looks like a set of steps, ... But are they rising to a peak, ...... Or descending into the depths? I know! ... We're looking into an accordion bellows! I don't follow. Does this mean you do or do not think that the tone will change with use??? bruce boysen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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