nanookqc Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 I was in te process of buying a rochelle has my first anglo. But recently found on jimslaabs website a serie that look pretty similar in the same price range called the excalibur. I' ve rea a few comment about jimslaabs which are not too glorious but was wondering if any of you tried the excalibur and if it 's similar in build quality to the rochelle? One of the reason is that i really appreciate more the natural wood finish! This web site also sell stagi at about the same price as the rochelle so i'm pretty confuse as what to get! Thanks foe your help. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_boveri Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 could you please add direct links to what you are talking about? also, where are you located. david Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spindizzy Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 could you please add direct links to what you are talking about? also, where are you located. david At a guess it would be here Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 was wondering if any of you tried the excalibur and if it 's similar in build quality to the rochelle? I have no direct knowledge of the Excalibur or of Jim Laabs, but just reading through the description on their web site raises many questions because the wording seems to be designed to hype up the instrument and may raise false expectations. Just one example "11 fold bellows" when the picture clearly shows 6 fold bellows. And again: "neo classic key action T.M. offers faster scaling and less push and pull of the Bellows for more articulate musical Interpretation" what on earth does that mean, never mind the random scattering of capital letters! It gives me the impression that it was written by someone who knows more about selling than about concertinas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiamh Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 The Excalibur is a 20-button while the Rochelle is a 30-button model. The ad for the Excalibur doesn't say what keys it is available in, either, which would suggest the dealer hasn't much of a clue - even without the nonsense pointed out by Theo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaryK Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 And remember, Rochelle purchase price can be applied to an upgrade, which you'll eventually want if you stick with the concertina, from most if not all of the businesses selling them. The Excalibur looks very similar to a Hohner D40, which is a very frustrating and poor instrument. Comparing the Excalibur description to the Rochelle, I'd recommend the Rochelle hands down. When you are ready to upgrade you can get a model with a wooden finish rather than an black lacquer look if you are so inclined. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanookqc Posted July 30, 2010 Author Share Posted July 30, 2010 The excalibue i was looking at is not the one similar to the hohner d40, but the anglo 30buttons on this link. http://www.jimlaabsmusic.com/accordions/concertinas/excalibur-european-series-a-30-inlay-concertina/prod_5299.html He sellls cheaper one which i think are probably the same as the one you find on ebay at150$, but this one i'm not sure. Since i read that about the only difference between the rochelle and the look alike on ebay are the quality of the reeds that concertina connection ask the manufacturer to put into his, i thought that maybe the read advertise in those excaliber might be the same, but i' m not familiar with the Castelfidardo Italian Reeds mention, are they any good? But i must say that my main concern is the reputation of the seller, but i would'nt discard any of my options. THat's why i asked if any of you tried them? Thanks again. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 Since i read that about the only difference between the rochelle and the look alike on ebay are the quality of the reeds that concertina connection ask the manufacturer to put into his, There is another very important difference which is the action. The Rochelle has traditional riveted action shown here in a Jackie but the levers are the same design in the Rochelle, just arranged in a different pattern. Other makes use a different action which is significantly poorer in terms of smoothness of movement of the buttons. Its hard to tell from the picture of the Excalibur, but its possible that they use the same Italian style action as the Stagi etc which does not have such a good feel as the Rochelle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 The Excalibur is a 20-button while the Rochelle is a 30-button model. The ad for the Excalibur doesn't say what keys it is available in, either, which would suggest the dealer hasn't much of a clue - even without the nonsense pointed out by Theo. There's more than one Excalibur model. It appears to be a brand name. Following a link on the site to a page about Excalibur, it says (among other things), "We are staffed with over 30 research and development individuals...." But I find nothing about production. Meanwhile, Excalibur and Jim Laabs are both located in Stephens Point, Wisconsin. Coincidence or no? As already noted by ZiziAllaire, the models in (or below) the Rochelle's price range are 20-button instruments, lacking many of the