What affects the responsiveness of a concertina?

[Dan A]

After playing my concertina for about 4 months now, and still playing every other instrument I can every chance I get, I have found my concertina to be somewhat slow on the response. I mean, volume, tone, the reeds are strong and tasty, but for whatever reason, the notes just don't jump out of the instrument - they need some coaxing, and a hair of time that's not huge but is definitely noticeable to anyone who plays it. So what kind of factors go into the responsiveness of a concertina? Should I be considering the springs and valves in putting out a quicker sound? Would it be beneficial to have someone check the mountings of the reeds, or to treat the reeds themselves somehow? Would even bellows stiffness have something to do with it?

 

Any comments are welcome!

 

--Dan

[Chris Ghent]

Dan,

 

Unless someone has comprehensively bungled a refit of your concertina, ie. fitted very heavy valves, lowered the set of the reeds to the minimum, fitted heavy springs, and/or a heavy bellows, it is likely you are talking about the quality of the reeds and no amount of adjustment is going to make it what you want.

 

Explosive power in a reed comes from a small chamber and tight clearance between reed and frame. Unfortunately these two factors are inimical to tone and good concertinas with all three (tone/speed/volume) assets are a carefully chosen compromise coupled with a skillful maximization of other factors.

 

If your concertina is a modern one it is likely what you now have is all it will ever be. If you are already addicted it is too late, you will have no choice but to save your pennies and kep playing other concertinas until you find one you realize you must have. In the interim you can improve yourself on this one by concentrating on what it does well and what you like about it. Many great players have less than perfect concertinas.

 

Chris

[Frank Edgley]

I agree with Chris. The most important factor is the quality and set up of the reeds. If you have a concertina with poorer quality of reeds there is little you can do.

Valves can play a part. I once had in my shop a concertina made by a well-known modern maker of vintage-style instruments. It was very slow. The flapper valves were very thick and stiff. I replaced them and it did make some difference. Unfortunately, it did not make it into a super player. This was a very early model by this maker and the reeds were not up to his later instruments.

Vent hole size and pad elevation can also make a difference. These come under the category of design of the instrument. Here again there is little you can do about these things.

I would perhaps modify or clarify Chris's use of the term "modern instruments." There are modern makers of Vintage-style instruments producing very good concertinas. There were makers in the "old days" making vintage instruments which were not very good at all. There are modern makers making all qualities of instruments using Italian-style reeds. I guess you could call these "modern instruments." The cheap ones (under around $1000) are usually not very good, although some are suitable as beginner instruments. The best of them (around $2000+) usually play very well, and the best of them can rival the very best and most expensive vintage and vintage-style concertinas in terms of both reed response and button action.

[Dan A]

Oh well. Concertinas appreciate, right? Guess down the line I'll sell this one to recoup some loss on a top of the line something (I'm really bummed that a C/G Wheatstone recently went up for sale, I would've snatched it up in a second). Thanks for the tips, guys!

 

As an aside, Frank, I've seen more and more of your instruments in people's hands, and they're always super responsive. Well done!

 

--Dan

[Greg Jowaisas]

Dan,

As far as I can tell you've not told us what kind of concertina you have.

 

Vintage concertinas perform according to condition and repair history as much as by pedigree.

Without getting your hopes up much can be done for an uncooperative instrument, as has been noted, as long as it has decent reeds.

 

So what are you playing?

 

Greg

[Dan A]

I'm currently playing a John Connor "Special" C/G 31-key Anglo (the 31st is a C drone button). It is, like I said, a very decent instrument, and it's done me well. For that matter, I don't mind having to work a bit harder to get sound of it, because it's a nice sound (and after borrowing accordion-reeded instruments for a while, concertina reeds are like MMMMMDELICIOUS), but I just wish I had a better sense of WHY it doesn't respond like other concertinas I've played.

 

That being three or four Edgleys, three Dippers, a Morse, four Jeffreys, a Shakespeare, four Lachenals, and I think that's actually everything. Of that batch, I'd say all four Edgleys, all three Dippers, the Morse, three of the Jeffreys, the Shakespeare, and one of the Lachenals (a high F/C) responded a hair or more quickly; one of the Lachenals and one of the Jeffreys about comparable; the rest were slower (and had weaker tone). Not hugely great odds, actually laid out there.

 

--Dan

[Greg Jowaisas]

I'm currently playing a John Connor "Special" C/G 31-key Anglo (the 31st is a C drone button). It is, like I said, a very decent instrument, and it's done me well. For that matter, I don't mind having to work a bit harder to get sound of it, because it's a nice sound (and after borrowing accordion-reeded instruments for a while, concertina reeds are like MMMMMDELICIOUS), but I just wish I had a better sense of WHY it doesn't respond like other concertinas I've played.

 

That being three or four Edgleys, three Dippers, a Morse, four Jeffreys, a Shakespeare, four Lachenals, and I think that's actually everything. Of that batch, I'd say all four Edgleys, all three Dippers, the Morse, three of the Jeffreys, the Shakespeare, and one of the Lachenals (a high F/C) responded a hair or more quickly; one of the Lachenals and one of the Jeffreys about comparable; the rest were slower (and had weaker tone). Not hugely great odds, actually laid out there.

 

--Dan

 

I would say a Conner would be worth the investigation of an experienced repair person to check valves, reed set and air effeciency.

 

John Conner can build a decent instrument. You've compared it to what may be some heady competition and perhaps your expectations are high.

But I think until you have the money and commitment to move to the next tier it would be worth a try to get the most out of your Conner.

 

Greg

[Dan A]

It's actually nice to hear you say that. I'm putting the instrument in for a little bit of work anyway, so I may have the folks appraise what might be done, if anything, to specifically improve the response. I did a bit of 'net research and it seems most people do agree, JC does build pretty good concertinas. Maybe it's by sheer happenstance that I've only ever tried pretty damn great concertinas? I forgot to mention, by the by, that I tried a Suttner as well, the basic 30-key C/G, and was not particularly impressed...maybe my standards are a bit high!

 

In any case, I do know I'm in for the long haul, so I've got the rest of my life to figure it out. But it's along the lines I was really trying to think, "Should I trick out the Connor, or just upgrade to a different instrument?" Either way, every dollar I make is more or less percentaged for concertina expenses!