Looking For A Beginner Model

[damonp]

I am looking at learning to play but dont want to waste my money, what do you reccomend buyng?

There are several on ebay/musicians friend under $100... Are these decent?

-Damon

[Richard Morse]

No.

 

At least not with my definition of "decent" (which includes having all the notes being the correct ones, reasonably in tune, which respond relatively promptly and with similar tone and volume, and that the instrument is sufficiently air tight with adequately supple bellows, plus that the action WORKS and is fairly uniform and light enough not to require power assist...).

 

"Waste of money" depends upon how you value your time (effort you put into fixing the thing or paying someone else to) and the amount you'll realize from it's eventual sale or not (as in it's demise). It's a matter of how MUCH a waste of money this sort of box will be....

 

About "learning".... The better the instrument the easier and more enjoyable it will be to play, and the quicker you will learn. As those sub-$100 boxes are the poorest quality ones out there, virtually all other boxes will be better quality and better to learn on.

 

Recommendations as to what box to buy will depend on many factors: the type of music you'd like to play, whom you'd like to play with, your budget... your expectations....

 

And Concertina.net is a great place to come to get help. Welcome aboard!

[Chris Timson]

Have a shufty at the Concertina FAQ for some useful background reading on these questions. You won't find anything in there that contradicts what Rich has just said, I'm afraid.

 

Chris

[Dave Weinstein]

And while Richard didn't mention it, you can also contact the Button Box and see about renting a concertina to see if you like it.

 

--Dave

[mj.wright]

my first concertina was a rental one. this was good as if something goes wrong with it, you can just take it back to the place you got it from and they will replace it for you.

 

I got mine from Ken Stevens. it isnt too great but it is fine for learning on.

 

mj