accidentals found on the 30-button Rochelle. Doing a Concertina.net Search on "Jim Laabs" gave me hits in 6 prior threads. I recommend you do the same search and read carefully through each of those threads. The comments encompass more than just models and prices, but also customer service and reliability of various flavors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 The excalibue i was looking at is not the one similar to the hohner d40, but the anglo 30buttons on this link. http://www.jimlaabsmusic.com/accordions/concertinas/excalibur-european-series-a-30-inlay-concertina/prod_5299.html The instrument in the photo on that page you've linked to is an English, not an anglo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 The excalibue i was looking at is not the one similar to the hohner d40, but the anglo 30buttons on this link. http://www.jimlaabsmusic.com/accordions/concertinas/excalibur-european-series-a-30-inlay-concertina/prod_5299.html ........................ Thanks again. Robert Hi Robert That concertina has a 30 button layout and thumb straps similar to a Jack/Jackie and not a Rochelle. It's an "English" not an "Anglo" style concertina. At the bottom of the page are better pictures: http://www.jimlaabsmusic.com/images/uploads/accordions/excalibur/concertinas/excalibur-a30-inlay-3.jpg One of the differences is an Anglo plays different notes on the push/pull and an english plays the same note on the push/pull. Thanks Leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 The excalibue i was looking at is not the one similar to the hohner d40, but the anglo 30buttons on this link. http://www.jimlaabsmusic.com/accordions/concertinas/excalibur-european-series-a-30-inlay-concertina/prod_5299.html ------------ The instrument in the photo on that page you've linked to is an English, not an anglo. That concertina has a 30 button layout and thumb straps similar to a Jack/Jackie and not a Rochelle. It's an "English" not an "Anglo" style concertina. Old Russian saying (translated): "Repetition is the mother of learning." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanookqc Posted July 30, 2010 Author Share Posted July 30, 2010 My god, you'e a tough bunch! Sorry for the wrong link. http://www.jimlaabsmusic.com/accordions/concertinas/excalibur-w-15mn-anglo-concertina/prod_5306.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 The excalibue i was looking at is not the one similar to the hohner d40, but the anglo 30buttons on this link. http://www.jimlaabsmusic.com/accordions/concertinas/excalibur-european-series-a-30-inlay-concertina/prod_5299.html The instrument in the photo on that page you've linked to is an English, not an anglo. This one, on the other hand, does appear to be a 30-button anglo... IF that's the right picture. The description says "11 Fold Extended Bellows", yet I count only 8 folds in the photo. Description says "Black Wood End". But the photos (if you click on "View Larger Image", there are 4 of the concertina) look to me like a metal-ended instrument. If the instrument they describe is not the one they picture, I wonder what else they can get wrong. ... Well, there are those other threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon H Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 Guess the eleven fold bellows don't breach trade descriptions, just another way of counting : up,down, up, down.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Hersh Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 My god, you'e a tough bunch! Sorry for the wrong link.http://www.jimlaabsm.../prod_5306.html My guess is that the Excaliburs are re-badged Stagi concertinas. Stagis can be decent but they've been known to have quality control problems. Because of this, it's usually recommended that Stagis be purchased from a dealer who stands behind them and can service them - Button Box is the only such dealer that I know of. Rochelle production quality is much more consistent, and some aspects of the design (especially the riveted action) are better than the Stagi counterpart. Partly because of this, most of us (including me) would recommend a Rochelle over a Stagi, but there are some who prefer the Stagi sound and/or its smaller size. Jim Laabs prices tend to be low, but their customer service reputation is poor. Given that, I'd say that you would be gambling if you bought an instrument from them that had a high potential for problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Hersh Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 i read that about the only difference between the rochelle and the look alike on ebay are the quality of the reeds that concertina connection ask the manufacturer to put into his I have heard this said on occasion too, but I don't believe that it's correct. The riveted action is different, as someone mentioned earlier. But there's another, even more important difference: overall quality control and quality of materials is much better on the Rochelle than on the generic Chinese concertinas sold on eBay, as evidenced by the experiences of many c.net members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djgheist Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 (edited) *content removed* Edited August 8, 2010 by djgheist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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